Long stringy poop

[Diogenes]

I just noticed white stringy poop now, and i've had it for 6 months. Its poop was normal before, but it always had a bad appetite. It could cause by the feeder gold fish? i removed them 2 days ago.

Omg what a miracle, its black bars shown up and its finally chasing fish, Omg thank you all, i am good now.

ding ding ding....feeder goldfish, giving prized show specimens internal parasites for nearly 100 years.

 

[Sarah88]

Keep in mind, we are specifically talking about Herichthys here. My dovii does great on foods that many of my other fish would struggle with. The benefit of some of the better pellets is in their digestibility, so you don't have to concern yourself with tailoring foods for each and every fish in your tank.

is this why i recieved such an argument against what i said? with my comments i wasnt referring to just herichthys i was referring to all of the fish in the OPs sig. i agree that herichthys are one of the cichlids that need more plant in there diet than others, though think that still supplementing their diet along with that of the other cichlids, can be a plus as well, im not claiming to have tons of experience or anything im just speaking from my personal experience, i havent fed my carptinte any different than my other fish and they are growing like weeds (i mainly feed 3-4 different types of pellets and then only supplement fresh foods like 3 days a week)

 

[Aquanero]

is this why i recieved such an argument against what i said? with my comments i wasnt referring to just herichthys i was referring to all of the fish in the OPs sig. i agree that herichthys are one of the cichlids that need more plant in there diet than others, though think that still supplementing their diet along with that of the other cichlids, can be a plus as well, im not claiming to have tons of experience or anything im just speaking from my personal experience, i havent fed my carptinte any different than my other fish and they are growing like weeds (i mainly feed 3-4 different types of pellets and then only supplement fresh foods like 3 days a week)

I did not see where you said, did, or are doing anything wrong. Your fish are doing well keep doing what you're doing.

 

[cchhcc]

is this why i recieved such an argument against what i said? with my comments i wasnt referring to just herichthys i was referring to all of the fish in the OPs sig. i agree that herichthys are one of the cichlids that need more plant in there diet than others, though think that still supplementing their diet along with that of the other cichlids, can be a plus as well, im not claiming to have tons of experience or anything im just speaking from my personal experience, i havent fed my carptinte any different than my other fish and they are growing like weeds (i mainly feed 3-4 different types of pellets and then only supplement fresh foods like 3 days a week)

Yes, the diet mentioned was particularly bad for the Herichthys the OP mentioned. You're likely doing just fine by your fish.

 

[ceejayt2k]

These fish eat worms, shrimp, beetles, crickets, fish, flies, mosquito larvae, algae, rotten fruits etc etc etc in the wild.

While I can agree with those you listed knowing what they are talking about, Ive NEVER lost a single fish to parasites or disease and have been alternating their diets daily for years...and Id put the health, looks and overall well being of my fish up against anyones.

These guys dont get unnaturally prepared pellets in the wild, so Id have to think that these un natural ingredients (& man made additives) cant be any better for the fish than the natural diets some of us choose to feed our fish.

from NLS New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula 600g 1mm Pellets (I have no allegiance to any certain food company, just used this one because it came up first in a google search):

Typical Ingredients: Whole Antarctic Krill Meal, Whole Herring Meal, Wheat Flour, Whole Squid Meal, Algae Meal, Soybean Isolate, Beta Carotene, Spirulina, Garlic, Vegetable and Fruit Extract (Spinach, Broccoli, Red Pepper, Zucchini, Tomato, Pea, Red and Green Cabbage, Apple, Apricot, Mango, Kiwi, Papaya, Peach, Pear), Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal-Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine, DL Alphatocophero ( E ), Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Niacin, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, L-Ascorby-2-Polyphosphate (Stable C), Ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Choline Chloride.

sounds like a lot of man made meal/additives/ lab generated chemicals to emulate the nutrition received from an original source...more so than in the worms, shrimp, lettuce, crickets, mealworms, zucchini, peas etc I feed my fish. Its why mine dont get pellets as their only food. In my experience and opinion, the variation has to be better than a staple diet of the ingredients listed above.

