Intestinal worms or poop?

[dviper150]

This doesn't normal to me because I have seen what my naso tang's poop looks like. I have been feeding it a lot trying to get it to gain weight but it keeps getting skinnier if not maintaining whatever weight he has left. Do this pictures look normal or am I just worrying over nothing? I was thinking of doing a prazipro treatment in my tank but am still deciding on that. Not sure what kind of effects it would have on my tank.

 

[gweston]

Looks like an intestinal parasite I'm guessing... but I'll defer to the experts on how to treat properly. I have a bottle of Prazipro but have never had a need to treat a whole tank with it. Supposedly it doesn't work too well as a food supplement but I don' t know for sure.

Maybe try treating it through a food supplement first before treating the tank? May help isolate it. Or even better.. if you can prazipro it in a separate tank. Yeah I know often easier said than done..

 

[Recty]

Wow, it definitely looks like worms to me and quite a lot of them. I'd take him out to a quarantine tank and treat him for worms.

 

[dviper150]

i don't have a quaratine tank unfortunately but i will dose the main tank with prazipro and see if that helps. Will prazipro have an effect on chaeto algae?

 

[Recty]

Your algae should live through it.

Most people report pretty bad success with Prazipro treating internal parasites, it's mainly for external problems like flukes.

 

[dviper150]

The bottle says it treats for flukes, tapeworm, flatworms, and turbellarians. I just dosed the tank anf turned thr skimmer off and removed the carbon.

 

[Recty]

The bottle says it treats for flukes, tapeworm, flatworms, and turbellarians. I just dosed the tank anf turned thr skimmer off and removed the carbon.

Yeah, I know what the bottle says, I've used the stuff for flukes a lot

A lot of bottles state they wipe out ich too

 

[dviper150]

It should harm any corals or inverts so no harm done. What can I use to treat for worms then?

 

[Baldwin]

you need to get some metronadizole quickly to use in the fish's food and in the water. This is the only thing that will treat internal parasites, and the parasite almost looks like hexamita, just for clarification he hasn't eaten any chaeto lately has he? If he starts to develop what looks like HLLE then he def. has hexamita, so watch for the signs, and get yourself some metronadizole. google national fish pharm.

 

[Baldwin]

I just noticed in the second picture you posted down, there is a ball of chaeto in the tank with him, that is most likely what he is pooping, it doesn't digest very well, haha I've def seen this before, good news is you don't have to medicate!

 

[jmccown]

I agree - it chaeto poo.

 

[seahorsedreams]

On a fish that is getting skinnier despite being fed well... that would lead me to think worms.

 

[dviper150]

Thanks for all the replies. I do have a ball of chaeto in the main tank temporarily until the refugium gets setup. I did see it try to eat some so maybe its that. He isn't bones so its like he is completely malnourished. I feed him 1.5 cubes a day plus a some algae. If he doesn't gain weight in the next month, I will just take him out and treat him for internal parasites.

 

[Baldwin]

Take the chaeto out, although he may eat it, it is nutritionally weak compared to other macro's and by him spending time eating that instead of nutritional algae, this could be the reason he is getting skinnier. That fish isn't super skinny anyway, and all of the chaeto could be constipating him and keeping his appetite down as well. I have found the key to fattening up a naso is more smaller feedings throughout the day. Try that.