Well, it was quiet for a week or so...

[Featheryfish]

Sigh.

Well, the ich has not returned after being heat-treated away, and my fish were peppy and normal for a few days there and enjoying some new driftwood I got for them. My plants are also growing well and looking lovely. My ammonia and nitrites are zero, my nitrates have been around 5 ppm. Other assorted water parameters also fine.

When I woke up today some of my tetras were clamping their fins and drifting lethargically instead of being their usual energetic selves . I was concerned and watched them closely throughout the morning. I'm seeing stringy white waste from a couple of the most clamped-up tetras so I'm thinking internal parasites. I wouldn't be surprised if internal parasite load is what made them susceptible to that ich earlier. Everything is connected woohoo. *sarcastic jazz hands*

I ordered some general cure so that's what I'm going to try first, unless someone objects strongly and insists I can cure internal parasites with water changes and prayers. And I'm sure I'll be advised to do extra water changes, but if anyone has some additional pro tips for helping my fish pull through their latest challenge, I'd be very grateful.

Hopefully the general cure doesn't knock out my remaining three glass catfish, I'm leak testing that resealed tank right now and I've got at least a couple more weeks before their filter is cycled. I was going to move them in and get them a dozen or so more catfish friends when my LFS got their next shipment.

 

[Colin_T]

Any chance of a picture and short 30 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

 

[Featheryfish]

Any chance of a picture and short 30 second video of the fish?
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

If the video is too big for this website, post it on YouTube and copy & paste the link here. We can view it at YouTube. If you are using a mobile phone to take the video, have the phone horizontal so the video takes up the entire screen. If you have the phone vertical, you get video in the middle and black on either side.

Hiya Colin. I tried taking a few pics earlier today but I didn't feel like any of them provided a clear view of anything useful when I cranked the resolution down. It's lights out in fish town right now but I could try again with the video on Youtube thing tomorrow if you think that'll help.

After comparing some images and videos of internal parasite symptoms (yuck) to what I was seeing with my eyes, I felt pretty confident that I had the right idea and dosed them with the API General Cure.

Less than 2 hours after adding the General Cure, some assorted crazy stuff started coming out my fish and hasn't stopped. (Excreted, thankfully, nothing burrowing out of them or running out of their gills.) They already seem happier and are no longer fin-clamping so much. One that was looking particularly cruddy is showing some good improvement.

At the very least the fish are much more lightweight now.


I guess I'd just like to know whether I should feed them over the next couple of days or fast them.

 

[Colin_T]

If sick fish are eating, then feed them regularly to help them build up their strength. The food can also help push out unwanted organisms in their digestive tract.

What sort of stuff came out of them when you treated them?

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If you got the water temperature to 30C and kept it there for 2 weeks, there shouldn't be any whitespot left alive in that tank. The only way whitespot could come back in that tank is if you re-introduced it with contaminated water, fish or plants.

 

[Featheryfish]

If sick fish are eating, then feed them regularly to help them build up their strength. The food can also help push out unwanted organisms in their digestive tract.

What sort of stuff came out of them when you treated them?

Thank you! That makes sense. I was wringing my hands over whether food would push their digestion along or clog it up in this case. I'll go ahead and give them their breakfast. Thankfully they are eating, I think I caught this before they got sick enough to lose their appetites.

Ugh, mostly lumpy, clumpy or stringy waste in unusual colors, like reddish orange or white or too dark, and some things that might have been small worms, hard to say. All I know for certain is that it's definitely not what normally comes out of them and there's a lot of it.

My sailfin molly in particularly had a lot come out of him and he's visibly skinnier, even though he hadn't been acting lethargic like the tetras. He looks jolly this morning. I'd be jollier too if I were him.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Sounds like you did a terrific job. Way to go!

 

[Featheryfish]

Sounds like you did a terrific job. Way to go!

Thanks! I did something right, yay!

The catfish do not seem to be negatively affected by the General Cure, I am really happy.

 

[Colin_T]

They probably had intestinal worms. Captive bred Livebearers from Asia are always full of worms and they can look fat like they are pregnant (gravid) but never give birth. A few hours after you treat them for worms, you can usually see thin red hair like things and white tapeworms (or segments of them) being pooped out. The following day the fish are usually really skinny. Within a month they will gain weight and probably start breeding.

It's a good idea to do a huge water change and gravel clean the entire substrate after deworming fish. This will remove medication and any worms or eggs that got pooped out and help prevent reinfection.

 

[Featheryfish]

They probably had intestinal worms. Captive bred Livebearers from Asia are always full of worms and they can look fat like they are pregnant (gravid) but never give birth. A few hours after you treat them for worms, you can usually see thin red hair like things and white tapeworms (or segments of them) being pooped out. The following day the fish are usually really skinny. Within a month they will gain weight and probably start breeding.

It's a good idea to do a huge water change and gravel clean the entire substrate after deworming fish. This will remove medication and any worms or eggs that got pooped out and help prevent reinfection.

Interestingly none of my fish looked particularly fat or distended beforehand, or I probably would have noticed this issue sooner. I guess they can tuck away a lot of gunk in there. Ugh.

I was thinking when the treatment is done I'll tear out everything, shake out the plants, swish the driftwood, and vacuum the holy heck out of the sand. Thankfully none of my plants are too picky about being moved around. The API directions also suggested treating again in 3 weeks to break the life cycle of certain parasites so I got a second box of the stuff. Probably won't hurt.

I'm thinking any new fish are also getting a round of this stuff before they get anywhere near the display tank. Especially anyone from an Asian fish farm, I suppose. Apparently you can look pretty normal on the outside yet secretly harbor nasty gut critters.