Guppy always has long stringy poops, what could it be?

[Ziplex]

Hi, I have 3 guppies in my tank. It's fairly heavily planted low tech tank. I've had all of them for about a month. I did cycle the tank fist and my numbers are pretty much always 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate (I believe the plants are consuming all the nitrates generated by the fish). I do weekly waterchanges of about 20-30%. Last time I checked, about a week and a half ago, KH was 3 and GH was 7. The tank is running a 3 stage filter 24/7 and has a heater holding it at about 78.

Anyway to the issue. Pretty much the whole time I have had this one guppy it has had long stringy poop that stays attached for long periods. Sometimes the poop is solid as pictured, sometimes it's just clear thin stringy mucus like stuff. The fish has pretty much no interest in any of the food (Omega one freshwater flakes & color flakes, and hikari fancy guppy pellets are the main ones) I put in the tank (except once when I tried peas with garlic), though both the other guppies go nuts at feeding time. Instead this fish spends it's day cruising around the tank pecking at plants, the substrate, the driftwood, etc. It is clearly eating something due to all the poop coming out of it though.

I have tried treating the tank with API general cure, and Levamisole without much luck. The first day of API general cure it seemed like it might be having an effect, but things were the same by the next day so I think it might have been in my head.

Is my fish just weird? Does he have fish IBS? Am I missing something? Is there another treatment I should try?

(Looks like my images are too large. I am going to post the thread and then get on my computer and upload the images after.)

 

[Ziplex]

 

[fish48]

Give them some live food such as daphnia it's far better than giving them peas 1 feed all my fish on spinach. I personally believe it's better than any peas. also to keep guppies in good condition they should have some live foods in their diet.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Pellets are generally too big for guppies, unless they are a tiny pellet. And flake should be crumbled up a bit so the fish can eat it.

Live or frozen foods will usually encourage fish to eat. Live brineshrimp is available from most pet shops and you can buy frozen fish foods like daphnia, brineshrimp, bloodworms, etc from any pet shop. You keep these foods frozen and take a small bit out, defrost it and add a few bits at a time to the tank. Feed the fish until they are no longer interested then stop feeding and remove any uneaten food.
*NB* Wash hands with soapy water after handling frozen fish food.

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How long did you use the API General Cure and Levamisole for?

If fish do a stringy white poop it is a concern. If the poop is coloured (brown, black or anything but white) it is nothing to worry about.

Stringy white poop can be caused by an internal bacterial infection, internal protozoan infection, or intestinal worms (tape worms and round/ thread worms).

With internal bacterial infections the fish usually swells up overnight, stops eating, does a stringy white poop, hangs around a filter outlet or just under the surface and breathes heavily, and usually dies within 24 hours of showing these symptoms.

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Internal protozoan infections cause the fish to lose weight over a week or two, do stringy white poop, the fish might stop eating but they usually try to eat. If not treated they usually die within a couple of weeks.

Metronidazole is the most commonly used medication for internal protozoan infections. It usually wipes out filter bacteria so you need to monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels when using it. Fish should be treated for at least 1 week but no longer than 2 weeks. If there is no improvement after 1 week it probably isn't working and you need to look at other medications or diseases.

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Intestinal worms will cause fish to get skinny over time (a month or more) and do a stringy white poop. The fish will continue to eat normally. In fish that are heavily infested with worms, they actually look fat (like a pregnant guppy) due to all the worms in their intestine. Worms don't normally kill the fish unless the fish is full of them, and then the fish dies from lack of blood.

Praziquantel is used to treat tapeworm & gill flukes, and Levamisole is used to treat some round/ thread worms. When treating for intestinal worms and gill flukes, you treat all the fish and all the aquariums at the same time. You treat once a week for 3 weeks to kill any worm eggs that hatch. You do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 24-48 hours after treatment.

Carbon should be removed from the filter when treating fish with medications. You should increase aeration/ surface turbulence when adding chemicals to the tank.