Time to trim my puffer’s teeth.

[Han]

I just want to preface this post by saying that I have basically zero math education beyond high school, which I struggled immensely with and barely passed, so please forgive my stupidity.

I have a valentini puffer who needs his teeth trimmed. I’ve known this for a while now and have been putting it off, but he’s starting to get noticeably skinny and sleeps more than he used to. I purchased some Tricaine MS-222 to tranquilize him and trim his teeth, but I’m having a hard time figuring out the correct dosage. I have found several helpful articles on the subject but am still unsure and would appreciate some input from the more mathematically inclined members here before I proceed because I am very nervous about this whole procedure. I plan on using a 1 gallon container to anesthetize the fish in, so how much MS-222 do I need to use to achieve a 100 ppm concentration? Thanks in advance.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I just want to preface this post by saying that I have basically zero math education beyond high school, which I struggled immensely with and barely passed, so please forgive my stupidity.

I have a valentini puffer who needs his teeth trimmed. I’ve known this for a while now and have been putting it off, but he’s starting to get noticeably skinny and sleeps more than he used to. I purchased some Tricaine MS-222 to tranquilize him and trim his teeth, but I’m having a hard time figuring out the correct dosage. I have found several helpful articles on the subject but am still unsure and would appreciate some input from the more mathematically inclined members here before I proceed because I am very nervous about this whole procedure. I plan on using a 1 gallon container to anesthetize the fish in, so how much MS-222 do I need to use to achieve a 100 ppm concentration? Thanks in advance.

I'm terrible at math as well, but there is an easy trick for this:

Multiple the gallons of water you wish to treat by the ppm (or mg/l) and divide by 266. That will give the grams of drug required. So: gallons * PPM / 266 = grams

Let's say you want to dose two gallons of water with 100 ppm MS-222. That would be 2 times 100 divided by 266 or 0.75 grams. If you wanted to dose one gallon at 75 ppm, it would be 1 times 75 divided by 266 = 0.28 grams

Some hints in using MS-222. It is pretty acidic. I usually use an equal amount of sodium bicarbonate as MS-222. In seawater, you can perhaps get away without the bicarb, but always use it in freshwater. Work fast at trimming its teeth - 100 ppm is a good dose for anesthesia, but the fish isn't going to be stable in it for long. I wouldn't hold it in the solution longer than perhaps 4 to 5 minutes after it goes under. If you need more time, put the fish back into untreated water to revive it a bit. 75 ppm is safer, but I don't know if it will give a high enough plane of anesthesia for you - it is what I use to trim stingray spines though.

Good luck!

Jay

 

[Han]

Thank you very much, it doesn’t sound too complicated when explained like that. I’ll try it at 75 ppm once the scale I ordered arrives and see how it goes.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you very much, it doesn’t sound too complicated when explained like that. I’ll try it at 75 ppm once the scale I ordered arrives and see how it goes.

Here is another trick; weigh out the 75 ppm dose and then weigh out a 25 ppm dose. Start the fish off in the 75 ppm solution. If, after 4 or 5 minutes, it hasn't gone under, you can just spike the solution by adding the second 25 ppm dose to bring it up to 100. If you don't need it, you can just return it dry to the bottle.

Jay

 

[Han]

Just thought I’d share an update- This morning I did the procedure and successfully trimmed the puffer’s teeth. Started off at 75ppm, he was still swimming around (drowsily) so I upped it to 100ppm and within 5 seconds he was out cold. Trimmed his teeth and returned him to unmedicated tank water, where he woke up in less than a minute and was ready to be returned to the tank. After being returned to the tank he was a bit skittish but within 10 minutes was acting like nothing happened and grazing on some nori. I just fed him and he can eat much more easily now. Probably should have trimmed more but I was so nervous my hands were shaking so I guess I was afraid of cutting into his lips. Just glad he can eat normally again. Thanks for the advice Jay, it was very helpful.