Clownfish with White Stringy Poo

[preasence]

Purchased an ocellaris clown from my LFS 5 days ago. Today I saw a white stringy 1/2inche thing hanging from his underbelly for about a minute before it fell off. He's been eating about 4 large pellets a day, wont eat any of the brine shrimp or other types of pellets i offer him. I don't know if this is a normal amount for clown to eat, he's only about an inch long. Pretty sure he's eating copepods of the glass too, I know he's at least trying to.
Does this indicate worms? or something else?

 

[duncantse]

My new clownfish had white stringy poop for 2 weeks then they just stopped having it. Been around 2 months and their still thriving. I think this is due to stress. If it looks healthy now and eating well, then I would just leave it.

 

[Brycen97]

pellets are high in protines and will do some bad things you should no feed him for a few days (he will be fine) and then give him brine shrimp. mine wouldent eat his either and i was told that pellets are high in protines so i didnt feed him. once i put the brime in there he ate them..... you should try it

 

[preasence]

Is eating 4 large pellets a day enough food for a small clown? Pretty sure he's eating copepods too but I'm not 100%

He seems happy/healthy otherwise

 

[preasence]

pellets are high in protines and will do some bad things you should no feed him for a few days (he will be fine) and then give him brine shrimp. mine wouldent eat his either and i was told that pellets are high in protines so i didnt feed him. once i put the brime in there he ate them..... you should try it

I will give this a shot. See if it will make him a bit less picky about his food.

 

[duncantse]

Don't feed brine shrimp, they are more like a treat. You should feed them mysis shrimp, they have more nutritional value.

 

[C0rp]

Many fish can carry worms with them into our tanks. You can set up a QT tank and treat new fish with Prazipro to deworm them. Good practice, and allows the fish to settle down without all the stress a DT provides to a new fish. In addition, QT can prevent disease from hitting your DT. Good luck!

 

[preasence]

Many fish can carry worms with them into our tanks. You can set up a QT tank and treat new fish with Prazipro to deworm them. Good practice, and allows the fish to settle down without all the stress a DT provides to a new fish. In addition, QT can prevent disease from hitting your DT. Good luck!

I wish i had the room or $ to set up a QT but It's not really an option for me right now. Will Prazipro hurt my corals or CUC if i put it in my DT?

 

[Sk8r]

It's not a permanent installation, and it costs the equivalent of a small bare tank, an old CD package bucket, 5.00 worth of pillow fill (poly), a small heater, a stick-on thermometer, and a maxijet pump. When not in use, put it in your closet.

The most common benign cause of white stringy poop from a clown may be a mono-diet of mysis. Vary the food. Try some Cyclopeeze and grind up some krill.

If that doesn't help, internal parasites are a possibility.

 

[Brycen97]

Don't feed brine shrimp, they are more like a treat. You should feed them mysis shrimp, they have more nutritional value.

He is right but you can feed him jest brine shrimp. mysis are better but what ever you have you can feed. i would try to feed him a new food today not a whole lot but jest a little to see if he eats it. if he dose jest keep trying every day until he eats it.

 

[preasence]

He is still eating but I don't know if it is enough. I tried feeding him the brine shrimp soaked in garlic and fresh scallop. He tried the brine shrimp once and spit it out. He tried eating the scallop a few time but again just spit it out each time. I'm giving him two different types of pellets right now. I think one of them is plant based. Both of them are just samples from the store. At the last feeding he ate about 1.5 medium sided pellets and about 6 of the really small ones. I have to break up the big pellets or he will spit them out too. I can also still see him eating things out of the water (assuming copepods). Do you think he is eating enough if he eats this twice a day or does it sound like loss of appetite? I will go to the store later and get some other things for him to try. Thanks for any advice.

 

[duncantse]

Maybe your food is too big for the clowns mouth. You said that they can eat the small pellets. Did you soak your frozen food in tank water before you put it in the tank?

 

[preasence]

Yes I did soak it in the tank water. The problem is when I make it too small he doesn't seem to even notice it.

 

[duncantse]

Try soaking your pellets in tank water to soften the pellets first.