white poop and not eating

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freebyrd

Piranha
MFK Member
Jul 6, 2010
1,167
37
81
Virginia
My water parameters are correct, 10ppm nitrates and 7.0 ph. Temperature is right at 82f. My wild caught festae have white stringy poop and seem to be pooping alot, yet they do not eat. A few weeks ago they would eat thawed frozen krill, bought from petsmart. They used to eat pellets and seem interested but don't try to eat them. I have treated with jungle parasite clear tablets dissolved in water twice and haven't seen an improvement.. their belly's are slightly sunken in and colors are dull...please help with any suggestions you have
 
Jungle meds I used had praziquantal in it, I made sure when I bought it. I followed the medication directions to a T. No charcoal ect.
 
Re-treat with metro and hopefully they start eating again... Put metro (and praziquantel if you want) in the food too, try soaking in garlic to entice them.
 
Kent garlic extreme worked for my cichla who would not eat
 
White stringy feces and decreased appetite are very common signs with intestinal parasites (specifically flagellates). We would confirm the diagnosis by evaluating the fecal sample under the microscope, although not all intestinal infestations will result in positive fecal samples. Some of these infections (such as Spironucleus/Hexamitia) respond very well to metronidazole, however, the best treatment responses occur when the medication is added to the food. There are some intestinal flagellates such as Cryptobia that do not typically respond well to oral metronidazole.

brian

Brian Palmeiro, VMD
Pet Fish Doctor
www.petfishdoctor.com
 
Bloat? Stringy white feces to me sounds like bloat. It will infect your whole tank, and if you're at the white stage, most likely the fish will die but you can save the others. You can use Metronidazole (Emtryl or Flagyl) or Clout (follow directions). You might also consider adding a mixture of Epsom salt and table salt (half and half): 1 tsp for every 10 g. So, 20g tank, I'd do one tsp table salt (iodine is OK--the small amount of it in table salt can actually help with parasites) and one tsp epsom. A little bit of salt can improve the slime coat, and help slow down if not kill the parasites.
 
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