Hi everyone, I recently lost a blenny that up until a couple of weeks ago was doing really well, then suddenly became very skinny, white stringy poop, then died within the next week. I have just noticed the past couple of poops from my male clownfish has also been white and stringy, so I syphoned it up as soon as it “let go” and looked at it under microscope. There were indeed nematodes within the feces/mucus.
This morning he had white stringy poop again and I was able to also get that sample before it could hit the sand bed, and same thing, nematodes.
So now I have some questions about treatment. It’s obvious now that there are parasitic nematodes in the tank. I’m aware of Fenbendazole as a treatment, but I’ve also read that it will kill other inverts such as snails and shrimp. I’ve also read that it will absorb into the rock work and take months to break down, so basically no inverts up to 6 months if I treat the main tank… not really something I want to do. Another option I’m weighing is to put the clowns in a separate, mostly empty tank, and treat with Fenbendazole there. But my concern there is that, although it might help rid them of current parasites, would they just become infested again once I put them back in the main tank? Or will their immune systems somehow fight them off once they’re healthy again? Is there maybe something else I can consider that would help within the main tank? I’ve read that Epsom salt might be effective, has anyone tried that and had success with these parasites? Right now it feels like any livestock that I might put in the tank would be at risk . Thanks in advance.
This morning he had white stringy poop again and I was able to also get that sample before it could hit the sand bed, and same thing, nematodes.
So now I have some questions about treatment. It’s obvious now that there are parasitic nematodes in the tank. I’m aware of Fenbendazole as a treatment, but I’ve also read that it will kill other inverts such as snails and shrimp. I’ve also read that it will absorb into the rock work and take months to break down, so basically no inverts up to 6 months if I treat the main tank… not really something I want to do. Another option I’m weighing is to put the clowns in a separate, mostly empty tank, and treat with Fenbendazole there. But my concern there is that, although it might help rid them of current parasites, would they just become infested again once I put them back in the main tank? Or will their immune systems somehow fight them off once they’re healthy again? Is there maybe something else I can consider that would help within the main tank? I’ve read that Epsom salt might be effective, has anyone tried that and had success with these parasites? Right now it feels like any livestock that I might put in the tank would be at risk . Thanks in advance.