White stringy poop, internal parasites?(pics)

[rovster]

Hi all. Today my clown had the classic "white stringy poop". Just wanted to confirm this is internal parasites. I've seen it before. Clown otherwise appears fat and healthy. Pics to follow.

As a side note, I recently quarantined my starry blenny (which was the only other fish in there with the clown) because I suspected internal parasites. The blenny never showed the stringy poop, but did have a pinched in stomach that I was concerned about. I pulled the blenny and treated with 2 rounds of prazipro, and the blenny is starting to fatten up.

Here are the pics....





I currently have the blenny in a hospital tank, and my blue tang is still in my QT. My plan is to transfer the blenny to the QT and pull the clown and treat with Prazi. Sound good to you guys? Wonder how my SPS will feel without fish poop for a few weeks, LOL! I guess I 'll transfer the blenny eventually. Question: Should I let the tank go fishless before bringing the blenny back in? Basically what I'm asking is what is the life cycle of these parasites, and how long does the water stay contaminated. Thanks!

 

[HumbleFish]

The one time I had fish w/Flukes in my DT, I went fallow for 10 weeks. Just to be safe. However, I've "heard" 4 weeks is sufficient.

As far as your QT plan... I'm a little confused. Why is the blue tang in QT? The blenny & clown have flukes, and need to be treated w/Prazi. Just wasn't sure what you were treating the blue tang for (or is he just new?)

 

[rovster]

Thanks, yeah that sounds confusing. Basically, the tang came with my nano with the clown (bought the tank set-up). I've been in the process of an upgrade that is not set up yet (everthing is bought and done, just not in the house and wet). The blenny came in on a rock as a hitch hiker. Knowing I was doing a an upgrade, I pulled the tang about 6 months ago and has been in that QT since. Tang had HLLE, and is mostly healed with some scarring, but its my first fish, so wanted to keep it. Tang has been treated with hypo and prazi (more than 4 months ago).

When I suspected the blenny had parasites, I did not want to put in with the tang, so I set up a small 10 gallon HT and just treated the blenny with prazi. Blenny looks much better, and the stomach looks almost 100% full (before, it was SEVERELY pinched in).

So I can transfer the Blenny with the tang while I treat the clown in the small HT.

I know it sounds confusing. It wouldn't be so confusing if my tank was set up, LOL! My plan was to have it cycled back in October/November, but baby #2 delayed my plans. Should have the tank in the house by the end of next month. FWIW, its a 52" long custom shallow. I know the blue will eventually outgrow it, but should be fine for some time. Thanks for the comment. I will leave the tank fallow for a month then.

 

[rovster]

Here is the picture of the tang. Looks amazing compared to how it was. The body was full of sores, and fins were completely shredded. I know it looks bad int he pic, but you should have seen it before treatment. Tang is fat and acts normal. Is out and about, and will practically eat from my hand. I wish the fins would heal. The anal fin has healed completely, but the dorsal and tail fin have improved, but still not healed. I'm concerned that there is permanent hard ray damage. As far as the body sores, they are 95% better, and only a few remain. Eats like a pig. Nori every day, and a mix of pellets and frozen.

 

[HumbleFish]

If the tang & blenny have already been treated with Prazi; I would treat the clown in a completely separate QT (with Prazi). Flukes are relatively minor when it comes to fish diseases, but no need to risk reinfecting (and having to retreat) the tang & blenny. Btw, it usually takes two rounds of Prazi, 5-6 days apart, to completely eradicate Flukes from a fish. Nice regal tang!

 

[rovster]

Thank you, that was the plan. That's why I set up the second QT. I treated both the tang (6months ago) and the blenny with 2 round of prazi. I waited like 4-5 days between treatments. I will transfer the Blenny to the QT with the tang now, plenty of algae in there for him to pick at, LOL!

My only concern with that, is that the blenny has never been treated for ich. That said, I've had all these fish for almost 2 years, and no signs of ich on any of them.

Thanks for the comment on the regal, but those tattered fins are fugly. I'll still keep it and treat it as best I can. Would an Antibiotic help with the fins? I've thought about it, but thinking this was related to the HLLE? I should probably start a seperate thread for that.

 

[HumbleFish]

Thanks for the comment on the regal, but those tattered fins are fugly. I'll still keep it and treat it as best I can. Would an Antibiotic help with the fins? I've thought about it, but thinking this was related to the HLLE? I should probably start a seperate thread for that.

If it was something bacterial, then yes. But being it's probably damage from the HLLE, then antibiotics won't help. To be honest, I don't know if I've seen fins grow back from HLLE; just the skin "regenerates" IME.

 

[mike54784]

The one time I had fish w/Flukes in my DT, I went fallow for 10 weeks. Just to be safe. However, I've "heard" 4 weeks is sufficient.

Was just reading the thread that rovster first posted before moving it to the disease treatment section when he told me this was here. I'm having a similar problem, and believe it's the same thing, but I'm wondering about treatment.

