Intestinal Worms and Metro soaked food.

Stingray122 · Mar 31, 2018

Hi, been feeding my pair of clownfish metro soaked food for almost a month now and im still seeing white stringy poop. They also seem to be lethargic after eating, probably because they are having problems digesting the food. Is it safe to assume that the metro soaked food is not working at this point? Am I wrong in the fact that the metro soaked food cant be stored? Ive been mixing up a batch and then keeping it in some tubberware. Should I keep at it? Maybe try some prazipro? They are in my DT. They are my only fish. Ive noticed that the poop isnt as stringy as it once was, and there are sometimes some large chunks in the mix with the strings. Thanks for the help!

Stingray122 · Mar 31, 2018

These fish were also treated with Metro, Furan-2 and Kanaplex for 14 days while they were in QT, just remembered that I should probably mention this. They also went through one dose of prazi.

melypr1985 · Mar 31, 2018

How long are you storing the metro soaked food? I wouldn't store it for longer than a few days at most.

william.sting · Mar 31, 2018

metronidazole is an antibiotic. It will alter the microbiome population levels by killing susceptible bacteria. Some of these bacteria are important for food digestion and nutrient adsorption.

Common side effects in humans can include loose bowels, constipation, and other signs of digestive problems.

In fish, one of these signs is white stringy feces.

Did these symptoms occur before treatment?

Also, watch your water quality. This drug had the potential disrupt your biological filtration system.

william.sting · Mar 31, 2018

Of the drugs you used in quarantine, two are antibiotics with the same cautions, and I've is an anti helmitic agent. Though praziquantel isn't broad spectrum, there are a number if intestinal worms that would have been effected.

So the question is, did your symptoms start before the drugs? If not, I'd recommend discontinuing then and allowing you're fish microflora to return to normal.

Stingray122 · Mar 31, 2018

Yes they had the symptoms before treatment, that is why I began the treatment. I have been storing it for longer than a few days.. maybe thats the issue. Figured it would be okay in an air tight container. Best practice to mix up a batch daily? I only have two small clowns so accurately dosing might be a challenge..maybe ill find some tiny measuring cups.

william.sting · Mar 31, 2018

The manufacturer recommends treatment up to three weeks. The problem might be simple constipation. You can try altering the diet and discontinuing the drug. I would suggest that whatever the cause, this drug isn't going to solve it.

You said they seemed to be improving anyway. Try going medication free at this point and see how they do. How are your water parameters.

Stingray122 · Mar 31, 2018

Right but I was storing the medication for a long period of time. Could have been the problem. My parameters are good. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 3-5 nitrate, 78 degrees Fahrenheit, 1.025 SG.

Stingray122 · Mar 31, 2018

Maybe I should try some mysis? Or maybe pellets soaked with a bit of epsom salt to help clear them out?

william.sting · Mar 31, 2018

Antibiotics tend to be fairly persistent. They can degrade over time, but not completely. Let's suppose it did degrade somewhat, say to only one teeth of a therapeutic dose. This would mean that the remaining bacteria are likely to have resistance to the medication. So if they still needed medicine, which they may not, the better choice would be to switch.

The mysis is a good idea. I wouldn't soak the pellets. Generally, most would recommend a varied diet anyway. So mix it up: use flakes and pellets from multiple manufacturers, and a few different frozen foods. Clowns tend to do well with some vegetable matter in their diet like nori. You could even give then some frozen spinach.

As my vegetarian wife is quick to point out, she has one tenth the digestive troubles I have. I just can't stand broccoli...

Humblefish · Mar 31, 2018

I would switch over to food soaking prazi/Prazipro, to see if it yields better results.

Two other options for treating intestinal worms are Fenbendazole and Levamisole, but both can be difficult to find.

