Lethargic Pea Puffer

[DrSizzle]

I've had this awesome pea puffer for about 3.5 years, and its usually very active and shoots right to the feeding area whenever it sees me and follows me around the tank. However, the last 2 days its been acting very lethargic and resting on the bottom of the tank quite a bit.  It seems to be swimming like normal and can rise and sink just fine, and I don't see any signs of skin disease. It doesnt look thin either, just really lazy all of a sudden. 

Another puffer I purchased with this one died last year after showing the same kind of symptoms initially, but it eventually became very pale. I'm wondering if there's anything I should try to keep this puffer from declining or if that would just make things worse. 2 younger pea puffers in the same tank are doing just fine.

Tank Details:

60 gallon sandy bottom and lots of plants

No NO2 or NO3 detected

pH 6.9, KH~15, GH~30

3 pea puffers, 5 furcata rainbows, 3 kuhli loach, 2 siamese algae eater. Everyone seems to get along just fine. Occasionally the puffers chase each other but I dont see any biting.

I feed frozen blood worms once in the morning and once at night.

Any comments or suggestions are very welcome! Please help me save Pete! 

Edited February 23, 2022 by DrSizzle

[Colu]

 have you added anything new to the tank resently and what your ammonia level

[DrSizzle]

Thanks for the reply! I havent added any new fish or plants in at least 9 months, and the ammonia is under 0.25 ppm

[Odd Duck]

A diet of only bloodworms isn’t healthy.  Are there scuds in the tank or any other foods you’re adding?

[Colu]

As @Odd Duckpoint out it could be diet related if your only feed blood worms or its possible it old age as you have had him 3.5 years he was probably six months when you go him he could be closer to 4 life expectancy is 4-5 years for pea puffers 

[DrSizzle]

I do feed them ramshorn snails as well from time to time but they havent had any in awhile. I'll get some different food today after work today. I know its probably too late for pete but maybe the other puffers will benefit. 

I got my first 2 puffers from a different shop and they were definitely bigger than the two I got later from Aquarium co-op so its possible they were older than I thought. 

Is it safe to assume its not a parasitic/fungal/bacterial disease because I havent added anything to the tank other than food? Or should I do some sort of treatment?

 

[Colu]

On 2/23/2022 at 7:03 PM, DrSizzle said:

it safe to assume its not a parasitic/fungal/bacterial disease because I havent added anything to the tank other than food? Or should I do some sort of treatmen

I would start adding more variety into his diet  that should help if it's dietary I can't say for sure  that he doesn't have anything else going on loss of colour can Also because by stress water  quality or disease their a number of things to consider

Edited February 23, 2022 by Colu

[Odd Duck]

On 2/23/2022 at 1:03 PM, DrSizzle said:

I do feed them ramshorn snails as well from time to time but they havent had any in awhile. I'll get some different food today after work today. I know its probably too late for pete but maybe the other puffers will benefit. 

I got my first 2 puffers from a different shop and they were definitely bigger than the two I got later from Aquarium co-op so its possible they were older than I thought. 

Is it safe to assume its not a parasitic/fungal/bacterial disease because I havent added anything to the tank other than food? Or should I do some sort of treatment?

 

It’s not safe to assume they have no parasites.  They can pick up parasites from their food.  Frozen foods have lower risk, but not no risk.  And any other live foods can potentially carry parasites.  The people that I would consider experts do recommend deworming with either levamisole or fenbendazole every 6 months after the initial deworming.  So I would plan on doing at least a single deworming and maybe even 2 doses 10-14 days apart.  @Coluis right about the age, too.  I would for sure widen the variety in their diet.  Live Daphnia, brine shrimp, blackworms, whiteworms, scuds, fairy shrimp (if you can find them), mosquito larva, and a variety of “pest” snails can be added.

[DrSizzle]

Thanks for all the advice. I got some scuds and snails for them a few days ago and they love eating them. Pete is still hanging tough, definitely moving slow still but spending less time sitting on the bottom. 

I think im going to treat the tank with a dewormer, Fritz Expel-P or ParaCleanse I think. Does anyone have experience with these products? Do I need to remove the carbon filter and inline UV light to use this? 

[Colu]

On 2/25/2022 at 9:15 PM, DrSizzle said:

Do I need to remove the carbon filter and inline UV light to use this

When treating with meds you need to turn off your UV steriliser and remove active carbon they will stop the medication from working I would treat with expel p it's a more powerful dewormer 

[Odd Duck]

On 2/25/2022 at 3:15 PM, DrSizzle said:

Thanks for all the advice. I got some scuds and snails for them a few days ago and they love eating them. Pete is still hanging tough, definitely moving slow still but spending less time sitting on the bottom. 

I think im going to treat the tank with a dewormer, Fritz Expel-P or ParaCleanse I think. Does anyone have experience with these products? Do I need to remove the carbon filter and inline UV light to use this? 

Expel-P(levamisole) for sure.  Paracleanse (praziquantel) is more for tapeworms, which are less common in pea puffers than other types of worms.  I did use Paracleanse also, because I’m paranoid and see the worst of animal issues, but my main focus was the levamisole.  I got the powder and divided it into portions to mix with water for dosing because I have a scale accurate to 0.1 grams that I bought for weighing my tiniest patients.  This dosage (pic below) is what I’ve done.  I did double check this dosing and the math is accurate.  I disagree with with the 2-3 weeks part at the end.

Dose weekly for 4 weeks.  If you want to also dose Paracleanse, then dose twice, 2 weeks apart.  They can be dosed at the same time, but I don’t dose on the same day.  I dosed the Paracleanse the day after dosing the levamisole since the Paracleanse is supposed to stay in the water for a week.  Timing is everything whither deworming.  If you go too long between doses, you give any remaining parasites time to go through their life cycle again.

My regimen (designed to get all the deworming done within my standard 1 month quarantine period):

1. Large water change, making sure to siphon up as much debris/detritus as possible.  The organic debris can inactivate the levamisole and could contain expelled eggs and worms.

2. Dose with levamisole per the recommendation in the attached picture.  Use an amber bottle to store the stock solution or wrap it in opaque tape like painter’s tape.

3. Large water change 24 hours later, again siphoning the bottom as much as possible to remove expelled microscopic worms and eggs as much as possible.

4. Dose with Paracleanse and wait one week before next water change as long as there is no indication of needing another water change based on fish behavior or tank parameters.

5. Repeat steps 1-3 for second levamisole dose and third levamisole dose.

6. Repeat step 4. Paracleanse dose 2 weeks from the first dose.

7. Repeat steps 1-3 again for 4 total doses.

Total dosing regimen: Week 1 - levamisole, 24 hours later - Paracleanse, week 2 levamisole, week 3 - levamisole and Paracleanse, week 4 - levamisole.

 

For this situation, I would at least do 2 doses of levamisole, one week apart.  If not back up to speed after that, then repeat weekly for 4 total doses.

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by Odd Duck
To clarify

[DrSizzle]

Just wanted to give another update, Pete seems to be 100% back to his old self. I mixed up his diet by adding snails and scuds, treated with aquarium salt and expel, and everyone seems totally happy. Thanks so much for all the advice! 

I have a 10G tank I think im going to use to start a feed source but I'll make a new thread about that. Cheers!

Edited February 28, 2022 by DrSizzle