white stringy poop internet myth

[ridgeviewreefs]

This is an interesting thread for me to read through. I got a Clownfish on Saturday that isn't eating. Today I noticed white stringy poop. Searching different threads, the common consensus seems to be parasites and to treat with PraziPro. I went out today at lunch and picked some up and dosed the water. Will be interested to see if it clears up or helps get him eating. Didn't see this thread when searching earlier.

I'm going through the same thing! Hope it works for you.

 

[andrewkw]

So rather than start my own thread I figured I'll just add to this one.

Female Ocellaris. I've had her since May 2019. She is in my nano reef which I almost never add stuff to. The last additions were some florida ricordeas a few weeks ago. I had them in my frag tank for months prior to adding. They were just frags on plugs too, no rock.

Long white stringy poo today. The only other thing is perhaps it came from her food? I looked at it under the microscope and it was pretty disappointing. Since it's solid white couldn't really see anything. One semi interesting patch beside it see below. The last picture is a macro shot, and then the clownfish herself.

This is likely the first time she has had this issue. I have been feeding more frequently these days as the nano tank is in my fish room where I'm currently raising baby maroon clownfish, so I've been trying to feed these guys more times a day. Unless this came from food, I find it very hard to believe this is actually some dormant parasite that just started up...

That being said I do have medications on hand and will treat if it looks like I need to.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

This is an interesting thread for me to read through. I got a Clownfish on Saturday that isn't eating. Today I noticed white stringy poop. Searching different threads, the common consensus seems to be parasites and to treat with PraziPro. I went out today at lunch and picked some up and dosed the water. Will be interested to see if it clears up or helps get him eating. Didn't see this thread when searching earlier.

Prazipro will clear up some internal metazoan parasites in marine fish, but I think that API's General Cure is a bit better, as it is prazi and metronidazole, and the latter is good for treating gut microbes that can also cause stringy poop. Neither work well for treating internal bacterial infections that may also cause stringy poop.

Jay

 

[Bleigh]

So rather than start my own thread I figured I'll just add to this one.

Female Ocellaris. I've had her since May 2019. She is in my nano reef which I almost never add stuff to. The last additions were some florida ricordeas a few weeks ago. I had them in my frag tank for months prior to adding. They were just frags on plugs too, no rock.

Long white stringy poo today. The only other thing is perhaps it came from her food? I looked at it under the microscope and it was pretty disappointing. Since it's solid white couldn't really see anything. One semi interesting patch beside it see below. The last picture is a macro shot, and then the clownfish herself.

This is likely the first time she has had this issue. I have been feeding more frequently these days as the nano tank is in my fish room where I'm currently raising baby maroon clownfish, so I've been trying to feed these guys more times a day. Unless this came from food, I find it very hard to believe this is actually some dormant parasite that just started up...

That being said I do have medications on hand and will treat if it looks like I need to.

I thought I read somewhere thatjust being white could be from food, but the combination of white and stringy is concerning. @Jay Hemdal you said stringy also, and know way more than me. Is that a picture of white poop or white stringy poop? And is one more problematic than another?

for the record, I bought a nice microscope on prime day! Can’t wait to be sharing pics like this too!

 

[ichthyogeek]

Nope the vet missed the mark on that one. Clear stringy mucus is a sign of a fish that isn't eating. White stringy feces is from a change in diet, improper diet, Hexamita/Spironucleus, or bacteria sloughing. You can easily see the latter two issues in a wet mount under a microscope. They aren't always obligate parasites, many are facultative - they are normal gut flora, but in some cases, they get out of control.

This vet says that white stringy feces is from fish that aren't eating - then why do so many people post here with fish having that symptom that are still feeding?

There are some things that I DO think are Internet myths:

Epsom salts for marine fish
Garlic as a cure for disease
Any "reef safe" medication
Stray voltage as a cause of any problem
Soaking food in medication to dose a fish

Jay

Ooh! More things to prove!

 

[ScubaFish802]

Prazipro will clear up some internal metazoan parasites in marine fish, but I think that API's General Cure is a bit better, as it is prazi and metronidazole, and the latter is good for treating gut microbes that can also cause stringy poop. Neither work well for treating internal bacterial infections that may also cause stringy poop.

Jay

Does the food soaking you touched on include the use of Focus? I know that alone does not solve the fish weight + intake amount issues though.

 

[andrewkw]

I thought I read somewhere thatjust being white could be from food, but the combination of white and stringy is concerning. @Jay Hemdal you said stringy also, and know way more than me. Is that a picture of white poop or white stringy poop? And is one more problematic than another?

for the record, I bought a nice microscope on prime day! Can’t wait to be sharing pics like this too!

Thanks, I have read some more about too much protein could cause it. If she was in any other tank I could accept something getting through but this is my "after thought" tank. I've never bought a coral or invert specifically for this tank, less sexy shrimp in 2017 and only 1 is left. All the coral comes from my other tanks or at least coral that had been in my frag tank long term.

Before I go busting out my precious medication supply (Canada) I will wait and see what happens. Reduce feedings a bit and keep an eye on things.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Does the food soaking you touched on include the use of Focus? I know that alone does not solve the fish weight + intake amount issues though.

I have to do some more research on Focus. My first take is that it can NEVER work correctly - you blend it with meds at a 5:1 ratio (why not different ratios for different drugs?) then you mix it with an undetermined amount of food, and then you feed an undetermined amount of the food to the fish... there is no way, other than shear luck, that the dose can be anywhere close to where it needs to be. It would work for the few drugs that are dosed solely on a percentage basis, notably epsom salts at 3% and metronidazole at 5000 ppt, but even those would take some serious calculations.

Jay

 

[Rogued_Reefer]

So that happened to me 2 times with my clown and a buddy that’s been in the hobby for 20+ years told me to feed a variety of foods and cut down a bit on the protein and it solved the white stringy poop.

He basically told me to do that everytime to make sure it’s not parasites. I was feeding only mysis at the time and he said when you feed them high protein food only sometimes it causes them to have white stringy poop kinda Like humans when you eat too much of something that clogs you up.