Stingray122 · Mar 31, 2018

So today I think im going to try feeding a healthy amount of mysis, and then watch them closely. I've noticed it has been taking them quite a while to pass stool after they eat the pellets. Maybe 40 minutes, perhaps longer, never timed it. Is there a formula to mixing prazipro in with food? Guessing dosing the food would be better than dosing the entire display yes? I currently have only the two clowns in my tank, no CUC, no corals. Started with dry live rock so shouldn't cause too many problems but still I'm hesitant to treat the whole display. Thanks everyone. Ill keep you in the loop.

Big G · Mar 31, 2018

Good reading for a healthy diet that truly supports a fish's immune system: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/preparing-frozen-foods-for-my-fish-and-corals.300448/#post-3677350

Stingray122 · Apr 9, 2018

@Humblefish Still noticing white stingy poop, switching over to some new foods. I still do not notice it as much after feeding them mysis? Is it in any way possible it could just be due to food? If not, how would I go about soaking the food in prazi? Could I use Prazipro as a liquid or would I want prazi powder? I am ordering a few different types of pellets/flakes along with some selcon as I'm typing this.

Stingray122 · Apr 9, 2018

The fish seem healthy otherwise. My smaller clown has one small tear in his fin, but it seems to be healing. Think it was due to a fight with the other clown, they still do their mating ritual every once and awhile. My larger clown never seems to have as many problems with digestion as the smaller one, but I have seen it in both, definitely 10 folds worse in the smaller clown though.

Forsaken77 · Apr 9, 2018

Stingray122 said:
The fish seem healthy otherwise. My smaller clown has one small tear in his fin, but it seems to be healing. Think it was due to a fight with the other clown, they still do their mating ritual every once and awhile. My larger clown never seems to have as many problems with digestion as the smaller one, but I have seen it in both, definitely 10 folds worse in the smaller clown though.

I have used Metroplex with the binding Focus stuff and it did nothing for the fish's stringy poop. I also made it fresh everyday. They still have it and I have no idea on how to rid it.

Stingray122 · Apr 9, 2018

Yeah im unsure as to whats up either. The metro and epsom combo I used seemed to help them pass the poop, but it was definately still white in color. I cant figure out why id notice it using pellets and not the mysis as much. They eat the mysis like crazy, and I have been slowly ramping up their feedings as well because I think I was being too careful. My nitrates have been crazy low forever and no algae problems. Going to try new food and some vitamins, hopefully will see improvement or else I'm going to give prazi a try again. I have dosed prazi on these fish before, and it was during TTM, so unless the eggs are kept internally or prazi is unaffective against eggs, that may be why I am not seeing improvement.

Humblefish · Apr 9, 2018

Stingray122 said:
@Humblefish Still noticing white stingy poop, switching over to some new foods. I still do not notice it as much after feeding them mysis? Is it in any way possible it could just be due to food? If not, how would I go about soaking the food in prazi? Could I use Prazipro as a liquid or would I want prazi powder? I am ordering a few different types of pellets/flakes along with some selcon as I'm typing this.

Forsaken77 said:
I have used Metroplex with the binding Focus stuff and it did nothing for the fish's stringy poop. I also made it fresh everyday. They still have it and I have no idea on how to rid it.

I am currently experimenting with fenbendazole as an alternative treatment for intestinal worms.

In the meantime, if metro soaked food doesn't work try prazi soaked food. (Or vice versa.) API General Cure contains both medications.

Stingray122 · Apr 10, 2018

How would you recommend dosing the food with prazi? Get some powdered prazi or use prazipro? Is the ratio the same as the metro soaked food or is focus not needed? Thanks.

Forsaken77 · Apr 10, 2018

Humblefish said:
I am currently experimenting with fenbendazole as an alternative treatment for intestinal worms.

In the meantime, if metro soaked food doesn't work try prazi soaked food. (Or vice versa.) API General Cure contains both medications.

Do you currently have an internal parasite issue, or is this just for QT purposes?

Also, the other guy had a question about how to dose the Prazi in food, but didn't use reply, so I didn't know if you'd see it

.