Possible internal parasites in clown - treatment

fotuskyt · Jul 23, 2023

yesterday I noticed my female clown has some stringy white poop stuck to her which sent me into a panic. I rushed to the LFS to get my water tested for the third time in 3 days to which my water is perfect the owner said. I showed him a video of the clown and he doesn’t think she’s acting abnormal but to watch to see if she starts losing weight and if she does use metroplex and focus. By the time I got home from the LFS, the poop was gone but I’m still tweaking

I do have to mention that I got these fish and entire set up from someone 4 days ago. I don’t know if it could possibly be stress from moving/new environment. The previous owners were feeding the fish with marine pellets before I got them so I’ve stuck to that. The first two days of having the fish, they didn’t eat much/didn’t seem interested (could be constipation??) yesterday they ate just fine and today I gave them brine shrimp that I thawed which made them go absolutely crazy happy (most I’ve seen them eat this entire time)

After doing my own research on R2R, I’m leaning more towards using general cure instead. I would prefer not to wait incase it’s an emergency. How do I go about this? Dosing the display tank or mixing with food?

fotuskyt · Jul 23, 2023

@Jay Hemdal would love your advice on this

Porcupine Reefer · Jul 23, 2023

I would mix medication with food, that's how I cured my blue hippo tang with seachem metroplex when they had a bad case of ich.

vetteguy53081 · Jul 23, 2023

fotuskyt said:
yesterday I noticed my female clown has some stringy white poop stuck to her which sent me into a panic. I rushed to the LFS to get my water tested for the third time in 3 days to which my water is perfect the owner said. I showed him a video of the clown and he doesn’t think she’s acting abnormal but to watch to see if she starts losing weight and if she does use metroplex and focus. By the time I got home from the LFS, the poop was gone but I’m still tweaking

I do have to mention that I got these fish and entire set up from someone 4 days ago. I don’t know if it could possibly be stress from moving/new environment. The previous owners were feeding the fish with marine pellets before I got them so I’ve stuck to that. The first two days of having the fish, they didn’t eat much/didn’t seem interested (could be constipation??) yesterday they ate just fine and today I gave them brine shrimp that I thawed which made them go absolutely crazy happy (most I’ve seen them eat this entire time)

After doing my own research on R2R, I’m leaning more towards using general cure instead. I would prefer not to wait incase it’s an emergency. How do I go about this? Dosing the display tank or mixing with food?

In many cases especially with clowns, excessive mucus is present in their stomach lining and can evolve from types of foods fed especially a heavy mysis shrimp and/or brine shrimp diet. The fish is fairly plump and with internla issue, you will see thinning of belly and pinched stomach/head effect. Also no appetite.
Often changing up diet will alleviate the mucus and white feces.
offer- Sm plankton, TDS pellets and formula 1 frozen and you should see a change. I dont recommend metro which has to be applied precisely which is 0.5 grams by weight which is a super tiny amount

Jay Hemdal · Jul 23, 2023

fotuskyt said:
@Jay Hemdal would love your advice on this

The fish don't look bad in the video...

Is the tank fully cycled?
I don't see any aeration going on, you really need bubbles breaking the water's surface for good gas exchange.

In terms of Metro and Focus, don't do that unless you have a gram scale and can mix up a 0.5% dose - otherwise you're just guessing at the dose and you want to avoid that.

In terms of mucus feces, here is a right up I did about that:

Idiopathic mucus feces: this fancy term is just to describe white mucoid bulky feces of no serious consequence, but of an unknown cause. Some suspicion is that this can be caused by changes in diet or diets high in fats.

Starvation: Fish that have no food moving through their bowels may excrete white mucoid feces with little bulk to them. The primary diagnostic for this issue is evident in that the fish won’t been seen to be eating. Resolving the anorexia is of course the prime focus to resolve this issue.

Bacterial infection: internal bacterial infections can cause stringy feces as well. While some of these may resolve on their own, medicated foods containing a broad spectrum, gram negative oral antibiotic may be required.

Metazoan infections: multicellular worms are often blamed for mucoid feces, but in reality, they are almost never the root cause for this, and really, can only be diagnosed through looking for their ova in fecal samples. Fish can harbor tapeworms and nematodes without producing mucoid feces.

Protozoan infection: Hexamita and related diplomonad flagellate protozoans very frequently cause white stringy feces, especially in newly acquired clownfish. Metronidazole is the most frequent treatment for this issue. It can be dosed orally at 25 mg per kg of fish body weight, or 5 g in a kg of food. However, it is a very bitter medication, and some fish will refuse to feed on food containing it. It can be dosed in the water at 25 mg/l, but this is more effective in treating marine fishes, as freshwater fish do not “drink” aquarium water.

