How to know my molly has a Internal Protozoan Infections or Intestinal Worms?

[Mizuki]

I just read this one

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

and confused about which one is the disease that my fish are suffered
/My fish symptoms are
1) has a flat/sunken belly
2)unusual swimming but still can
3)I think they has been like this for a month but not sure, maybe more or less.(I think it normall untill they're very very thin)

Now the one with short tail is dead and another one is shimmying. They are not with me but my aunt after the vacation my aunt saw some of white poop in tank and the short tail dead already. She use Metronidazole 10mg/liter to treat her now(because she doesn't have a medicine for Intestinal Worms.

 

[Colin_T]

Fish can lose weight if the water conditions are not good or the fish aren't getting enough food. Gill flukes and intestinal worms will also cause fish to lose weight over time.

If the fish are eating well but losing weight slowly over a period of time and do a stringy white poop, they probably have intestinal worms.

If fish lose weight rapidly (over a week or so), and don't eat as much as normal, and do a stringy white poop, they probably have an internal protozoan infection.

The fish in the pictures have gill flukes and are mollies. Common livebearers like guppies, platies, swordtails & mollies, regularly have intestinal worms and gill flukes and you should treat them with Levamisole or Flubendazole.

Make sure the pH is above 7.0 and the GH (general hardness) is above 250ppm otherwise mollies will struggle to survive.

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In the meant time, feed the fish 3-5 times a day so they can build up some blood and hopefully not die from low blood pressure or lack of blood. Parasitic worms and gill flukes suck the blood out of the fish and they eventually die from low blood pressure or lack of blood. Feeding them more often helps keep them alive until they can be treated.

Do big daily water changes when feeding more often to keep the water clean.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[Mizuki]

Fish can lose weight if the water conditions are not good or the fish aren't getting enough food. Gill flukes and intestinal worms will also cause fish to lose weight over time.

If the fish are eating well but losing weight slowly over a period of time and do a stringy white poop, they probably have intestinal worms.

If fish lose weight rapidly (over a week or so), and don't eat as much as normal, and do a stringy white poop, they probably have an internal protozoan infection.

The fish in the pictures have gill flukes and are mollies. Common livebearers like guppies, platies, swordtails & mollies, regularly have intestinal worms and gill flukes and you should treat them with Levamisole or Flubendazole.

Make sure the pH is above 7.0 and the GH (general hardness) is above 250ppm otherwise mollies will struggle to survive.

---------------
In the meant time, feed the fish 3-5 times a day so they can build up some blood and hopefully not die from low blood pressure or lack of blood. Parasitic worms and gill flukes suck the blood out of the fish and they eventually die from low blood pressure or lack of blood. Feeding them more often helps keep them alive until they can be treated.

Do big daily water changes when feeding more often to keep the water clean.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Thanks for your answer^-^ / If I choose Levamisole to treat my fish, what is amount of it per liter?

 

[Colin_T]

No idea on dose rates. If you buy it form a pet shop it should have directions on the packaging.

If you buy it form a stockfeed store, it will be available in 3 concentrations. The strongest is for cattle, the next is for pigs and the weakest is for chickens. Each one has a different dose rate due to be more or less concentrated than the others.

The following link has information about dose rates when using the stockfeed Levamisole.

Levamisole Hydrochloride — Loaches Online

Its application and usage in freshwater aquariums.

www.loaches.com

 

[Mizuki]

No idea on dose rates. If you buy it form a pet shop it should have directions on the packaging.

If you buy it form a stockfeed store, it will be available in 3 concentrations. The strongest is for cattle, the next is for pigs and the weakest is for chickens. Each one has a different dose rate due to be more or less concentrated than the others.

The following link has information about dose rates when using the stockfeed Levamisole.

Levamisole Hydrochloride — Loaches Online

Its application and usage in freshwater aquariums.

www.loaches.com

Recommended Dosage

Dr. Roy Yanong, V.M.D. recommends the following for treating fish with internal parasites susceptible to Levamisole HCL:
In answer to your question, the dosage rate for levamisole in a bath is 2 mg/L (2 ppm) for 24 hours (followed by 70-100% water change, and siphon the bottoms of the tanks), with repeat treatments necessary--retreat in 2-3 weeks, and probably one more time after that. This is regardless of size of fish.
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I've read the link you suggested to me. But I'm not very good at English. As written, Levamisole is 2 grams per liter of water. Am I right? / And I've seen some side effects of this drug.
: https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/problems-after-treating-w-levamisole-80000.html
Should I change my medication to flubendazole or is it normal for fish to be affected by this medication? ///Thanks for your answer. I'm really glad someone answered me ^-^

 

[itiwhetu]

How old are these fish?

 

[Mizuki]

How old are these fish?

I'm not sure either because there are so many fish like this in the tank. But I think it's very old now. because I raised the first generation since many years ago and she is their offspring.

 

[itiwhetu]

I'm not sure either because there are so many fish like this in the tank. But I think it's very old now. because I raised the first generation since many years ago and she is their offspring.

I think these are just old fish, slowly getting wrinkly and deformed like we all do.

 

[Mizuki]

My shimmying fish is still alive and its feces are black. How should I treat her? I think it has white poop may be due to the poor water quality. Do I have to change a lot of water? And if I change the water a lot, will it shock? and what medication should I use? Levamisole right?

 

[Essjay]

Shimmying - sort of swimming on the spot - can be caused in mollies by the water being too soft. Do you know if you hard or soft water?

 

[Mizuki]

Shimmying - sort of swimming on the spot - can be caused in mollies by the water being too soft. Do you know if you hard or soft water?

Here is her now. She isn't shimmying anymore but lethargy. How should I treat her(TT)/thanks for your help

 

[Mizuki]

If I want to change large amount of water now but doesn't have thermometer,how can I do to don't make her shock?

 

[Colin_T]

I've read the link you suggested to me. But I'm not very good at English. As written, Levamisole is 2 grams per liter of water. Am I right? / And I've seen some side effects of this drug.
: https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/problems-after-treating-w-levamisole-80000.html
Should I change my medication to flubendazole or is it normal for fish to be affected by this medication? ///Thanks for your answer. I'm really glad someone answered me ^-^

The dose rate used in the aquarium is 2mg (milligrams) of Levamisole per litre of water, not 2 grams. Milligrams is much smaller than grams.

The link you provided where the fish acted badly, was simply caused by too much medication. They overdosed the tank. See below for working out tank water volumes.

If you can get Flubendazole, that treats tapeworm, round/ thread worms, and gill flukes. It is a better medication but not always available in every country. But I think it kills snails and shrimp.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating with chemicals or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence when using medications to maximise the oxygen level in the water.

 

[Colin_T]

If I want to change large amount of water now but doesn't have thermometer, how can I do to don't make her shock?

Put your finger in the water. If it feels similar then it will be fine. If there is a noticeable difference in temperature, add some cold or hot water to the new water to get the temperatures closer.

 

[Mizuki]

If she has a black poop now, should I let her to the main tank? (I didn't give her flubendazole or Levamisole why she has a black poop?(T--T) Only metronidazole,salt and change water. Can white poop cause by poor quality of water? I am very confused now hahaha. When she was in the main tank. She's skinny but doesn't have white poop and act normal. But when my aunt put them in the tank (that once put fish from another tank before and had not changed the water), the symptoms immediately worsened. Is this still because of the worm? I'm so confused what to do TT