Fahaka Puffer with IP's (pics)

[Rivers2k]

So I finally got a long sought after fahaka puffer. He is currently in his quarantine tank. He arrived in the mail Friday completely emaciated. I had the tank set up with ghost shrimps and pea size pond snails. I also tried frozen blood worms. I am treating with Prazi Pro in the tank as per the direction and I also soaked the food with prazi pro. The problem is he isn't eating. The puffer is nearly dead. He is so weak that he was stuck to the filter intake last night so I turned off the filter and I am oxygenating the tank with an air stone. I figured he would be dead in the morning but to my surprise he is still swimming.

So Any trick to getting a puffer to eat?

PS. I did try open clams soaked in garlic extract. Still no interest. The person who sold him to me said he was feeding on feeders so I currently have some happy feeder fish swimming around my tank.

 

[Rivers2k]

Anyone???

 

[Terrance]

start by feeding him non medicated dead food. try to have him see and know you as the food person. soak raw shrimp in some of that garlic you used. if not eating dead food then try live snail first. we will discuss treatment later.

 

[Rivers2k]

start by feeding him non medicated dead food. try to have him see and know you as the food person. soak raw shrimp in some of that garlic you used. if not eating dead food then try live snail first. we will discuss treatment later.

Still not taking any dead food. Did water changes to remove meds. Another forum suggested earth worms he did not eat those. I am going to get more ghost shrimps today. The meds killed off the others I had

 

[dragonfisher33]

if he's stuck to the intake tube then chances are he won't make it, it's just my experience.

but anyways, try to have some live food other than earth worms. try daphnia and adult brine shrimps. these critters jump/hop in the water and might trigger his interest for appetite. basically sparingly throw any live food you have in the tank without deteriorating the water quality. feeder fish is actually not suitable for the puffers because of the excess fat and the possibility of worms/parasite

 

[Rivers2k]

if he's stuck to the intake tube then chances are he won't make it, it's just my experience.

but anyways, try to have some live food other than earth worms. try daphnia and adult brine shrimps. these critters jump/hop in the water and might trigger his interest for appetite. basically sparingly throw any live food you have in the tank without deteriorating the water quality. feeder fish is actually not suitable for the puffers because of the excess fat and the possibility of worms/parasite

I am aware of the risks of feeder fish and i would never give feeder fish except that is apparently what he was used to.

The stuck to filter was two days ago and surprisingly he is still kicking. I expected him dead the next morning as well. I am going to have to give the bugger a tough name if he survives

I have offered every type of live food I can think of (except brine) but I did offer ghost shrimps. Even earth worms last night. I now think I am going to attempt force feeding just to get some food, and meds, in him. We will see how that goes.

 

[dragonfisher33]

I am aware of the risks of feeder fish and i would never give feeder fish except that is apparently what he was used to.

The stuck to filter was two days ago and surprisingly he is still kicking. I expected him dead the next morning as well. I am going to have to give the bugger a tough name if he survives

I have offered every type of live food I can think of (except brine) but I did offer ghost shrimps. Even earth worms last night. I now think I am going to attempt force feeding just to get some food, and meds, in him. We will see how that goes.

you're between a rock and a hard place. the force feeding might cause further stress.

 

[Terrance]

leave the earthworm in the tank. let the earthworm wiggle until its dead or eaten, and don't watch your fahaka. just leave the room. maybe its reluctant to eat since you are in the room.

 

[Rivers2k]

So I am happy to report my Fahaka has made great improvements yesterday. I went home with every intention of having to force feed last night. On the way home from work I stopped by the LFS and picked up some live brine shrimp (one last ditch effort). When I got home to my suprise he was swimming around his tank like he was hunting. I put in the serving of brine shrimp after eating all of them he was at the glass begging for more! I didn't have any more so I put in the frozen blood worms but he has no interest in the blood worms. The guy I got him from said he was on feeders so I purchased 5 feeder guppies (I know feeders are bad but i want him to get some food in him). He stalked the feeders but wasn't quick enough to catch them. I am going to get more live brine today and some frozen to see if I can get him on the frozen and then after building up his strength I will try better food. Oh and no more white thread like poop so I assume the IP's are gone.

My 3 year old is a big fish fan. I tried to keep her away from the puffer in case it died but she loves to be with her daddy so I had a hard time with that. Well I was so excited the puffer was eating I didn't keep her away. Out of the blue she named the puffer, Blokey. I believe a bloke is a manly man in Australia and this guy is a tough little bugger so I think the name may stay. But now I am really in trouble if Blokey doesn't pull through. Her fantail goldfish named rockin baby and black more named pufferfish (her names for them) are doing very well so thankfully I have not had to explain death yet.

 

[Rivers2k]

So he is starting to fill out nicely. He just started taking black worms on Saturday. Still not interested in clams or snails. he took two bits of cooked shrimp and ignored the rest. my Hopes are high that he is going to pull through. I am going to give him another week in his quarantine tank and hopefully next weekend transfer him to the main tank.

 

[dragonfisher33]

So he is starting to fill out nicely. He just started taking black worms on Saturday. Still not interested in clams or snails. he took two bits of cooked shrimp and ignored the rest. my Hopes are high that he is going to pull through. I am going to give him another week in his quarantine tank and hopefully next weekend transfer him to the main tank.

good to hear that. are you going to keep it with anything else? i am aware that it should be kept alone.

 

[Rivers2k]

I am keeping him alone for now. I have a few mollies in there right now. I assume they will become lunch at some point. But if they don't that's cool to. Other than that I plan to keep him by himself I wanted a tank that had one large fish that was impressive to look at it.

I have seen some videos of large fahakas with tetras and because they are so small the fahaka doesn't bother with them. I may try that sometime but pretty much plan to keep him alone.