ebjornsgard
Aquarium Advice Regular
I have had a single Dwarf puffer for about 3-4 months now. They are amazing fish, but as a lot of people know, very prone to internal parasites and worms. He is kept in a 5 gallon tank by himself, with a filter, heater, fake plants, sand. I modified the heater so that the input/output had less force, so that it could be overfiltered but underpowered. His water parameters are all fine, with nitrates under 20.
I had been noticing he was pretty thin, but I didn't think too much of it, until he was so thin that I though there must be something wrong. I started looking around for things that might be wrong, and found all of the parasite cases. Soon after he stopped eating, and now does not seem to have much strength left in him. He lays around the aquarium, moving only a little, when I come near the tank.
I posted almost a week ago now about medicines, and got the answer of prazipro, which I got and put in his tank 3 days ago. The next day I found him pulled up against the filter sponge, either resting or stuck. I turned the filter off and put in an air pump for oxygenation, basically waiting for him to pass (heartbreaking).
The next two days I watched him, with little change. Yesterday, he seemed a little bit more active, so I turned the filter back on. You can't adjust the filter's flow, so I just watch him and he hasn't gotten stuck near it so I've left it on.
Today, he pecked at a freeze-dried shrimp. His main diet is snails, with those as treats, but these are easier to feed him to see if he would eat anything. He's looking a bit better, but He is still so skinny and hasn't eaten in probably close to 5 days. I don't know how long he can go without food, he's so little and skinny.
This is a lot of information, but this is where I am. I changed some water out, and resized the tank with prazipro. Is there anything else I should be doing, or something that I'm doing that I shouldn't be? And also, how long (in your experience) can dwarf puffers last without food in this state? Have you had a Dwarf puffer survive after parasites? Is it more humane to euthanize them? I definitely don't want to do that, it would be a last resort, but I don't want to have him be miserable for a month and then die.
If anyone has experience with anything like this or similar situations I would really appreciate. I have seen forums, both on this app and other sites, were people have puffers that survive, and some don't. I'll attach a picture I took of him today, and a picture of him when I got him, for reference.
When I got him:
![IMG_2913.jpg IMG_2913.jpg](https://www.aquariumadvice.com/data/attachments/262/262894-211e2cd10cd6cc0f8c3c2e1e0e59390b.jpg)
Today:
![IMG_3497.jpg IMG_3497.jpg](https://www.aquariumadvice.com/data/attachments/262/262895-ca6707500f3703ff08c05b88a9e32dd6.jpg)
Again, any kind of information you can give me would be great.
I had been noticing he was pretty thin, but I didn't think too much of it, until he was so thin that I though there must be something wrong. I started looking around for things that might be wrong, and found all of the parasite cases. Soon after he stopped eating, and now does not seem to have much strength left in him. He lays around the aquarium, moving only a little, when I come near the tank.
I posted almost a week ago now about medicines, and got the answer of prazipro, which I got and put in his tank 3 days ago. The next day I found him pulled up against the filter sponge, either resting or stuck. I turned the filter off and put in an air pump for oxygenation, basically waiting for him to pass (heartbreaking).
The next two days I watched him, with little change. Yesterday, he seemed a little bit more active, so I turned the filter back on. You can't adjust the filter's flow, so I just watch him and he hasn't gotten stuck near it so I've left it on.
Today, he pecked at a freeze-dried shrimp. His main diet is snails, with those as treats, but these are easier to feed him to see if he would eat anything. He's looking a bit better, but He is still so skinny and hasn't eaten in probably close to 5 days. I don't know how long he can go without food, he's so little and skinny.
This is a lot of information, but this is where I am. I changed some water out, and resized the tank with prazipro. Is there anything else I should be doing, or something that I'm doing that I shouldn't be? And also, how long (in your experience) can dwarf puffers last without food in this state? Have you had a Dwarf puffer survive after parasites? Is it more humane to euthanize them? I definitely don't want to do that, it would be a last resort, but I don't want to have him be miserable for a month and then die.
If anyone has experience with anything like this or similar situations I would really appreciate. I have seen forums, both on this app and other sites, were people have puffers that survive, and some don't. I'll attach a picture I took of him today, and a picture of him when I got him, for reference.
When I got him:
![IMG_2913.jpg IMG_2913.jpg](https://www.aquariumadvice.com/data/attachments/262/262894-211e2cd10cd6cc0f8c3c2e1e0e59390b.jpg)
Today:
![IMG_3497.jpg IMG_3497.jpg](https://www.aquariumadvice.com/data/attachments/262/262895-ca6707500f3703ff08c05b88a9e32dd6.jpg)
Again, any kind of information you can give me would be great.