The effect of meds on fish with no ailments

[CJs Aquatics]

Hey everybody, quick question

I have a puffer fish that absolutely refuses to eat anything that’s not alive. This isn’t unusual in and of itself however the weird part is I have been pretty successful at getting them to eat a specific pellet. All of my other ones of the species except the new ones love this pellet. This particular puffer just refuses. He is extremely skinny in comparison to the other ones, noticeably more aggressive probably due to hunger. I do give him live still but I’ve been trying to introduce him to this pellet the others love as well. It occurred to me maybe it’s possible he’s still harboring parasites. Obviously this could be inaccurate and it could just be a personality thing with him (stubborn). I wanted to hear the forums thoughts on hitting the tank with a dose of paracleanse or prazi? Would it negatively effect them if they don’t have worms or parasites bc there’s a strong chance they don’t he eats live food just fine. Thoughts?

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/26/2023 at 3:35 PM, CJs Aquatics said:

I wanted to hear the forums thoughts on hitting the tank with a dose of paracleanse or prazi? Would it negatively effect them if they don’t have worms or parasites bc there’s a strong chance they don’t he eats live food just fine. Thoughts?

I would definitely be using 1-2 dewormers.  Essentially there's the common stuff, but a round of paracleanse and expel-p are likely in order. I do not know if puffers would be safe with salt and I am fairly certain one (or both) of those you'd want to have via food to be taken internally.

The fish has a sunken belly, parasites are extremely common, and it's the type of thing where long term you want to be able to feel confident that isn't a lingering issue.

Puffers, especially the pea puffers are so finicky in my view and it's not easy to get them to eat.  For the time being, make sure it's eating!

[CJs Aquatics]

Weird thing is I’m sure I treated him when I got him, and have had him for a while, but definitely some sunken belly going on. He’s got an appetite for live but puts on no weight. I was concerned dosing the tank might negatively impact his healthy tankmates but I assume it shouldn’t

[Odd Duck]

You can dose the water with either Expel-P or PraziPro since the puffer in question won’t eat pellets dosed with the meds. I would use both.  Both Expel-P (Levamisole) and PraziPro (Praziquantal) work by paralyzing the worms but are minimally absorbed from the gut and should have minimal effect on the fish.  I’ve used both with no apparent adverse effects on pea puffers (and a few other species).

Let me see if I can link the dosing regimen here (I’m not used to using my phone).  Sorry for the weird font and formatting.  It’s how it copies from “Notes”.  🤷🏻‍♀️  Hope this helps.

Deworming

Siphon out debris from the bottom before and after dosing to remove any expelled worms, eggs, debris, etc.  Levamisole is inactivated by organic debris and by light, so dose after lights out and black out the tank for 24 hours, remove organics via water changes and cleaning the bottom of debris as much as possible.

It’s likely that levamisole does what it can do within the first hour, but best to follow directions precisely.  If you have a bare bottom hospital tank available, it might be best and easiest to transfer the fish to that tank for the duration of treatment - up to 5 weeks total treatment time if doing 3 doses of praziquantal.

Levamisole treatment should be weekly for 4 treatments.  Praziquantal treatment should be every other week (at least) for 2-3 treatments and it is left in for a week at a time.  It can be dosed the day after levamisole treatment.  Remove any carbon or Purigen from filters before dosing.

Have enough dechlorinated water to do a 50% water change immediately if any adverse symptoms are seen in the fish.

A typical treatment regimen: 

1. 50% water change with careful siphoning of debris from the bottom of the tank.

2. Dose with levamisole and black out the tank for 24 hours.  Then 50% water change siphoning the entire bottom of the tank.

3. Dose with praziquantal directly after the second 50% WC.

4. One week later, 50% water change siphoning the bottom thoroughly.  Dose with levamisole following directions in step 1-2.

5. One week later (start of week 3 of treatment), repeat all steps 1-4 over another 2 weeks time.

6. Repeat all steps 1-5, then do last WC one week later after third dose of praziquantal.

Not all snails will tolerate treatments, so best to remove any snails in the tank.

 

Condensed, weekly schedule:

Week 1: siphon debris and do 50% water change, levamisole x 24 hrs, siphon.  Treat with praziquantal and leave in until next week.

Week 2: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon.

Week 3: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon, then prazi.

Week 4: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon.

Week 5: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon, then prazi.

Week 6: siphon.