Maroon clown

SaltyShel · Sep 7, 2022

Please help me

my maroon clown has white stringy poop
the Tank has been going down hill for a while and I’ve been trying to fix it but there’s a lot of issues. I have a brand new tank I’m trying to put him in. There’s nothing in it and I want him to go in there. I took him out of the ****** tank, he’s in a big glass bowl and I’m acclimating him for the NEW tank. Yes it’s cycled. He’s swimming on his side, sometimes not at all, sometimes upside down, just not normal. He was literally acting fine yesterday…

I just need to know - If I get internal parasite treatment like prazipro, focus, whatever else (not copper though) can I soak it in his food and do all the treatments in the NEW tank? The ONLY thing I will have in there is 1 hermit and 1 snail. No coral.

Fish stores are closed. Is there anything else I can do right now??? Besides get him in a fresh clean tank??

vetteguy53081 · Sep 7, 2022

SaltyShel said:
Please help me

my maroon clown has white stringy poop
the Tank has been going down hill for a while and I’ve been trying to fix it but there’s a lot of issues. I have a brand new tank I’m trying to put him in. There’s nothing in it and I want him to go in there. I took him out of the ****** tank, he’s in a big glass bowl and I’m acclimating him for the NEW tank. Yes it’s cycled. He’s swimming on his side, sometimes not at all, sometimes upside down, just not normal. He was literally acting fine yesterday…

I just need to know - If I get internal parasite treatment like prazipro, focus, whatever else (not copper though) can I soak it in his food and do all the treatments in the NEW tank? The ONLY thing I will have in there is 1 hermit and 1 snail. No coral.

Fish stores are closed. Is there anything else I can do right now??? Besides get him in a fresh clean tank??

PraziPro and focus (which is a binder for food and treats bacterial and fungus) wont help much. You can combine 5000ml of seachem metro with focus , that is IF internal issue.
Fish seems to be moribund from your description but some pics and even a video under white lighting will help
** If you are feeding the fish mysis shrimp, brine shrimp or both, they often mimic the internal white poop concern.
The behaviorcan also be the small container but pics/viseo will confirm

SaltyShel · Sep 7, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
PraziPro and focus (which is a binder for food and treats bacterial and fungus) wont help much. You can combine 5000ml of seachem metro with focus , that is IF internal issue.
Fish seems to be moribund from your description but some pics and even a video under white lighting will help
** If you are feeding the fish mysis shrimp, brine shrimp or both, they often mimic the internal white poop concern.
The behaviorcan also be the small container but pics/viseo will confirm

There’s not much to show but I’ll take a pic… I’m just absolutely devastated. He won’t eat and can’t really swim. He’s just sideways.. he moves his side fins but that’s all and he’s getting picked up by the current and it’s just not good. Idk. Here’s the only pics I can get because of where he’s laying..

vetteguy53081 · Sep 7, 2022

SaltyShel said:
There’s not much to show but I’ll take a pic… I’m just absolutely devastated. He won’t eat and can’t really swim. He’s just sideways.. he moves his side fins but that’s all and he’s getting picked up by the current and it’s just not good. Idk. Here’s the only pics I can get because of where he’s laying..

Very unfortunate as this fish Dies appear to be moribund in which it may or not make it. Hard to see in pics but does the fish have cloudiness to its skin and color with a couple of dots?

SaltyShel · Sep 7, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
Very unfortunate as this fish Dies appear to be moribund in which it may or not make it. Hard to see in pics but does the fish have cloudiness to its skin and color with a couple of dots?

I don’t see cloudiness and his color looks normal except on his dorsal it looks like just a little bit losing color but not the whole fin just part of it.
what does moribund mean in a fish?

Jay Hemdal · Sep 8, 2022

SaltyShel said:
I don’t see cloudiness and his color looks normal except on his dorsal it looks like just a little bit losing color but not the whole fin just part of it.
what does moribund mean in a fish?

Moribund means "close to death". I've only seen a couple of fish ever return from this point, sorry.

If the fish is still alive this morning, then see if it will eat, otherwise, there isn't really any treatment.

White feces can be caused by a number of issues:

Excess mucus in fish feces: this will present as white or light colored, stringy fecal material that often hangs from the fish’s anus for a longer than normal period. There are a number of different causes for this, some benign, others very serious. Without access to a microscope, there is little that can be done to diagnose this issue effectively.

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.

Jay

SaltyShel · Sep 8, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
Moribund means "close to death". I've only seen a couple of fish ever return from this point, sorry.

If the fish is still alive this morning, then see if it will eat, otherwise, there isn't really any treatment.

White feces can be caused by a number of issues:

Excess mucus in fish feces: this will present as white or light colored, stringy fecal material that often hangs from the fish’s anus for a longer than normal period. There are a number of different causes for this, some benign, others very serious. Without access to a microscope, there is little that can be done to diagnose this issue effectively.

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.

Jay

Thank you so much for all this info, I really appreciate it. I just wanted to come on here and way he didn’t make it.. I keep blaming myself like I did something wrong but he seemed just fine a couple days ago.. the worst part is when I found him, he was face down, tail up, vertically in the water at the very bottom and one of his eyes popped out and I can’t stop thinking about it I’m just devastated. I’m scared to ever get a fish again, I don’t want to kill them. I thought he was okay but guess not ….