White poop hanging from SAE butts, treatment not working....

[AuroraDawn]

It has been going on since I first got them and had them in quarantine, they are still there along with 3 mystery snails. They, play, sleep, eat, seem normal.

I have done 3 doses of E.M. Erythromycin and two doses of General cure along with the required water changes and vacuuming the substrate.
I have a 7.5 gallon tank but there is probably only around 5ish gallons in there with substrate and decor so I cut the pouches in half... was that a bad idea?

After the first dose of both meds the white poop went away but today one of them started pooping long white poop again.

Do I do the water change and retreat with general cure and/or E.M. Erythromycin? I wasn't sure if it was stress, bacterial, parasitic or them not eating a ton of food.

Not sure what to do at this point. Here is a pic of the poop after it fell of the one fish's butt today. It got broken up a bit but yeah.

Because this is a quarantine tank, nothing new has been added in months, not even new plants.

(I know I posted elsewhere about possible detritus worms coming in on new plants and wanted to be clear that this is a separate tank with a separate cleaning system as well.)

 

[A201]

The situation might not be a disease or a parasite. You might try changing up the diet.

New Life Spectrum Thera +A is laced with garlic, which is good for the gut.

There are dewormer laced foods available online too.

 

[AuroraDawn]

The situation might not be a disease or a parasite. You might try changing up the diet.

New Life Spectrum Thera +A is laced with garlic, which is good for the gut.

There are dewormer laced foods available online too.

I thought I was on to something because for 2 days I didn't see the long white poop.... I believe I have Thera +A. Been a hot minute since I fed it to my fish and never these ones.. thanks, I will try that.

Should I maybe do the water change I am supposed to, replace the carbon filter and then just see how the food does?

Thanks!

 

[A201]

Water changes are almost always good. Only use carbon to remove medication from the water column.

Since the fish are acting normally, things will probably be okay.

 

[Fishfur]

It has been going on since I first got them and had them in quarantine, they are still there along with 3 mystery snails. They, play, sleep, eat, seem normal.

I have done 3 doses of E.M. Erythromycin and two doses of General cure along with the required water changes and vacuuming the substrate.
I have a 7.5 gallon tank but there is probably only around 5ish gallons in there with substrate and decor so I cut the pouches in half... was that a bad idea?

After the first dose of both meds the white poop went away but today one of them started pooping long white poop again.

Do I do the water change and retreat with general cure and/or E.M. Erythromycin? I wasn't sure if it was stress, bacterial, parasitic or them not eating a ton of food.

Not sure what to do at this point. Here is a pic of the poop after it fell of the one fish's butt today. It got broken up a bit but yeah.

Because this is a quarantine tank, nothing new has been added in months, not even new plants.

(I know I posted elsewhere about possible detritus worms coming in on new plants and wanted to be clear that this is a separate tank with a separate cleaning system as well.)

If you asked an aquatic vet about ‘white poop’, the vet would tell you that the only thing it can reliably indicate is that the fish hasn’t eaten recently.

It may help to know that the lining of the intestinal tract contains numerous goblet cells that secrete mucous constantly.

This layer of mucous provides lubrication that makes it easy for the gut contents to move along and affords some protection for the gut lining.

When a fish hasn’t eaten recently the mucous is secreted without any waste contained within it - in that case it looks milky white and is essentially an empty tube made of mucous. It can look like strong - the infamous stringy white poop that the internet mentions so often.

It is not an indication that fish have parasites that need treatment.

Of course a fish could have parasites and secrete some empty mucous tubes at the same time, but other than that there’s no cause & effect relationship between the two things.

A lot of fish are needlessly medicated because the internet says white poop means parasites but as with more than a few other things, the internet is incorrect.

If the fish are behaving normally, eating well and in good body condition, there’s no reason to medicate only because you see some white poop

Giving a dewormer & antiprozoan medication in QT is commonly done - but unless you see worms, one course should be sufficient. Choose the antiparasitic with care because some are very poorly formulated and not worth using as directed.

Unfortunately, General Cure is a big offender in this regard. That is because of the dry formula and the dosing instructions, not because of the drugs in it.

Dry praziquantel isn’t water soluble so it does no good to speak of and Metronidazole in it only works if it is ingested by the fish (mixed in food).

Metro has no effect on aerobic organisms & the anerobic protozoan parasites it can kill are in the gut, not the water.

