Burrfish

[JustinReef]

Just looking for advice on treating a Burrfish for internal parasites. I know Burrfish so often have IP and it can be hard to treat but I want to give it a shot with this little guy. My LFS has had him for about 2 weeks and he eats everyday but his belly is sooooo sunken. If he was not eating at all, I would not have even tried this. He is actually extremely active and his colors are bright and beautiful. He looks great besides the belly, so I think he still may be relatively healthy all things considered.

I know I should be looking for mads with Metronidazole and/or Levimasole but Im sure if there is a specific one that someone can recommend and maybe advice on treatment. I have an anti-parasite med by Jungle that is suppose to treat IP but I have no idea how well it works. I don't even remember why I have it to be honest. Must have been years ago. Its just little pellets though and Im not sure he will eat pellets but I could mash them into prawn I think.

Anyways, looking for advice in general...he such a beautiful little guy!

[ndas2976]

Try using a deworming medication like Praziquantel.

[jelwyoming]

After the treatment, I have been feeding mine the New Life Spectrum Thera putic food. It is antiparasitic. Mine will barely
eat anything else now.

[JustinReef]

So I have not medicated her yet but she is eating very well and is very active. She seems to eat anything I offer her but prawn is her favorite. She eats until her belly is round but by morning, its very sunken again. I think she does have parasites for sure. So should I start soaking her food in Metronidazole? Or is there something better as an oral med?

I do not want to go with a bath medication because she will also be in hypo soon for ich. I think it would be too stressful and keeping water quality up would be a pain.

Any more advice?

[JustinReef]

Here she is by the way...you can't see her sunken belly but you can see her ich :(

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/Justinpsmith/IMG_1957.jpg

[pinkie]

I wouldn't assume that the sunken belly as a definite indicator of IPs. He may just need some extra food. Most of the ones I see at LFSs need some bulking up, because they eat a LOT of food. Mine had a VERY shrunken stomach when I first got him, and after a couple months of some oversized high quality meals he plumped right up.

You might want to try feeding him a couple times a day with high quality food before medicating.

Here is a somewhat recent photo:

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff140/calinic/DSC00105.jpg

Mine also had ich when I got him, but I run a really low level of copper in my tank and it took care of it after a couple weeks. I have had him for about a year and a half and he is still really healthy, a good weight, and has about doubled in size.

One little word of warning, they are VERY sensitive to stray current in the tank. I had an issue with my lighting, which shocked the tank for about a day, and he got a bad case of HLLE (hole in the top of his head). I fixed it, and he healed up after a couple weeks. About a month later, it happened again, and he got it again. Thankfully he is pretty tough and has made a full recovery.

Good luck with your's!

[JustinReef]

Thanks Pinkie. Just before I read this, I started questioning whether it actually was IP or not. She seems to have put on a little weight already. Im not sure what she was being fed but she was in a tank with a bunch of aggressive tangs and angels that probably got most of the food (shes pretty slow). The other thing that has me questioning IP or not is how active she is. I thought they get lethargic with IP...am I wrong? She is just so active and looks so healthy that I may wait a little before treating for IP. I am going to put her through hypo for the ich for now. I have heard that medicating for IP can be pretty harsh on the fish and shes pretty small still, I would like to be careful.

I will watch out for stray electricity too, thanks for that advice. Are they just sensitive in general? I was told along the same lines as a porcupine puffer, which I find to be quite tough actually.

[pinkie]

Glad to hear you are going to try feeding him a little extra good food before try medications.

As for sensitivity, it is hard to say, because just about everything I have heard about them hasn't been very accurate. Mine is as passive as can be, in spite of their somewhat aggressive reputation.

He has been really tough, even though I also heard they can be very sensitive. He has survived some bad stray electricity that resulted in HLLE twice, really bad case of ich, really high nitrates when I was out of town for about a couple months (no water changes), and a really bad (accidental) snowflake attack. All of these things he has just taken in stride. I have also read in multiple sources that they can't take any copper at all in the tank, but I have run low levels of copper in mine for years and my puffers seem happier and healthier than any I've seen.

So IMO, I'm sure your puffer will make a quick and complete recovery with not much more than some extra food and gentle treatment for the ICH. He looks great, and I'm sure he will become more bold as time goes on. If he is anything like mine, it won't be long before he is pushing other fish out of the way as he lunges for food in the tank. He should fatten up in no time.

[JustinReef]

Yeah she actually looks to have gained a little weight this morning. I fed her again and she is a very aggressive eater. There is a dwarf lion in the QT with her who is bigger than her. He was eating and she took it right out of his mouth. I have seen my other puffers do this before to each other but Im surprised she is so aggressive already.

I felt really bad because last night I was doing a water change and she got sucked onto the powerhead I use to pump water out of the tank. My fault because it has no intake cover on it. She puffed a little and I turned it off as fast as I could but she was stuck for a few seconds. I knew it wouldn't hurt her but I thought she would be scared after. She just swam around like nothing happened. I think they are relatively tough little fish.

It is hard to find much info about them though. They are not the most common puffer out there.

Is yours with that lion in your avatar? How does that work? I have a Fuzzy Dwarf Lion as I mentioned but Im not sure if I want to keep him. Im scared he will end up being too small to keep with the Burrfish and my dogface puffer.

[pinkie]

Yeah, that is my huge lionfish (huge to me anyways as he has gone from about 3" to about 12" in a little under 2 years).

He has lived with my dogface and spiny box for as long as I've had them. They all get along great. The only incident I have had is that the dogface got stung by the lion once, but his side just swelled up a bit, and he got over it in about a week.

I think the three of the ones you have should work out just fine, sounds like a great combo! What concerns you about the size of the lionfish? That he will get picked on, or won't get a chance at food?

[JustinReef]

That he will not get a chance to get food but I often spot feed them and can feed the puffers at one end and him at another. Its not really a problem. I guess I also thought about bullying because the Lion will be so much smaller than the others.