Clear Stringy Poop

[David]

What causes it and how do you treat it? I just noticed one of my fish has it. Well it's not really stringy... just clearish white and really long. And it has been there all day, it's not letting go. It seems to be clinging to the fish for dear life. What's wrong? (PS other than this the fish still looks healthy)

 

[cation]

Clear stringy poop often means internal parasites, although it can also be an indicator of bacterial infection.

 

[David]

Hmmm. I suppose it was my new fish that brought it in then, because I have had no problems up till now when I got the new ones. What should I do?

 

[cation]

You didn't quarentine? Well, you'll need to treat the whole tank then. Good luck.

 

[David]

Noooooo.... lol. Well my tank has had it's share of problems in the past, I'm sure they'll get through. What kind of meds do you suggest. Oh and the reason i didn't quarantine was because the only other tank I have is 5 gallons, not really enough for a 4" discus and 2 3" clown loaches, even for a short time. I usually use it for smaller fish.

 

[gaya]

David,

for the future if you haven't heard of it, check out www.craigslist.org it's an online news paper. I have found 4 10g (that i use for quarantine) for free on craigslist.

 

[David]

David,

for the future if you haven't heard of it, check out www.craigslist.org it's an online news paper. I have found 4 10g (that i use for quarantine) for free on craigslist.

Yeah thanks I have heard of it. I saw a lot of great deals there. Unfortunately I am not really inclined to buy any more stuff at the moment, as this past weekend I just spent $100 on fish stuff that took me a while to save up. I have spent far more so far on meds than I should have (I should have spent $0). this is why I will never trust Petco. I bought 2 clown loaches from them and they introduced ick into my tank that was really hard to get rid of. Now I seem to be plagued by stupid internal parasites. If stuff keeps going wrong, I may decide to just return everything to the LFS and start from scratch, perhaps with a pair of larger cichlids like jack dempseys or several convicts.

 

[David]

Actually I'm not even sure it's an internal parasite. the poop isn't really clear, and not stringy at all, just thicker than usual and white. Is this any different?

 

[Bignose]

A site called JoAnn's Diagnosis of Fish Poop may help.

 

[David]

Uh oh... I just saw the fish "barfing"? up the same white stuff it seems to be crapping out. Now that can't be good can it? I am now prepared for the worst.

 

[David]

A site called JoAnn's Diagnosis of Fish Poop may help.

Thank you bignose, that did help quite a bit. I have determined that the fish is probably just constipated and the white colour is probably resultant from the food it is eating.

 

[gaya]

wow, I've never heard of fish barfing what a bummer. I know how it goes with ick it's such a pain. good luck.

 

[David]

Yeah I had that too and when I finally thought my problems were over... BAM! This hits.

 

[canarsie11]

Thriving huh?

 

[gaya]

canarsie11,
you have a big tank. what do you do when you notice something that's not quite a disease but something is going on. like if fish are getting to look a bit ragged from fighting or one spec on a tail that's been there for weeks without an ick out break (i have a neon like that and it's driving me crazy! ) I have learned that if I fuss too much with my tanks it can be bad for the fishes. I can't imagine treating a huge tank every time something looks suspicous (sp?)
what do you do?