Clownfish with white stringy poop but acting normal

[SaltTank]

Greetings,

I have a Mixed Reef tank with Corals, CUC (snails & crabs) and (2) Clowns. Today I noticed one of my clowns had a trailing white stringing poop. I feed pellets, frozen brine with Spirulina, and PE Mysis on alternating days.

Both clowns are eating and swimming well.

I've done quite a bit of research on the forums and getting mixed and conflicting answers, this is what I've seen thus far:

(1) its normal because brine and mysis can cause white stringy pooh in clowns, so just monitor
(2) its a parasite that needs to be treated and prazipro dosed in DT tank will help and is safe for corals and inverts but does kill all parasites
(3) its parasite that can be treated with General Cure or Metronidazole mixed in food with Focus and fed in DT
(4) its parasite and mixing with food is not effective so move to a QT tank and dose water there with General Cure or Metronidazole

What would be the best approach?

---

Tank size 13.5gallon
Tank age: 6weeks
API ammonia test was slightly green .25ppm
Seachem ammonia alert badge 0
Seachem free ammonia test 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates are between 5-20 hard to read the API colors but "looks" like 10 but could be 20
Salinity is 1.025
PH 8.1
Temp 79
Filter floss, Chemi Pure Blue and Purigen, Seachem Maxtrix bio-balls

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Bubblebass]

I would vote for most likely #1. Watch the fish and wait to see if it's better or worse the next couple days. I bet they're just fine.

 

[SudzFD]

Based on the fact your tank is 6weeks old, your fish must be less than two weeks in the tank. You have some ammonia which also may spike post feeding due to immature biological filtration. This can stress fish and stressed fish get sick easily. I’d recommend a quarantine tank as I do not like to dose anything in the display. Only time I’ve ever seen white stringy poop on my clown was a sick clown I got from a LFS.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Greetings,

I have a Mixed Reef tank with Corals, CUC (snails & crabs) and (2) Clowns. Today I noticed one of my clowns had a trailing white stringing poop. I feed pellets, frozen brine with Spirulina, and PE Mysis on alternating days.

Both clowns are eating and swimming well.

I've done quite a bit of research on the forums and getting mixed and conflicting answers, this is what I've seen thus far:

(1) its normal because brine and mysis can cause white stringy pooh in clowns, so just monitor
(2) its a parasite that needs to be treated and prazipro dosed in DT tank will help and is safe for corals and inverts but does kill all parasites
(3) its parasite that can be treated with General Cure or Metronidazole mixed in food with Focus and fed in DT
(4) its parasite and mixing with food is not effective so move to a QT tank and dose water there with General Cure or Metronidazole

What would be the best approach?

---

Tank size 13.5gallon
Tank age: 6weeks
API ammonia test was slightly green .25ppm
Seachem ammonia alert badge 0
Seachem free ammonia test 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates are between 5-20 hard to read the API colors but "looks" like 10 but could be 20
Salinity is 1.025
PH 8.1
Temp 79
Filter floss, Chemi Pure Blue and Purigen, Seachem Maxtrix bio-balls

@Jay Hemdal

Stringy feces in clownfish is tricky. In the absence of other symptoms, I usually opt to wait, but of the scenarios you presented, #4 is the one that works best. Here is an excerpt from an article I posted here on fish mucus:

Idiopathic mucus feces: this fancy term is just to describe white mucoid bulky feces of no
serious consequence, but of an unknown cause. Some suspicion is that this can be caused by changes in
diet or diets high in fats.

Starvation: Fish that have no food moving through their bowels may excrete white mucoid feces
with little bulk to them. The primary diagnostic for this issue is evident in that the fish won’t been seen to
be eating. Resolving the anorexia is of course the prime focus to resolve this issue.

Bacterial infection: internal bacterial infections can cause stringy feces as well. While some of
these may resolve on their own, medicated foods containing a broad spectrum, gram negative oral
antibiotic may be required.

Metazoan infections: multicellular worms are often blamed for mucoid feces, but in reality, they
are almost never the root cause for this, and really, can only be diagnosed through looking for their ova in
fecal samples. Fish can harbor tapeworms and nematodes without producing mucoid feces.

Protozoan infection: Hexamita and related diplomonad flagellate protozoans very frequently
cause white stringy feces, especially in newly acquired clownfish. Metronidazole is the most frequent
treatment for this issue. It can be dosed orally at 25 mg per kg of fish body weight, or 5 g in a kg of food.
However, it is a very bitter medication, and some fish will refuse to feed on food containing it. It can be
dosed in the water at 25 mg/l, but this is more effective in treating marine fishes, as freshwater fish do not
“drink” aquarium water.

Coccidia: These microscopic, spore-forming, single-celled parasites are common diseases in
dogs and cats. In fish, they cause epithelial necrosis of the gut, enteritis and the copious production of
mucus (Noga 2010). These cannot be diagnosed without microscopic examination, and there is no well
researched cure for this in fishes, although Toltrazuril has been tested.
Constipation: This malady is often given as a cause for stringy feces, but it is not as common as
one would think. When it is seen, the feces are usually dark, not light in color. Often touted as a “cure
for constipation”, many aquarists add Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to the aquarium’s water – do not
do this in marine aquariums, its use is primarily as a tonic/dip for freshwater fish. Seawater formulas
already contain between 7 and 19 grams of magnesium sulfate per gallon (depending on the recipe). NSW
magnesium level is around 1200 ppm and sulfur is around 840 ppm. Some benefit might be seen using it
as a dip in additional concentrations, but adding a small amount to a marine aquarium itself has no
benefit. Epsom salts do have some possible benefit when mixed into the food as a 3% by weight adjunct.
Another commonly heard remedy for constipation is; “feed fresh peas”. This is an effective cure for
fancy goldfish and Malawi cichlids that develop constipation and bloating. Again, overextrapolation has
marine aquarists trying to feed peas to carnivorous fish, etc. The best method to enhance gut motility in
fish is to feed frozen adult brine shrimp – not as a permanent diet, just long enough to get the constipation
resolved.