White stringy feces...GC works but Prazi doesn't. What is it?

Sylvester

New Member
Sorry for making a new post but i need some fresh advice. I have 2 designer clowns i have been battling to keep alive for the past 3 months after losing 3 clowns prior. Long story short.... after about 3 weeks fish stop eating, get lethargic, heavy breathing begins and fish dies in about a week with no other symptoms. After the addition of two designer clowns i had the same symptoms 3 weeks in. This time i was prepared. I put them in QT and dosed API general cure. Within hours fish started to look normal and eat. It was very fast. I put fish back in DT after 2 weeks of GC treatment in QT. 3 weeks later... same problem. This time i left tank fallow for 30 days since at this point i assumed gill flukes or internal infection. I put fish back in DT 30 days later. 3 weeks after in the DT ... same problem. Fish not eating and lethargic. This time i dosed the display with Prazi... 2 days later no improvement and large fish has white stringy poo. I moved fish immediately to QT and dosed GC again. Fish seem to be much better but the one that had the stringy poo is still not eating. Any other treatment ideas?



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Humblefish

Active Member
Prazi only treats external + intestinal worms, while GC contains both prazi + metro. The latter treats internal flagellates (basically velvet on the inside), and if your clownfish is getting better with GC odds are he has these internal flagellates.

Dosing the water helps because fish drink the medication; however to completely eliminate this problem you are going to have to start soaking his food with GC. My recipe for food soaking medications can be found below:

Using a shot glass:
1 scoop (~ 1/8 teaspoon) of medication
1 scoop Seachem Focus (this makes it reef safe)
1 tbsp food (preferably pellets or frozen food)
A pinch of Epsom salt to help expel dead worms/parasites
A few drops of saltwater or fish vitamins
Stir until a medicated food slurry has been achieved
Feed after soaking for 30 mins
Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers for future use
 

Sylvester

New Member
Thank you. I started doing this today! is their a fallow period for an infection of this nature?

Using a shot glass:
1 scoop (~ 1/8 teaspoon) of medication
1 scoop Seachem Focus (this makes it reef safe)
1 tbsp food (preferably pellets or frozen food)
A pinch of Epsom salt to help expel dead worms/parasites
A few drops of saltwater or fish vitamins
Stir until a medicated food slurry has been achieved
Feed after soaking for 30 mins
Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers for future use
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Humblefish

Active Member
Thank you. I started doing this today! is their a fallow period for an infection of this nature?

No fallow period. However, it's important for any fish who shared water with the infected to eat the medicated food. Internal parasites/intestinal worms are transmitted when another fish eats the white poop of an infected specimen.
 

Sylvester

New Member
No fallow period. However, it's important for any fish who shared water with the infected to eat the medicated food. Internal parasites/intestinal worms are transmitted when another fish eats the white poop of an infected specimen.

Thank you Humblefish. Both clowns are now eating again so Metro is certainly what is curing them. It has to be flagellates. The one clown doesn't seem to like the medicated food so i will continue to medicate the water. Seachem says I should add metro to the water every 48 hours for up to 3 weeks. How long do you think it would take to kill off the parasite dosing the water? should i just plan on 3 weeks?
 

Humblefish

Active Member
Thank you Humblefish. Both clowns are now eating again so Metro is certainly what is curing them. It has to be flagellates. The one clown doesn't seem to like the medicated food so i will continue to medicate the water. Seachem says I should add metro to the water every 48 hours for up to 3 weeks. How long do you think it would take to kill off the parasite dosing the water? should i just plan on 3 weeks?

The problem with Metroplex is it is diluted (only 70% active). If you were using metronidazole that was pharmaceutical grade (99% active) it would work much faster. But with Metroplex, I would dose every 48 hours for 3 full weeks.
 

Sylvester

New Member
While they are both eating which is good one of them seems sensitive to light. He has been hiding under cover all day while the light was on and now the light is out he is running around with the other clown. Could this be velvet? Wouldn't i see very strong external symptoms?
 

