Freshwater Puffers need fattening up!

[Gatito]

Hey guys, I have 6 freshwater dwarf puffers, a few adult and some juveniles, which are all fed on bloodworms. Two of the juvies are getting really skinny, and i've noticed they seem to have trouble eating the bloodworms - they go for them, but let them go again. I'm guessing the bloodworms are too big/wide?

Have tried freeze-dried tubifex worms, but they seem too small, the puffers swim up to them but don't target any of the worms. I'm going to get a whiteworm culture going again to try them, but was wondering if anyone had any food supplement suggestions for them in the meantime? They've never shown much interest in flake foods and i think crumbles would have the same issue with width as the bloodworms.

Maybe i'll have to cut a few bloodworms down the middle :lol: :lol:

Any suggestions or insight appreciated

[phoenix44]

loss of appetite is usually caused by excessive growth of their teeth. do they eat snails?

[Gatito]

loss of appetite is usually caused by excessive growth of their teeth. do they eat snails?

Thanks phoenix44 for such a prompt response!!! They do get snails but not too regularly. The dwarves are unique as puffers that don't tend to require regular grinding down of the teeth, unlike the bigger varieties. Also it doesn't seem to be a loss of appetite, as they still show a lot of interest in food. It seems to be more a difficulty with the size of the bloodworms - i'm assuming that they get some of the smaller ones, but not enough to give them nice fat tums.

[lmsmith]

The fact that they show an interest in food tells me that it's either their teeth or an IP. Have they been wormed?

Also, some dwarfs do have problems with their teeth growing too long - take a good look.

It's quite rare for bloodworm to be too big for them, they're usually such piggies that it doesn't matter if the food is bigger than them!

Maybe try some fresh mussel. Most puffers can't resist mussel.

[Dimsum]

I don't think it's their teeth, cause dwarf puffers sneek up on snails and suck them out of the shells then they move on. My GSP on the other hand eats snails shell and everything inside.

[breakaway]

I have 1 dwarf puffer in my tank (of 6) that exhibits identical behaviour to what gatito described. He seems very skinny and has been since we got him. The others have fattened up considerably but this one is skinny.

His poop etc looks normal, no odd behaviour asides from the fact that he likes to hang out on the substrate a lot more than the other puffers. Could it be parasites? My hypothesis so far is that he's been pigging out on a lot of snails so come dinner time he isn't really that hungry (I find a lot of empty snail shells every week or so), but that doesn't explain why he's smaller / skinnier than the rest of the puffers.

[phoenix44]

could just be the weakest of the lot. they tend to have a hierarchical structure from what I have noticed with my red eyes...

[Jennifer]

If they are eating a lot of snails they are at a higher risk for parasites since some mollusks can be intermediate hosts for worms and/or flukes. Might pay to deworm with both levamisole (2mg/L for 24 hours) and praziquantel (2mg/L for 24 hours).

[lmsmith]

Poop isn't always a good way to judge IPs, sometimes the only sign fish show for a long time is lack of interest in food, or eating by not gaining weight. Everyone says poop is the surefire way to tell, but I'm not convinced.

[Jennifer]

Poop isn't always a good way to judge IPs, sometimes the only sign fish show for a long time is lack of interest in food, or eating by not gaining weight. Everyone says poop is the surefire way to tell, but I'm not convinced.

That's absolutely correct. Faecal formation and consistency is not a reliable diagnostic tool for internal parasites. Even the healthiest looking faeces can be loaded with worms and similarly, white or slimy faeces may not have any. You have to look at it under the microscope to be sure.

[Gatito]

Have got the vet putting through a script so I can worm them, will be picking it up tomorrow. Hopefully it's that.

Tried them tonight with beef heart & liver, they all showed interest but weren't keen enough to go for the strange new food :lol:. Will grab some fresh mussel tomorrow to try them with.

Maybe these two are just weak specimens? As far as the size of the bloodworms go i can't ever remember them eating the fullsize ones, so maybe they've just been feeding on the smaller ones, but aren't getting enough? Little monsters are predatory though, so when i chop bloodworms up with the rest, they go for the big ones because they distract their attention :roll:

Thanks for all the ideas and advice so far, going to worm them and keep experimenting with food, and will whack some tiny baby snails in there more regularly just in case it is their teeth (they don't touch the shells of halfsized rabmshorns, i'm not sure if they crunch the baby snail shells), though i don't think so :-?

[lmsmith]

The issue I think you're going to have is getting the worming medication into them. Do you have a plan? Maybe inject the mussel with the worming medicine?

[Gatito]

The issue I think you're going to have is getting the worming medication into them. Do you have a plan? Maybe inject the mussel with the worming medicine?

I'm getting "ad tape", which is dosed according to water volume. Have never had to worm before so all new territory, this is just what I have been told so far.

[Simian]

I had a tiny puffer once and he'd pig out on micro worms

[ryanjury]

I'm getting "ad tape", which is dosed according to water volume. Have never had to worm before so all new territory, this is just what I have been told so far.

Just bear in mind that not all worms are treated with prazi (ad tape) so you might have to treat with levamisole as well like Jenh has suggested if there is no change in the fish..

[Gatito]

Just bear in mind that not all worms are treated with prazi (ad tape) so you might have to treat with levamisole as well like Jenh has suggested if there is no change in the fish..

Thanks for that, will do