Well said. I agree, I do give my fish a varied diet and they are completely happy.

 

[Lupin]

I just skimmed over this post, so if I missed somethng or repeat something I aplogize.

Fishkeeping is not difficult, especially with CA cichlids, but if you mess up one of the basics (environment, water quality, proper food) things can go south in a hurry.

Herichthys do NOT consume fish in the wild in any significant amounts, perhaps a stray fry here or there. Just dump the idea of feeders altogether. They take in a huge amount of very low nutrition foods as part of their grazing in the detritus -- lots of plant matter and other fibers mixed with small amounts of tiny inverts and the like. Certainly not a high protein diet. You would have better results with an easily digestible staple food and much less meaty matter.

Modern pelleted foods are more nutritious and completely satisfactory for maintenance and conditioning of cichlids. Much of the belief that a variety is necessary comes from a time when pellets and flakes were made of cheap meals and fillers. Now, however, the better pellets are very high quality diets. It is unnecessary and actually diminishes results to feed a variety of foods, especially when those foods are not suitable for the species you're keeping (as in this case worms, crickets, etc.). Every breeder I know feeds a diet of or close to 100% pelleted foods. You can target certain veggie based formulas or just go with an extremely digestible staple pellet like NLS. You will likely get some resistance to this idea, but most of it is just regurgitated "common sense" from years gone by with no basis in science.

Pimafix and Melafix are crap, even though they are heavily marketed and seem to be widely used for....well......every-freakin-thing!. They are pointless and less effective than clean water and good food. More fish are killed with a shotgun medication approach than were ever saved.

Your fish DEFINITELY has an internal parasite. The only effective way to treat it is with medicated food. Get metronidazole by Seachem from your lfs, online, or just from a pharmacy. There are many online recipes that will tell you how to feed it, but basically just soak it into pellets. Treating the water with metro is almost useless for freshwater fish.

For what it's worth, hexamita can exist at low and perfectly normal levels in most of our fish at all times and may only become a problem for weak and/or stressed fish. That is to say you don't have to "introduce" it -- it is present in many or most systems. You have stressed your fish via diet (and now Pimafix). Feed the metro in a good pellet, add some epsom salt (magnesium sulfate from any drug store), ditch the Pimafix, and keep up with your water changes. You need to do that NOW, because once your fish stops taking food he's pretty much a goner.

HTH!

Soooo well said.

 

[Lupin]

For Flagyl tablets, crush it and mix with the foods. Normally, a good dosage is 250mg per 25g as medicated food. If waterborne treatment, dose 250mg per 10 gallons. You'll be better off coaxing the fish to eat the metronidazole. It is always by ingestion that you can battle the issue better especially if the issue is internal.

 

[NOLAGT]

Question about the white poop...some of my fish (large breeding festae and Peru oscars) poop white stuff. Not long white/clear hairlike strings...but thicker white stuff. Does it 100% mean there is a issue if the poop is anything but food color?

 

[Lupin]

Nolagt, do you have photos of the poop? Depends how exactly they look. Normally, stress, internal parasites and bacterial infections involve very thin but still stringy poop. If the poop appears to have scolex on one end, then you may be battling cestodes (flatworms). Prazi, levamisole, fenbendazole and flubendazole can correct this issue.

As always, do NOT treat yet unless the issue is correctly diagnosed otherwise you risk fatally killing your fish with the wrong meds!

 

[honda237]

i have had the similar problem, i did have an outbreak of internal parasites in my 125 which killed 8 fish, but my question is, this happens to some of my fish even after using jungle parasite meds, and double dosing, why is that? its my trimac that had this problem, she could have gotten internal parasites but i treated with jungle parasite meds once and nothing really change, she was laying eggs that day, could this be the problem?