Rippinfrags
Active member
Uh oh you better get ready to treat your fish with chemotherapy. Jk, good luck!
clown fish - white stringy poop
- Thread starter ItzJustinN
- Start date
f3honda4me
New member
No. Formalin is used for stuff like brook.
f3honda4me
New member
That's cancer in humans. Not fish...
So unless you plan on drinking it...
Prazi is one of the more gentle treatments for fish. I would not think twice about using it in your situation. As for it killing fish, that's a scapegoat. I couldn't find one thread where someone could prove that is what killed their fish. Yes it can cause a bit of ph drop and lower oxygen a bit, but if you have decent flow and/or surface agitation and area you are fine. I dose prazi in 10g tanks with a hob and air driven sponge. Works great.
alexandernewell
New member
You should never see feces hanging from a saltwater fish in the same way you see goldfish poop. Usually the current is more than enough to break or disperse it. If the fish is actively moving about, that should also break it. That makes me think its more than just diet, though that can easily be a contributing cause.
That its stringy, and staying together while attached to the clown makes me think internal parasites. Often not serious. A simple change in diet may help the clown beat the bug on its own. They are pretty tough little fishes, if its moving well and eating well i would hold off on medication though I would separate the one not showing any symptoms if possible.
I have one pair of occelaris, a single occelaris, a pair of maroons, and a clarkii. I haven't ever seen that kind of poop on my fish at home, though I do sometimes see it on new arrivals at the LFS where I work. My fish are in a stable system and fed a diet primarily of spirulina flakes, and weekly mysis, krill, whatever else frozen I have managed to fill my freezer with. Point being, primarily algae flakes, so I can hand feed them and they learn not to bite me. A nice varied meal once a week to fill in vitamins and the like. The new arrivals at work are fed a similar mixture though instead of algae flakes they get the hatchery food.
That said, the ability of a parasite to express itself is generally due to stress on the fish. Once the new arrivals have acclimated, and have stayed on the same diet [presumably they didn't show symptoms at the hatchery] with a bit of a frozen super slurry here and there they clear up in no time. Give the fish some time to get used to you and calm down.
If the problem persists but does not worsen, try gradually lowing the Specific Gravity [salt content] of your water to around 1.012~1.015. This makes it easier on the fish to maintain its internal salt levels and gives it a bit more energy to fight the bug. Also lowering the temp to the low 70s can help by slowing the metabolism and encouraging the fish to rest.
If that fails, use the meds they mentioned above. Usually someone will just spit out an answer if they had a similar problem and found an answer that worked for them. I try to stay away from the meds myself because of cost and potentially further stressing the fish. If they are too stressed the meds won't do any good. If the fish seems its might be on its last legs, try some meds. I had never had success with medications before but as a last ditch effort I used API general cure to fight a nasty case of velvet in my freshwater tanks and it worked like a charm. It saved goldfish. Sometimes the meds work wonders.
Garlic helps attract the fish to the food and it seems to help them repair fin damage and the like more quickly. Its not a super cure all but it certainly helps
Spirulina i think contains fatty acids that help with general development and the like but I have done little research into it. I feed it with great success.
Sorry for the long post but the thread seemed a bit off topic.
That its stringy, and staying together while attached to the clown makes me think internal parasites. Often not serious. A simple change in diet may help the clown beat the bug on its own. They are pretty tough little fishes, if its moving well and eating well i would hold off on medication though I would separate the one not showing any symptoms if possible.
I have one pair of occelaris, a single occelaris, a pair of maroons, and a clarkii. I haven't ever seen that kind of poop on my fish at home, though I do sometimes see it on new arrivals at the LFS where I work. My fish are in a stable system and fed a diet primarily of spirulina flakes, and weekly mysis, krill, whatever else frozen I have managed to fill my freezer with. Point being, primarily algae flakes, so I can hand feed them and they learn not to bite me. A nice varied meal once a week to fill in vitamins and the like. The new arrivals at work are fed a similar mixture though instead of algae flakes they get the hatchery food.
That said, the ability of a parasite to express itself is generally due to stress on the fish. Once the new arrivals have acclimated, and have stayed on the same diet [presumably they didn't show symptoms at the hatchery] with a bit of a frozen super slurry here and there they clear up in no time. Give the fish some time to get used to you and calm down.
If the problem persists but does not worsen, try gradually lowing the Specific Gravity [salt content] of your water to around 1.012~1.015. This makes it easier on the fish to maintain its internal salt levels and gives it a bit more energy to fight the bug. Also lowering the temp to the low 70s can help by slowing the metabolism and encouraging the fish to rest.
If that fails, use the meds they mentioned above. Usually someone will just spit out an answer if they had a similar problem and found an answer that worked for them. I try to stay away from the meds myself because of cost and potentially further stressing the fish. If they are too stressed the meds won't do any good. If the fish seems its might be on its last legs, try some meds. I had never had success with medications before but as a last ditch effort I used API general cure to fight a nasty case of velvet in my freshwater tanks and it worked like a charm. It saved goldfish. Sometimes the meds work wonders.
Garlic helps attract the fish to the food and it seems to help them repair fin damage and the like more quickly. Its not a super cure all but it certainly helps
Spirulina i think contains fatty acids that help with general development and the like but I have done little research into it. I feed it with great success.
Sorry for the long post but the thread seemed a bit off topic.
ItzJustinN
Nano-Reefin' Newbie
very informative post, thanks, though i have already started with treating with the meds. the conditions werent improving and my other clown (not the one with stringy poop) looked like it was getting ready to die. however it is doing much better now and acting like the other clown. i plan on feeding tomorrow and try to watch them poop, ill do 50% wc, then dose the second part of the treatment. im hoping this correct the problem.
btw
i literally lol'd
btw
i literally lol'd
ItzJustinN
Nano-Reefin' Newbie
both of those clowns turned out fine. i ran the meds as indicated by the prazi-pro.
i cant say 100% if it helped or not.
i dont remember the stringy white poop ever stopped. (ultimately i stopped paying attention as they started behaving normally).
i never changed what i fed them either. i just recently purchased 2 new clowns (sold my last ones and purchased designer clowns) and one of them also has stringy white poop. i am still feeding ocean nutrition pellets to these fish.
from what ive gathered, clowns are pretty hardy fish and the younger ones always seem to act strange when introduced to a new home. if your concerned, then check your parameters and make sure they are correct. if you have ammonia/nitrates, maybe do a small water change and add some seachem prime (neutralizer that provides slime coat).
otherwise i wouldnt worry too much.
i cant say 100% if it helped or not.
i dont remember the stringy white poop ever stopped. (ultimately i stopped paying attention as they started behaving normally).
i never changed what i fed them either. i just recently purchased 2 new clowns (sold my last ones and purchased designer clowns) and one of them also has stringy white poop. i am still feeding ocean nutrition pellets to these fish.
from what ive gathered, clowns are pretty hardy fish and the younger ones always seem to act strange when introduced to a new home. if your concerned, then check your parameters and make sure they are correct. if you have ammonia/nitrates, maybe do a small water change and add some seachem prime (neutralizer that provides slime coat).
otherwise i wouldnt worry too much.
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