Coccidia: These microscopic, spore-forming, single-celled parasites are common diseases in dogs and cats. In fish, they cause epithelial necrosis of the gut, enteritis and the copious production of mucus (Noga 2010). These cannot be diagnosed without microscopic examination, and there is no well researched cure for this in fishes, although Toltrazuril has been tested.

Constipation: This malady is often given as a cause for stringy feces, but it is not as common as one would think. When it is seen, the feces are usually dark, not light in color. Often touted as a “cure for constipation”, many aquarists add Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to the aquarium’s water – do not do this in marine aquariums, its use is primarily as a tonic/dip for freshwater fish. Seawater formulas already contain between 7 and 19 grams of magnesium sulfate per gallon (depending on the recipe). NSW magnesium level is around 1200 ppm and sulfur is around 840 ppm. Some benefit might be seen using it as a dip in additional concentrations, but adding a small amount to a marine aquarium itself has no benefit. Epsom salts do have some possible benefit when mixed into the food as a 3% by weight adjunct. Another commonly heard remedy for constipation is; “feed fresh peas”. This is an effective cure for fancy goldfish and Malawi cichlids that develop constipation and bloating. Again, overextrapolation has marine aquarists trying to feed peas to carnivorous fish, etc. The best method to enhance gut motility in fish is to feed frozen adult brine shrimp – not as a permanent diet, just long enough to get the constipation resolved.

Jay

fotuskyt · Jul 23, 2023

Tank is fully cycled to my noob knowledge. Previous owners did not have a powerhead so I picked up a cheap top fin one. When I first turned it on the fish were getting blasted so I have it on the lowest possible setting that shoots out small bubbles every couple of seconds and I can feel the current when I stick my hand in. I do plan to periodically raise the flow, I just don’t want to freak the fish.

So your recommendation would be what? General cure? Your write up was the reason I decided against the metro and focus.

Thanks so much Jay

-Taylor

fotuskyt · Jul 23, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
In many cases especially with clowns, excessive mucus is present in their stomach lining and can evolve from types of foods fed especially a heavy mysis shrimp and/or brine shrimp diet. The fish is fairly plump and with internla issue, you will see thinning of belly and pinched stomach/head effect. Also no appetite.
Often changing up diet will alleviate the mucus and white feces.
offer- Sm plankton, TDS pellets and formula 1 frozen and you should see a change. I dont recommend metro which has to be applied precisely which is 0.5 grams by weight which is a super tiny amount

Do you mean TDO like chroma boost?

And yes to my knowledge they’ve never been fed anything other than new life spectrum, so I didn’t want to chalk it up to excessive mucus from shrimp (which I only gave today)

Jay Hemdal · Jul 23, 2023

fotuskyt said:
Tank is fully cycled to my noob knowledge. Previous owners did not have a powerhead so I picked up a cheap top fin one. When I first turned it on the fish were getting blasted so I have it on the lowest possible setting that shoots out small bubbles every couple of seconds and I can feel the current when I stick my hand in. I do plan to periodically raise the flow, I just don’t want to freak the fish.

So your recommendation would be what? General cure? Your write up was the reason I decided against the metro and focus.

Thanks so much Jay

-Taylor

Back in the day, every aquarium had an air pump and air stone. We never had issues with gas exchange. Now days, I see all of these tanks with glass still water surfaces...people have stopped using air pumps, don't know why.

Gas exchange isn't the cause of any issues here, I was just trying to forestall future problems.

Many powerheads have an air injection method, with the little hose going above the surface of the water, drawing in some air. I can see yours has one in the video, but I'm not sure why it isn't drawing in some air....try opening the end of a bit with a few twists.

Jay

vetteguy53081 · Jul 23, 2023

fotuskyt said:
Do you mean TDO like chroma boost?

And yes to my knowledge they’ve never been fed anything other than new life spectrum, so I didn’t want to chalk it up to excessive mucus from shrimp (which I only gave today)

Chromaboost yes and many LFS feed mysis and brine as its cheap and a great enticer to eat

fotuskyt · Jul 23, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Back in the day, every aquarium had an air pump and air stone. We never had issues with gas exchange. Now days, I see all of these tanks with glass still water surfaces...people have stopped using air pumps, don't know why.

Gas exchange isn't the cause of any issues here, I was just trying to forestall future problems.

Many powerheads have an air injection method, with the little hose going above the surface of the water, drawing in some air. I can see yours has one in the video, but I'm not sure why it isn't drawing in some air....try opening the end of a bit with a few twists.

Jay

Okay I just adjusted the powerhead and here’s where we’re at.