Pics of my new babies!!!

[gstoffer]

OH my lands these little boogers are hard to get a good pic of, they are soooo tiny and ALWAYS on the move!! I'm so happy I got them, their so little I didn't think they would be able to eat the snails I put in the tank for them but their pretty smart...they just flip the snails over and go to town!!

[DirtyDawg10]

Congrats...They are cute...thanks for the pics.

[PufferMom]

Cute. It looks like they have intestinal parasites, though. I would begin treatment immediately, as if you wait too long, they will stop eating and can't be treated once they stop eating. I recommend soaking their food in Gel-Tek or PraziPro.

[OrionGirl]

Agreed--it's a common problem with the puffers. Congrats, though--since they're eating now, you have a good chance of curing them!

[sarcare]

This is how mine look now, I'm treating them with metro--if that doesn't work, I'll try prazipro

[PufferMom]

For best results, a medication that contains both metronidazole and praziquantel should be used. They need to be treated for a minimum of 7 days, and they must injest the medication.

[sarcare]

Ok, I made the food by taking a chunk of bloodworms, putting metro on top, the zoe, and some garlic and letting it defrost, stiring it, and re-freezing. The puffers eat the worms, as do the other fish I'm treating. I will mix some food up with the prazi as well as the metro--thanks for letting me know they both could be used at the same time!

[PufferMom]

Food should never be defrosted and refrozen. Not human food and not fish food. You risk very bad things happening by doing that.

[sarcare]

sorry, I didn't realize that, what would you suggest? perhaps defrosting and then putting them in the fridge--would a batch last in there? I really am trying to learn

[PufferMom]

I defrost, add meds and/or vitamins, then soak in fridge for a few hours or overnight. Use no later than 8 hours after defrosting.

[gstoffer]

Oh man, I will have to order some of that too then, I don't want to loose my little babies!!! I do not have a lfs (unless you count wal-mart) so most everything I get I have to order, I'm going to see if my last order from Drs foster & smith have been sent yet if not maybe I can add that if they have it (save on s&h...that KILLS sometimes).

Thanks for the info, now I have to look this up so I can know more about it.

Gin

[gstoffer]

So should I buy both then? Also I went to bigals and Drs I need to know which I should buy though so I am going to add a couple links so you can see what they have and let me know (my order from Drs has been shipped)

Big Als has: http://www.bigalsonline.com/edealinv...m&ctl_nbr=3684
or: http://www.bigalsonline.com/edealinv...m&ctl_nbr=3684

and Dr. Fosters and Smith:
Gel-Tek Ultra Cure PX
or:Aquarium Fish Health & Antibiotics: Gel-Tek Antibiotics for Fish

[PufferMom]

You don't want antibiotics, you want antiparasitics. This is the one I recommend and use with great success:
Gel-Tek Ultra Cure PX

[gstoffer]

Ok thank you, that was the one I figured it was but I wanted make sure first, I am going to order it right now so it can get here asap, they are really good w/shipping I should have it by wed I'm sure I just hope that wont be to late, do you think they will be ok? I'm going to watch them and see if they are still eating like they were. It was so cute they would "sit" there and look at the snail like "what am I going to do with you" then poke at it a bit, then get it flipped over and they would "munch" away another one would come over and start in on it too. I love watching them!!!!

[PufferMom]

That should be fine. As far as the snails, make sure you remove any that they eat, as they are likely not going to be able to eat the whole thing and you don't want any leftover meat in the shell rotting and adding to the bioload.

[gstoffer]

I just wanted to update that they are still eating, I did get that ordered so as soon as it gets here I'll start their treatments. Now do I have to let it sit in the fridge for a few hours first or can I start imediately?
Also not that I'd do it right now cause they are sooooo little, but would they eat crickets or grasshoppers? My girls catch them all the time to throw in our cichlid tank and tonight when they got some I was wondering if when they are a little bigger could my puffs eat some too? OH and I almost rolled over laughing even though the ghost shrimp are about twice their size one of the little fella's was chasing one tonight, it was just funny to watch them...THEY ARE SOOOOO ADORABLE, I just want to hug em especially when they are looking at me through the glass and their little eyes are following me with their cute little mouths opened!!!

[PufferMom]

You can start right away. I wouldn't do it with the crickets or grasshoppers unless they are really tiny. The DPs are likely to tear a couple of legs off at most, and that's not very humane for the crickets and grasshoppers. They'll just peck it to death.

[gstoffer]

Ok then I wont, I just thought if I had them for the cichlids and the puffs could or would eat them I'd throw a few in but guess not. Thank you, oh something I thought of is there anyplace you would recomend to buy the blackworms from?

[PufferMom]

I get mine at my LFS.

[gstoffer]

Well, I ended up loosing 2 of my babies, the other 4 seem to be healthy and happy I am still adding the med to their food so I hope I don't loose any more of them, I feel soooo bad!