My Fahaka Friend!

[Duke Silver]

What better thing to be my first journal, than a journal about this little guy! so long story short, I ordered a 2-3" fahaka puffer and this little guy was what was delivered. He has a "S" shaped bent spine and looks thin. The shipping was fast and he acclimated well, but I don't believe he was in the best shape before I received him. Now that he is in my care I feel that it is my responsibility to try to get him as healthy as possible, wish me luck! 🤞 

July 1st 2021: Bender was delivered and acclimated to his current quarantine tank. His QT is a seasoned 40b with a aquaclear 70 and some Hygrophila Angustifolia. I put some small cherry shrimp, bladder snails, and ramshorn snails in the tank with him to try to get some weight on him.

 

July 2nd 2021: Dosed the tank with Prazipro to deworm since im pretty sure that he has some internal parasites. Bender still didn't seem to active, he hid mostly in the Hygro and didn't show much interest in eating or hutning. Tried to feed some bloodworms, but he would just spit them out after finally trying them.

 

July 3rd 2021: Bender seems a lot more active after about 24hrs of Prazipro being in his tank.  Shorty after tank lights came on he was up swimming around and trying to hunt some snails. He does appear to be having issues getting snails off of leaved and glass, not sure if his underbite has anything to do with this. Have been trying to get a look at his mouth when he opens it to see if he teeth are overgrown and need trimmed, but haven't been able to tell yet. Between posts here and on facebook groups common consensus seems to be the bent spine is a birth defect. At this point my wife has now fallen in love with this little guys because "he needs to be rescued and we have to make him better"

If anyone has any advice or suggestions on things to try to get this little guy better, please let me know. Currently his tank is being treated with Prazipro and im trying to medicate his food with MetroPlex, but that isn't going so well since he is being picky. I have been trying to keep some small cherry shrimp and small snails in the tank for him to try to snack when he is hungry. 

 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Bender is perfect and beautiful! I hope he perks up for you. There has to be some other treat he might like to have? I don't have a puffer myself so grain of salt here but what about freeze dried krill? Or maybe you'll have to go as far as getting some earthworms and cutting pieces for him? Feed via tweezers? Also I hear a lot of people try frozen seafood from the supermarket. 

I can say I have experience with overgrown teeth from keeping rodents and lagomorphs. Getting them somthing soft until their teeth can be filed or fixed helps a lot. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[eatyourpeas]

Love the name Bender!

I feed my pea puffers amphipods and copepods as well. Do not worry about him not getting the snails from the glass, as they will strike only if they can get the right angle. They’ll find that snail somewhere else later on. He is still getting to know his new home and having lots of plants gives them lots of places to explore and go hunting.

He is adorable! 😍

[Odd Duck]

I would recommend trying some levamisole.  Prazipro is praziquantel for tapes and flukes, but apparently these guys often have other types of worms that the levamisole should get.  Don’t forget to do repeats on each type of dewormer 2 weeks after the first doses of each.  Levamisole can hit some snails, so be careful.  Nerites are apparently particularly vulnerable.

Also maybe try some live foods that are less challenging to jump start the appetite - blackworms, white worms, or Daphnia?  Once he’s eating, then worry about the teeth.  Make sure the snails are small enough to start, he’ll learn to deal with bigger ones later.

[Duke Silver]

Thanks for all the support everyone. I am working on trying to get some live black worms or something, but unfortunately I don't have an LFS other than a PetSmart that isn't great. That's why I usually go to online ordering for fish. @Odd DuckI'm planning on doing with levamisole after I do Prozipro and metroplex. I heard that dosing all at once cause be stressful for them fish to pass all the worms at once. 

[eatyourpeas]

They like mosquito larvae, so if you have a place outside where you can keep a shallow dish with water, it will become a free source of live food.