The parasites causing the problem for Rovster's clown and blenny, HumbleFish says are flukes, and to treat with Prazi, and to leave the tank fallow for about 4 weeks. I've read that Prazi wont harm inverts or coral, so wouldn't adding Prazi straight into the DT with the fish work? I'm assuming that the reasoning behind leaving the tank fallow for a period of time is take the possibility of a host away from the flukes, so that they and their eggs all die off (or in the case of eggs, hatch and die off), is this correct? What I've read about prazi pro is that by dosing twice it will kill off the eggs too, so wouldn't adding to the tank be alright? And what if it was a fish, live rock, and invert only tank without coral? Please expound on this

And hope everything works out for your fish Rovster

This is why assuming it to be the same thing with my clowns

 

[HumbleFish]

The parasites causing the problem for Rovster's clown and blenny, HumbleFish says are flukes, and to treat with Prazi, and to leave the tank fallow for about 4 weeks. I've read that Prazi wont harm inverts or coral, so wouldn't adding Prazi straight into the DT with the fish work? I'm assuming that the reasoning behind leaving the tank fallow for a period of time is take the possibility of a host away from the flukes, so that they and their eggs all die off (or in the case of eggs, hatch and die off), is this correct? What I've read about prazi pro is that by dosing twice it will kill off the eggs too, so wouldn't adding to the tank be alright? And what if it was a fish, live rock, and invert only tank without coral? Please expound on this

I've never done it myself, but supposedly Prazi is reef safe - except for feather dusters/tube worms. Looking back over this thread, rovster already had 2 of his 3 fish in QT; so IMO it just made more sense to recommend pulling that clown and treat in QT as well. Prazi is not completely without risk - you will see threads from time to time claiming it killed a coral or anemone. But the vast majority report using it successfully in a reef without incident.

It looks like your clown has Flukes as well. Which means he (and all of his tank-mates) need to be treated with Prazi. Do 2 rounds, 5 days apart, to kill both the worms and the "next generation" from any eggs left behind. Aerate heavily during treatment, and do a 20-25% WC before the 2nd dose.

 

[mike54784]

I've never done it myself, but supposedly Prazi is reef safe - except for feather dusters/tube worms. Looking back over this thread, rovster already had 2 of his 3 fish in QT; so IMO it just made more sense to recommend pulling that clown and treat in QT as well. Prazi is not completely without risk - you will see threads from time to time claiming it killed a coral or anemone. But the vast majority report using it successfully in a reef without incident.

It looks like your clown has Flukes as well. Which means he (and all of his tank-mates) need to be treated with Prazi. Do 2 rounds, 5 days apart, to kill both the worms and the "next generation" from any eggs left behind. Aerate heavily during treatment, and do a 20-25% WC before the 2nd dose.

Thank you! I've ordered Prazi online from dr foster and smith, and I'm hoping that it comes in soon. I will treat the tank as recommended, and I'm not too worried about how it affects coral or anenomes because I was going to wait another month or two to add them anyway. Thanks again!

 

[rovster]

Moved the blenny over with the tang. Mr Clown getting switched over tomorrow!

 

[mike54784]

Moved the blenny over with the tang. Mr Clown getting switched over tomorrow!

How are they doing?

I ended up getting something last Fri with Formalin and Malachite Green in it because it's all the LFS had, set up a QT. I was able to get everything I needed for a QT for under $30 last Fri. I dosed over a three day period per the directions. I checked twice a day over all of my parameters, and as expected my ammonia kept going up because I don't have live rock in my QT, so I also ended up doing 10% -15% water changes with RODI water daily. My Ph and everything else seemed stable since I had a power head with an air inlet hose. After the three days I did a 25% water change in my QT, put the carbon filter back in my QT filter, and have done 10 - 25% water changes daily in my QT since (it's been two days since ending the treatment), and my clowns seem to be doing much better. Hope everything works out on your end too

 

[mike54784]

I went with the Formalin and Malachite Green since the LFS didn't carry anything else, and I didn't think fish would survive long enough for my Doctor Foster and Smith order of Prazi to come in. I received my Prazi Monday, and added it to my DT on Monday (which still has my LR, inverts, and 2 fish in it)(couldn't fit all my fish in the QT, and only put the sickest in QT so I could start treating immediately). I'm hoping the prazi will be enough to kill everything that was causing the problem in the DT, I'll add my clowns back to the DT on Fri, and will dose the DT with another round of Prazi Fri, then will wait 5 more days to dose the DT with Prazi one more time. So the DT will have received 3 rounds of Prazi 5 days apart, and the few fish in QT will have received 3 days formalin and malachite green, with 5 days off the treatment, followed by two 5 day treatments of prazi in the DT. I guess the only problem would be if the issue was something other than what Prazi will kill, in which case my DT will reinfect my clowns after moving them back to the DT, but don’t see signs of anything other than the Flukes that they were diagnosed as having, so hoping for the best.

 

[gsiegel]

Just a thought - Dr. G's makes a medicated food (yellow packaging) which may also help? Its active ingrediant is Chloroquine Phosphate. Perhaps this may help?

