Current water parameters are as follows :
55 gallon
2 puffs (1.5" & 2")
Ammonia/Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 ppm
Temp: Steady 80F
SG: 1.010
24" bubble wall
Heavily stocked
Both puffs were introduced to a cycled tank (resided in a 20-gallon previously, so new home and environment = possible stress!)
I feed a diet of krill, plankton, snails, shrimp, etc.
Here's my current situation:
Both puffs are breathing hard and out of one gill. Occasionally they will "cough" or "gasp" and the one closed gill will kind of flutter open until they're done coughing/gasping (I've found this website that I'm not sure is fallible or not and made me think gill flukes, but check it out and see for yourself: http://article.discusnews.com/cat-02/flukes1.shtml). They will cruise the glass until they've worn themselves out (by wearing themselves out, I mean 5-10 minutes), then sinking to the bottom/laying on plant leaf. There they will lay there, panting, not using their fins and their spots will fade. Gills are inflamed and pinkish / red. They were eating like little piggies just the other day, now it seems as if they take a bite and then swim away, therefore their appetite seems to be diminishing.
However, today I actually saw a long, red stringy like thing coming out of one of the puff's gills. Should I assume definite gill fluke? I read a previous post by Pufferpunk concerning treating your troubled puffs: Discomed by Aquatronics from the Big Al website. I tried looking that up, but apparently it has been discontinued?
In the meantime, I will have to purchase some Melafix to help with inflammation. Is there any commonly available remedy/medication from a LFS that I could use in conjunction with Melafix to treat these horrid things? Copper seems a bit iffy to me considering that they're scaleless fish. Is there any one out there who has had success treating their puffs for gill flukes?
55 gallon
2 puffs (1.5" & 2")
Ammonia/Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 ppm
Temp: Steady 80F
SG: 1.010
24" bubble wall
Heavily stocked
Both puffs were introduced to a cycled tank (resided in a 20-gallon previously, so new home and environment = possible stress!)
I feed a diet of krill, plankton, snails, shrimp, etc.
Here's my current situation:
Both puffs are breathing hard and out of one gill. Occasionally they will "cough" or "gasp" and the one closed gill will kind of flutter open until they're done coughing/gasping (I've found this website that I'm not sure is fallible or not and made me think gill flukes, but check it out and see for yourself: http://article.discusnews.com/cat-02/flukes1.shtml). They will cruise the glass until they've worn themselves out (by wearing themselves out, I mean 5-10 minutes), then sinking to the bottom/laying on plant leaf. There they will lay there, panting, not using their fins and their spots will fade. Gills are inflamed and pinkish / red. They were eating like little piggies just the other day, now it seems as if they take a bite and then swim away, therefore their appetite seems to be diminishing.
However, today I actually saw a long, red stringy like thing coming out of one of the puff's gills. Should I assume definite gill fluke? I read a previous post by Pufferpunk concerning treating your troubled puffs: Discomed by Aquatronics from the Big Al website. I tried looking that up, but apparently it has been discontinued?
In the meantime, I will have to purchase some Melafix to help with inflammation. Is there any commonly available remedy/medication from a LFS that I could use in conjunction with Melafix to treat these horrid things? Copper seems a bit iffy to me considering that they're scaleless fish. Is there any one out there who has had success treating their puffs for gill flukes?