Humblefish

Active Member
While they are both eating which is good one of them seems sensitive to light. He has been hiding under cover all day while the light was on and now the light is out he is running around with the other clown. Could this be velvet? Wouldn't i see very strong external symptoms?

Not with clownfish due to their thick mucous layer (which protects them). I would probably start dosing copper if you haven't already.
 

Sylvester

New Member
Not with clownfish due to their thick mucous layer (which protects them). I would probably start dosing copper if you haven't already.

I will start copper tomorrow. I have a scooter blenny in my DT. Do i need to send him back to LFS while i go fallow?
 

Sylvester

New Member
Update... my two clowns have been in 60mg/gallon chloroquine phosphate for 3 weeks. One clown was fresh from the LFS and the other has been sick on/off for roughly 3 months in and out of QT. Fish were doing well for 3 weeks in CP but as of yesterday they are lethargic. One is not eating and has white poo string. The other is eating but not excited. I plan on doing a big Water change today and switching over to API general cure hoping it works. Last time i just used prazipro it didn't work and i lost a clown in QT with the same symptoms. I am apparently dealing with a prazi resistant strain of internal parasite. I will update after the GC treatment.20190613_105012.jpg
 

Sylvester

New Member
So the sick clown is trying to eat but he spits the food out???? I feel like its too late as i have been here several times before. I soaked pellet food in garlic, focus, and metro. One fish gobbles it up and the other spits it out. Will try again tomorrow with brine shrimp.

I also bought fendenazole fish parasite powder. Wondering if i should cut over to that? It seems this parasite is metro/prazi resistant.
 

Sylvester

New Member
Thanks. Still waiting on fenbendazole to get here. unfortunately, they are both struggling to eat. They get really excited... chase the food down and grab it and spit it out. It's almost like they are irritated when they try to swallow. For the past 3 days I have been doing 50% water changes followed by a full dose of metroplex after each WC. Could that be just too much dosing and causing them to lose apetite? I am slightly overdosing because of past experience. Doing 2 scoops of metro in 8.5g of water. Instructions say 1 to 2 scoops so i am at least overdosing by 15% and doing it daily as opposed to every 48 hours as recommended.
 

Humblefish

Active Member
Metroplex is only 70% active, so I doubt you are overdosing it. However, I've never really understood the little spoons Seachem uses because straight metronidazole powder is dosed by weight. 3.3 - 6.6 mg/L (or 12.5 - 25 mg/gal) is the dosage range.
 

Sylvester

New Member
Thank you HumbleFish for all your help and posts. Today is day 5 of a 50% WC and 2 scoops of metro in an 8.5gallon QT. One clown ate voraciously while the other ate very little (spit some out) but seemed to consume a few small pieces. The food was dosed with metro. I guess the act of spitting out food is consistent with flagellates... from what i have read. Regardless, i just received my bendazole today. Should i start dosing the tank with bendazole instead of metro? Or should i just try to start feeding the bendazole? Any advice?
 

Humblefish

Active Member
I would food soak bendazole, as it is a dewormer meant to complement metro.

Bendazole = Treats intestinal worms
Metro = Treats internal flagellates
 

Sylvester

New Member
Well i did a 25% WC and treated with 7.6mg/gallon Bendazole. I guess if its worms then guessing by tomorrow fish would improve? If i see no improvement i will switch back to metroplex. I am just surprised after 5 days of daily metro dosing i haven't seen a significant improvement.
 

Humblefish

Active Member
Well i did a 25% WC and treated with 7.6mg/gallon Bendazole. I guess if its worms then guessing by tomorrow fish would improve? If i see no improvement i will switch back to metroplex. I am just surprised after 5 days of daily metro dosing i haven't seen a significant improvement.

Metro only treats true internal parasites i.e. flagellates.

If it's a worm (e.g. Cestodes aka Tapeworms) living in the GI tract then you need to use a dewormer such as praziquantel, fenbendazole, Levamisole, Piperazine.

Both internal parasites and intestinal worms can cause white stringy poo & weight loss, so its tricky to know which one you are dealing with.
 
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