 

[mike54784]

As an update, I placed my clowns in a QT for three days with formalin/malachite green medication per the directions on the bottle. It was the only treatment for flukes I could find localy, and thinking some of my fish wouldn't survive long enough for my prazi shipment, I used that. After the 3 days, I did a water change and placed a carbon filter in the QT, the fish seemed much better. I couldn't use that treatment for my DT because of Live rock and inverts. I also couldn't fit all my fish in the QT, to leave the DT fallow for a period of time. Worried that my DT would reinfect my fish from the QT, I waited a few days after the formalin/malachite green treatment was over to move my fish from the QT back to the DT, and then immediately started treating the DT with Prazi. I treated the DT for 4 days with prazi, then started the a second dose of prazi as recommended on here. It's now 8 days since I started treating the DT with prazi, and although my clowns started going downhill after initially putting back in the DT, after 2 days back in the DT with prazi they were doing much better.
The only problem is that my coral beauty, although having long white stringy poop like my clown since I've had him, it gotten worse for him. He was too big for the QT when I treated the clowns with the other treatment, but he's been receiving the prazi treatment for 8 days now. Should it have cleared up by now? He has never showed any other symptoms of anything, and all of the fish are swimming around healthily. I'm attaching a picture of the coral beauty today, after 8 days of treatment with Prazi. Does anyone have any insight?

 

[HumbleFish]

Two rounds of Prazi usually does the trick. But it's not unheard of to have to do 3 or more rounds, or I've seen threads lately claiming Prazi doesn't work on certain strains. I'm not saying the latter is true, but I've seen that claim more than once recently.

If all your fish are doing fine (except the CB); I would QT him for further treatment. Maybe try the formalin/malachite green treatment that worked on the clowns. Also, the CB could be suffering from intestinal worms which Prazi doesn't treat. Best bet for that is metronidazole (API General Cure contains a metro/prazi combination). Just understand that metro is not as "easy" on the fish as Prazi is, so there is some risk involved when using it. It's very possible that the CB will stop eating during treatment, for example.

 

[doosiec]

In my experience with Prazipro, a small dose treated in the system is no harm no foul.
But do realize, that it isn't potent enough to penetrate the parasites for proper treatment.

With the recommended dose, it'll immobilize all your inverts, crabs, snails and melt anemone's. Good news is that fish are being treated.

My experience, so I would just dedicate a tank just for fish.

 

[mike54784]

Thanks, the one thing that concerns me is that treating my fish in QT with meds, just to add them back to the DT, will likely reinfect them, because I'm not putting anything in the DT to kill traces of whatever is in there. Even if I leave a tank fallow for a period of time it's not guaranteed to kill whatever is in there causing the problem. Unless I was to completely disinfect everything, with say bleach, which isn't something I would ever want to do to my LR. I'll try quarantining my QB after at least attempting a 3rd round of prazi in my DT. I'll treat him with the Formalin and malachite green in the QT, but think, even if that cures him, he'll get it back when I eventually place him back in the DT. Even if I QT all fish and treat at once, wouldn't something remain in the display tank, even if in the live rock or something. Wasn't it Jurassic Park where the guy said "life finds a way"?

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Thanks, the one thing that concerns me is that treating my fish in QT with meds, just to add them back to the DT, will likely reinfect them, because I'm not putting anything in the DT to kill traces of whatever is in there. Even if I leave a tank fallow for a period of time it's not guaranteed to kill whatever is in there causing the problem. Unless I was to completely disinfect everything, with say bleach, which isn't something I would ever want to do to my LR. I'll try quarantining my QB after at least attempting a 3rd round of prazi in my DT. I'll treat him with the Formalin and malachite green in the QT, but think, even if that cures him, he'll get it back when I eventually place him back in the DT. Even if I QT all fish and treat at once, wouldn't something remain in the display tank, even if in the live rock or something. Wasn't it Jurassic Park where the guy said "life finds a way"?

Mike, I am currently going through what you are going through. I have done a TON of research on flukes in the last 8 weeks. Yes I've been fighting them that long. Here is what I do know:
Depending on the species of fluke (if that is indeed what you are dealing with) their life cycle is water temperature dependent. The warmer the water the faster the cycle. Example: I am dealing with neobenedenia girellae. They reproduce by laying eggs. The eggs take 4-6 days to hatch. They then take 3-36 hrs to swim around and find their host, aka fish. They attach to the fish with hooks called haptors. It takes the new hatchling 2-3 weeks to grow to an adult, they lay eggs and the cycle starts over. So if you leave your tank fallow for 4 weeks at a temp of 78-80 degrees you should be fine.
I used Prazipro as per directions (in QTs) and they still came back. I even talked to the tech at Hikari that makes Prazipro and he was giving me various dosages to try. They still came back. I did dip my flame angel in formalin/malachite green 2 weeks ago and put him in a brand new tank. So far so good.
I have read various research papers on utilizing hypo (15 ppt for 7 days) which sounds promising.
Are your fishing scratching, yawning or shaking their heads?