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My fahaka puffer came in the mail. I was so excited. I couldn't wait to put her in her new tank. This is the puffer I waited
so long for. I did all my research, my tank was ready, her food was purchased and I had IP meds. on hand. I put her in
her new tank. She ate the very first day. She had a great appetite. No problem getting her to eat. I tried to treat her with
prazipro, she refused any food soaked in the meds. I then soaked her food in geltek. She ate it. Not a problem. I treated
her for 3 days. I was not really worried about IP's because her belly was not sunken in. It was nice and round even when
I skipped a day or two of feeding. After 40 days in a quarantine tank I moved her into her permanent home.
Once more I treated her again with food soaked in geltek. Again she ate well.
About a month later she had an eye injury. One eye turned cloudy over night.
I purchased melafix and pimafix to treat her eye. I treated her tank for 5 days. During this treatment she stopped
eating. About a week went by and I noticed that her anus was staying open. This is a sign of constipation. I thought maybe
the meds and the food strike may have given her the constipation. I decided that night to treat her tank with epsom salt. I then
put a 1/2 dose in her tank. The next morning I noticed something white about 1/4" long coming out of anus. I looked her over
really well not sure if this was IP's or not. I had already treated her twice for IP's so she shouldn't have any.
I started to look over her belly and noticed that she had these odd lumps and they seem to have moved from one side
of her belly to the middle then to the other side. I knew then she had IP's. I then added the next 1/2 dose of epsom salt.
Within a few hours she had started to pass a tapeworm. Everything I have ever read and heard always said the puffer's
belly will become emaciated not swollen and lumpy. This was not what I had been told time and time again.
Even though I had treated her twice for IP's I decided to treat her tank. She was not eating so the tank had to be treated.
I used prazipro for the tank treatment. I then added the next 1/2 dose of epsom salt. Within a few hours she had started
to pass a tapeworm. I treated her tank for 3 days with prazipro and with epsom salt. On the 4th day I did a 50% water
change. On the 5th day I started the treatment again. She was still passing tapeworm at this time. I wanted to make sure
I got all of the tapeworm out of her before it caused more problems. On the 8th day I did another 50% water change. After
approx. 24" of tapeworm had passed, it was believed that she had passed the head. On day 10 she had black pooh.
Although what happened to my puffer is rare, it happened and I did not know the signs. If I had known what to look for I
might have caught this sooner. This is not something that she caught in my tank. This is something she had long before
she ever got to me. Now that I know she has had a tapeworm I will have to treat her every few months. Tapeworms lay eggs
inside the host. There is no way to kill the eggs until they hatch. Once they hatch you can treat your puffer for IP's to kill
the tapeworms before they get as big as the one she passed. I will have to treat her repeatedly for years, possibly for the rest
of her life. I am still learning about tapeworms and how it may have affected my puffer. Many thanks to all the folks at the puffer
forum for support and help getting Annabelle through this safely and quickly.
so long for. I did all my research, my tank was ready, her food was purchased and I had IP meds. on hand. I put her in
her new tank. She ate the very first day. She had a great appetite. No problem getting her to eat. I tried to treat her with
prazipro, she refused any food soaked in the meds. I then soaked her food in geltek. She ate it. Not a problem. I treated
her for 3 days. I was not really worried about IP's because her belly was not sunken in. It was nice and round even when
I skipped a day or two of feeding. After 40 days in a quarantine tank I moved her into her permanent home.
Once more I treated her again with food soaked in geltek. Again she ate well.
About a month later she had an eye injury. One eye turned cloudy over night.
I purchased melafix and pimafix to treat her eye. I treated her tank for 5 days. During this treatment she stopped
eating. About a week went by and I noticed that her anus was staying open. This is a sign of constipation. I thought maybe
the meds and the food strike may have given her the constipation. I decided that night to treat her tank with epsom salt. I then
put a 1/2 dose in her tank. The next morning I noticed something white about 1/4" long coming out of anus. I looked her over
really well not sure if this was IP's or not. I had already treated her twice for IP's so she shouldn't have any.
I started to look over her belly and noticed that she had these odd lumps and they seem to have moved from one side
of her belly to the middle then to the other side. I knew then she had IP's. I then added the next 1/2 dose of epsom salt.
Within a few hours she had started to pass a tapeworm. Everything I have ever read and heard always said the puffer's
belly will become emaciated not swollen and lumpy. This was not what I had been told time and time again.
Even though I had treated her twice for IP's I decided to treat her tank. She was not eating so the tank had to be treated.
I used prazipro for the tank treatment. I then added the next 1/2 dose of epsom salt. Within a few hours she had started
to pass a tapeworm. I treated her tank for 3 days with prazipro and with epsom salt. On the 4th day I did a 50% water
change. On the 5th day I started the treatment again. She was still passing tapeworm at this time. I wanted to make sure
I got all of the tapeworm out of her before it caused more problems. On the 8th day I did another 50% water change. After
approx. 24" of tapeworm had passed, it was believed that she had passed the head. On day 10 she had black pooh.
Although what happened to my puffer is rare, it happened and I did not know the signs. If I had known what to look for I
might have caught this sooner. This is not something that she caught in my tank. This is something she had long before
she ever got to me. Now that I know she has had a tapeworm I will have to treat her every few months. Tapeworms lay eggs
inside the host. There is no way to kill the eggs until they hatch. Once they hatch you can treat your puffer for IP's to kill
the tapeworms before they get as big as the one she passed. I will have to treat her repeatedly for years, possibly for the rest
of her life. I am still learning about tapeworms and how it may have affected my puffer. Many thanks to all the folks at the puffer
forum for support and help getting Annabelle through this safely and quickly.
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