[Odd Duck]

On 7/4/2021 at 4:03 AM, Duke Silver said:

Thanks for all the support everyone. I am working on trying to get some live black worms or something, but unfortunately I don't have an LFS other than a PetSmart that isn't great. That's why I usually go to online ordering for fish. @Odd DuckI'm planning on doing with levamisole after I do Prozipro and metroplex. I heard that dosing all at once cause be stressful for them fish to pass all the worms at once. 

I have done praziquantal between doses of levamisole, but I agree with you, I would not do all at once.  The praziquantal is a significantly different drug than levamisole but Metroplex is metronidazole, which is in the same family of drugs as levamisole.  There isn’t a huge risk doing levamisole with metronidazole, together, but adding a third medication is probably not ideal.

I would typically start deworming with levamisole, and depending on how the fish responds, the species, if I was actually seeing worms and what type, etc, I would dose praziquantal a few days to a week after doing the first dose of levamisole.  Then water change, and repeat levamisole.  Metronidazole does not do much for worms, but there are other intestinal parasites it treats.  Levamisole will treat those same intestinal parasites just as well.

What the metronidazole does do is also work as an antibiotic against some of the bad bacteria that can cause symptoms.  It works very well for many mammals, but isn’t really that good at it for fish, though.  It is one of the last medications I would reach for if I was treating a patient.

If I were seeing this fish as a patient, I would do rather see you stop the metronidazole, wait 24 hours, then treat with the levamisole since it has a significantly broader spectrum against intestinal parasites than metronidazole.  I can’t legally give you advice as a vet, though, but you can take this information, that could be found in many places on line, and make your own decisions.  😉 

[HH Morant]

Both API General Cure and Paracleanse contain both metronidazole and praziquantel, so they must be safe together.

[Duke Silver]

@Odd Duckthanks for the great advise. Unfortunately I don't have any levamisole yet, I did order some but it hasn't arrived yet. I plan on doing a large water change in Wednesday per the direction of Prazipro and Metroplex, but do you think I should give a rest week before dosing with the Levamisole? 

[Duke Silver]

July 4th 2021: Bender is still active and seems to be doing pretty well. He does appear to have an appetite and is getting some of the smaller snails that we have been putting in the tank for him. Unfortunately he still won't eat any snails we crush and put in for him, but would rather wait till they make it to the plants and hunt them. We were able to catch him yawning and it does not appear like his teeth are overgrown,  so that's a big relief! We also we able to witness some poo for the first time as well and it doesn't look to be white and stringy. I was able to snag a picture to get everyone's opinions since I'm not 100% what puffer poo should look like. Going to keep taking it one day at a time, bit glad the little guys seems to be making progress ❤️

[Odd Duck]

@Duke Silver I don’t think you need a full week.  I think a couple days would be enough clearance time after stopping the metronidazole as long as you do the water changes.

He already looks a bit better!  Less skinny.  I can’t tell if he’s straighter from that angle.

[Duke Silver]

On 7/5/2021 at 1:41 AM, Odd Duck said:

He already looks a bit better!  Less skinny.  I can’t tell if he’s straighter from that angle.

I though he was looking better too. He is still bent, not sure if it's as bad though. My wife thinks he looks straighter though

[eatyourpeas]

On 7/4/2021 at 7:33 PM, Duke Silver said:

I was able to snag a picture to get everyone's opinions since I'm not 100% what puffer poo should look like.

That is 100% healthy puffer poo!

He is definitely on the road to recovery. So glad to see his little belly a bit bigger! 😍 Thanks for not giving up on him.🐡

[Duke Silver]

July 6th 2021: Bender is getting less shy each day, he will start coming toward the front glass when you approach the tank. Today was the first day he actually ate a snail as we dropped it in! 😄 this was a big day for us. He is  still picky though about what snails he will eat, seems like they have to be super tiny or we have to crush them if they are slightly larger. If they are to big (even crushed) he just nibbled it then ignores it still. seems like the sweet spot is a snail about the size of his eye or a little less. We were able to get about 8-10 eye sized bladder snail into him this way and he actually had a nice rounded belly after he was finished. Unfortunately all the ramhorn snails I have are to large for him for the time being. I'm hoping once he finishes his supply of snails that are still readily in his tank he will be a little less picky about what size snail he eat. Also I was able to grab a couple pics of the little guy (he doesn't stay still for long). Ive been trying to get one where his tail is fanned open, but I swear he knows when my phone is not out. He will swim at the front glass and do it, soon as I pull my phone out he stops 😲. You can still see his bent spine, but other than that I think he is looking better each day!