You can give GC mixed into food, but that’s not what the package instructs.

But if you mix it in food then it will kill internal protozoans & internal flatworms such as tapeworms.

It will have no effect to speak of on external flatworms suck as flukes. For that you need a predissolved form of praziquantel - such as PraziPro.

None of us can observe every poop every fish produces - we can’t be watching every single one of them 24/7 and generally speaking, few white poops aren’t a worry.

If they occur frequently or seemingly always, my biggest worry would be figuring out why a fish isn’t eating, rather than medicating for parasites.

A fish not eating for any appreciable length of time is a red flag & very concerning.

I don’t get why you gave the fish erythromycin- it’s not a treatment for parasites and though it does target a few gram negative organisms it is primarily effects on gram positive ones.

The only infection fish tend to get that is gram positive is streptococcus in the eye - so erythromycin can be a good choice for eye infections.

 

[AuroraDawn]

If you asked an aquatic vet about ‘white poop’, the vet would tell you that the only thing it can reliably indicate is that the fish hasn’t eaten recently.

It may help to know that the lining of the intestinal tract contains numerous goblet cells that secrete mucous constantly.

This layer of mucous provides lubrication that makes it easy for the gut contents to move along and affords some protection for the gut lining.

When a fish hasn’t eaten recently the mucous is secreted without any waste contained within it - in that case it looks milky white and is essentially an empty tube made of mucous. It can look like strong - the infamous stringy white poop that the internet mentions so often.

It is not an indication that fish have parasites that need treatment.

Of course a fish could have parasites and secrete some empty mucous tubes at the same time, but other than that there’s no cause & effect relationship between the two things.

A lot of fish are needlessly medicated because the internet says white poop means parasites but as with more than a few other things, the internet is incorrect.

If the fish are behaving normally, eating well and in good body condition, there’s no reason to medicate only because you see some white poop

Giving a dewormer & antiprozoan medication in QT is commonly done - but unless you see worms, one course should be sufficient. Choose the antiparasitic with care because some are very poorly formulated and not worth using as directed.

Unfortunately, General Cure is a big offender in this regard. That is because of the dry formula and the dosing instructions, not because of the drugs in it.

Dry praziquantel isn’t water soluble so it does no good to speak of and Metronidazole in it only works if it is ingested by the fish (mixed in food).

Metro has no effect on aerobic organisms & the anerobic protozoan parasites it can kill are in the gut, not the water.

You can give GC mixed into food, but that’s not what the package instructs.

But if you mix it in food then it will kill internal protozoans & internal flatworms such as tapeworms.

It will have no effect to speak of on external flatworms suck as flukes. For that you need a predissolved form of praziquantel - such as PraziPro.

None of us can observe every poop every fish produces - we can’t be watching every single one of them 24/7 and generally speaking, few white poops aren’t a worry.

If they occur frequently or seemingly always, my biggest worry would be figuring out why a fish isn’t eating, rather than medicating for parasites.

A fish not eating for any appreciable length of time is a red flag & very concerning.

I don’t get why you gave the fish erythromycin- it’s not a treatment for parasites and though it does target a few gram negative organisms it is primarily effects on gram positive ones.

The only infection fish tend to get that is gram positive is streptococcus in the eye - so erythromycin can be a good choice for eye infections.

They are acting the same as my adult SAE in my community tank. These are four babies. They won't eat from the surface where the food first starts at.... my adult SAE does so he gets a lot more food. They do eat a few flakes while they are falling near the substrate and will look on the substrate and every other surface for stuff to eat which I think is pretty normal. I did give them New Life Spectrum Thera +A after I did a water change last night. Again, they won't eat from the top but when it floated right in front of them downward they ate it fast and seemed to be pretty excited about it. The tank is too small for four of them even as babies, although they get along with each other most of the time. Unfortunately that was the only cycled tank I had that I could put them in. I also have 3 mystery snails in that tank. They were laying on their side and were not closing their shells all the way. After the treatments I did, they seem back to normal.

I had looked online for what ailments fish and snails could have in common and the parasites suggested didn't look like the poop nor did I see any of them anywhere. (flukes, etc). I read that there were some bacterial infections that could affect both and was thinking it might be causing stomach issues, so that is why I used the Erythromycin. A friend had recommended general cure and paraguard but the second one I can't use with snails, from what I have read.