Burrfish (Added Picture)

GreenSpottedPuffer · #1 05-19-2008, 02:00 AM

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!

Also, can anyone can tell me where the best place to get meds in vancouver would be? I know I can get Metronidazole by seachem at most LFS but they would not have Levimasole I don't think.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #2 05-19-2008, 05:43 AM

Well she (seems like a girl) ate a whole prawn tonight...which is about the same size she is. LOL. I was amazed that she ate at all the first night in QT, so I just kept breaking pieces of the prawn off and feeding her. Before I knew it, she had eaten the whole thing! I don't think she had ever had prawn before but she loved it. She ate some of the pellet medication I have for IP as well. Im not sure that its the best kind but its a start. Hopefully she will make it through this.

I will try to get some pics soon.

midgetwaiter · #3 05-19-2008, 07:33 AM

Treating IP is a tricky bit of business, you have to suppress the parasite without doing damage to the intestinal flora. Levamisole is nice because it doesn't kill anything, it just paralyzes the intestinal tract so the parasite thinks it is in a dead host and lets go, but it's tough to get. Metronidazole is more dangerous but you can get it from Seachem in a powder that's easy to use.

I don't know what's in the Jungle stuff but I would advise caution either way. Don't do this just because of the sunken belly. Wait to see if you can get the fish to put some weight back on without it.

spoot · #4 05-19-2008, 11:37 AM

What place is the burrfish at? I've never seen them here in the lowermainland. I just had one shipped in from the east coast, it might have IP's too.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #5 05-19-2008, 06:02 PM

It was at J&L. She was very active and was eating, so I thought I would take a bit of a chance. Like I said, I was shocked that she ate the first night.

I did find some of the prawn on the bottom of the tank this morning but I think thats because I just fed her too much and she was not used to it. My fault. After eating last night, her belly looked great but this morning its back to how it was and looks terrible.

I don't think I have ever seen a fish with a sunken belly like this.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #6 05-19-2008, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

Treating IP is a tricky bit of business, you have to suppress the parasite without doing damage to the intestinal flora. Levamisole is nice because it doesn't kill anything, it just paralyzes the intestinal tract so the parasite thinks it is in a dead host and lets go, but it's tough to get. Metronidazole is more dangerous but you can get it from Seachem in a powder that's easy to use.

I don't know what's in the Jungle stuff but I would advise caution either way. Don't do this just because of the sunken belly. Wait to see if you can get the fish to put some weight back on without it.

Thanks, great info. I was told that I should be able to get Levamisole from my vet? Does that make sense? I have not even tried yet though.

So I understand not treating right away and seeing if she gains weight but J&L have had her 2 weeks and said she eats every day anything they put in the tank but could never gain weight. Thats probably the reason they even still had her.

The Jungle meds have Praziquantel in them. For some reason though I thought that was more for bacterial problems. I have no idea though

So you think I should not treat her yet? I was going to get the Seachem Metronidazole and soak her food in it. I also heard Metronidazole bath can work? I want to be careful, so any advice would be great.

What Im scared of is not treating her soon and having her stop eating. She would not be tough to treat now because she is eating so well and is active. It could get hard if she stopped.

I will take pics later...its very hard to believe this little fish should reach about a foot as an adult. She looks like she is meant to stay small.

Anyone had a full grown Burr?

WhoPoopWrasse · #7 05-19-2008, 06:41 PM

If she is in QT you could also use Prazipro...

GreenSpottedPuffer · #8 05-19-2008, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhoPoopWrasse

If she is in QT you could also use Prazipro...

Right. I have used this before. I should remove the biological filtration from the QT tank though right?

Seems she has ich too now. Not a surprise there. I don't think I have ever bought a fish without ich...I can't believe some people don't quarantine!

So does anyone know how I should go about treating both of these? I guess one at a time? I would like to go with hyposalinity but I fear that may hurt her appetite and I don't want to do that. Does anyone know if hypo is a bad idea while treating for the IP? My guess is that it would be too stressful.

GreenSpottedPuffer · #9 05-19-2008, 07:20 PM

Can't see her belly in this pic (you can see the ich though) but here she is. I will get better pics later after I clean the glass

WhoPoopWrasse · #10 05-19-2008, 07:33 PM

From what I know hypo does not stress the fish if anything it's easier on thier systems, I would start the hypo and I will find out about the prazipro and let you know...