[Patrick_G]

That’s great. I’m glad he remembered he’s a snail eater. What’s your plan for his tank? Will he be on his own or have tankmates? 

[Duke Silver]

I'm going to try tank mates, but I'm aware that one day they may disappear or I might need to move them. Currently he is in a 40b with a guppy that he doesn't seem to interested in. I have a 125 setup in my office that is going to be his tank once he has put some size on, currently I just have some random male guppies in there with some SAE. 

[Patrick_G]

There are some cool options. Keep us updated! 

[Odd Duck]

@Duke Silver He is looking a bit more fleshed out already!  Nice work!

[eatyourpeas]

So happy to see that little belly full of snails! He is looking great already!😃

[Duke Silver]

July 12th 2021: Levamisole arrived and I dosed his tank on 7/10 per the instructions then blacked it out as best I could for 24hrs. On 7/11 I did a 75% water change and a gravel vac per the instructions after the 24hrs was up and turn his tank light back on. I haven't noticed any apparent signs of him expelling any internal parasites. After his large water change, he just kind of pouted in the plants and wasn't to active, but when I checked on him later he was out and swimming around. I tried to feed him as he acted like he was interested in eating. He would swim after the snails I would drop in, get right up to them, then just leave them alone. I am just chalking it up to him stilling being somewhat stressed after the meds. Today when I went down to do my normal routine He came up to the glass and seems very active, I grabbed some small bladder snails (even when crunched he wont eat pea sized snails)  dropped them in and same thing. Swam up to them all excited and then just left them alone. I did see him having a bowel movement though, and it looked like 2 little black beads connected by some white string (not sure if that's him passing some IPs or from him not eating to much). I'm assuming the black beads are some tiny snails he must have snacked on at some point, but wasn't sure if the white string was from a parasite. I wasn't able to grab any pictures, but ill try to later if possible. Does anyone know if the not eating is from the levamisole? he was eating just fine before dosing his tank.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Duke Silver

[Duke Silver]

was able to get some pics, although im pretty sure this isnt the same bowel movement lol 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Looks like sausage poop! But in all seriousness, even normal fish poop has some white mucus and maybe he just hasn't taken in enough to do a whole string? At least that's what I'm hoping for you. I don't have a puffer but have had other fish that's happened to. 

[Odd Duck]

The string holding the poops together could potentially be remnants of IP passing or random fibers he’s ingested.  Small herbivores (rabbits, Guinea pigs, etc) often get this “string of pearls” poop when they are shedding and have excess hair in their poop.  Hopefully he is clearing out any nasties!

[Duke Silver]

July 13th 2021: its been 48 hours since doing the 75% water change. Bender is being very active as normal, but still wont eat. He is still acting hungry and chasing food, but wont bite it. His poop looks even more stringy than yesterday. Not sure if this is him trying to pass some IPs. Just really thrown off because everything I have read says he should have an appetite after treating with Levamisole and he doesn't. I sat at his tank and just watched him for a while, he is only going after the snails that are literally the size of a grain of sand. I tried feeding the smallest snails I could get out of my snail tank and he still wouldn't go for them, tried crushing them for him (this worked in the past) and nothing. Even tried some frozen shrimp that I thawed, he bit it then went about his business and left it. I dont want to see him stop eating because he is still skinny and needs to be fattened up, but I'm at a loss as to what to do. Not sure if I should do another round of dewormer or just let things go and see what happens?

[Duke Silver]