# Pea Puffer suddenly skinny, help?



## Pencil2Print (Nov 20, 2009)

Hi all,

I've had a pair of pea puffers in a 9 gal tank for nearly 2 years. They've always been fat and energetic. I've always fed frozen bloodworms and pond snails that I've been raising in a separate tank for them.

I noticed one of them has been very skinny lately, while the other is round and roly poly. Skinny one has been hiding more, but does come out when I approach the tank. She eats the bloodworms happily and I see her stomach get fat, but she's in general skinny.

Anyone have any ideas what I can do? Is she nearing the end of her lifespan?

I tred to get some photos, hard to take! I got photo of both for comparison..


*The nice fat one:
*









*The skinny one eating a bloodworm:
*


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## Stacy1 (Dec 15, 2016)

Ive had this happen but unfortunately, like you, I had no idea what was causing it, and still dont. Mine ended up dieing unfortunately. I dont know how long they live in captivity. You could try treating for parasites but it seems unlikely unless youve added something new to the tank recently.


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## Pencil2Print (Nov 20, 2009)

the only thing I've added to the tank was some oto's about 3 months ago. I doubt they are the cause since it was pretty recent I noticed she's skinny.

I saw life span can be around 3-5 years on some sites, and 2-3 years on another.


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## ainissesthai (Jun 17, 2017)

Could be worms. Try treating with fish dewormer. If she is still eating crush up some pumpkin seeds to a fine powder and let the food sit with that and some water before freezing, it will help to paralyze the worms until you can get some proper medication. All fish have worms in them, but stress can make it hard for them to keep the worms in check. Treating her will at least give her a fighting chance. Good luck!


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## Highseq (Jul 26, 2017)

Do live blood-worms have the possibility of carrying parasites? I have heard feeding other live food can pose this risk, in which case it could be a parasite. I'm not sure what a healthy pea puffer looks like though honestly.


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