Parasite questions

[CassCats]

@Byron @Colin_T

Okay so health question here.

My 55 has been under deworming medicine, I've done 2 doses at half dose strength due to having cories in the tank.
However, still noticing long white string poops on a couple of my fish, and one of my skirt tetras isn't doing so great, today passed a strange white poop, i collected with a syringe and viewed it under a microscope.

Its been 7 days since the end of the 2nd dose. Should I dose again?

I have flubendozole, that is all I have available to me and unable to get anything else in Canada.

Prior to this I have also treated with Epsom salts directly soaked in the foods, while it helped some, it did not totally eradicate anything. Can this be used with the flubendozole?

Keep half dosing flubendozole, or can I use it full dose with the cories, hoplos, and BN pleco in the tank? Ive removed my inverts as its not good for them already so no worries there...

The fish passing the poops today has been severely bloated in the past... but with deworming has "deflated" but still passes white poops. My platy girls pass looooooong white poops too.

Getting a bit frustrated.

 

[Byron]

I'm not ignoring you here, I just cannot offer any advice worth something. This is beyond my experience.

 

[CassCats]

I'm not ignoring you here, I just cannot offer any advice worth something. This is beyond my experience.

just know you got tons of cories and may be able to put input on that one.
I have no idea if Colin will even reply so I dont know lol

 

[PheonixKingZ]

@Colin_T sadly hasn’t been active since Saturday.

Are you sure the “poop” isn’t two deformed eggs? It sort of looks like it...

 

[CassCats]

@Colin_T sadly hasn’t been active since Saturday.

Are you sure the “poop” isn’t two deformed eggs? It sort of looks like it...

Absolutely sure, this is actually way too large to be tetra eggs. Skirt eggs are tiny and clear.

Blurry photo but string poop on one of my a
Platies too.

Plus under the microscope view, a worm is visible as well.

 

[Byron]

just know you got tons of cories and may be able to put input on that one.
I have no idea if Colin will even reply so I dont know lol

I'm lucky perhaps, though I'm sure it has something to do with my fish husbandry over the past two decades as well, but I've only had maybe four or five disease issues to deal with in all that time. Ich, gill flukes, internal protozoan (twice, unknown specifically), columnaris once. One problem these days is the supplier issue; disease can bee rampant in such places and spread all over the continent in no time. Interestingly, three of my five problem cases were with fish from a chain store, with which I do not deal any longer.

 

[CassCats]

I'm lucky perhaps, though I'm sure it has something to do with my fish husbandry over the past two decades as well, but I've only had maybe four or five disease issues to deal with in all that time. Ich, gill flukes, internal protozoan (twice, unknown specifically), columnaris once. One problem these days is the supplier issue; disease can bee rampant in such places and spread all over the continent in no time. Interestingly, three of my five problem cases were with fish from a chain store, with which I do not deal any longer.

Yup the first fish I've noticed the internal worms with have been my skirt tetras and platies from petsmart.

I've dealt with skin flukes from their fish too.

I think I'll just go ahead with another dose at half, wait another 7 days after the last day and go from there. Perhaps soak their food in a dose of it too instead of only treating the tank.

 

[Treestone]

Yup the first fish I've noticed the internal worms with have been my skirt tetras and platies from petsmart.

I've dealt with skin flukes from their fish too.

I think I'll just go ahead with another dose at half, wait another 7 days after the last day and go from there. Perhaps soak their food in a dose of it too instead of only treating the tank.

Just wondering what was your fluke treatment method?

 

[CassCats]

Just wondering what was your fluke treatment method?

General Cure (prazi and metro combo)
But its not available in Canada. Most fish meds aren't.

 

[Treestone]

General Cure (prazi and metro combo)
But its not available in Canada. Most fish meds aren't.

I have hardly any meds available too. But I got praziquantel which may be enough.

 

[Treestone]

I'm pretty sure its a general consensus that fenbendazole is the most effective med for internal parasites. You should soak the food, it will be far more effective and cheaper.

 

[Treestone]

Chain stores are so riddled with disease only the hardiest stock (definitely not livebearers) cope in these situations. If its the only store in your area, your only other choice is through fish clubs etc... which is annoying when you want to get something a little rarer or that isn't commonly bred in the home aquarium.

 

[mbsqw1d]

@Byron @Colin_T

Okay so health question here.

My 55 has been under deworming medicine, I've done 2 doses at half dose strength due to having cories in the tank.
However, still noticing long white string poops on a couple of my fish, and one of my skirt tetras isn't doing so great, today passed a strange white poop, i collected with a syringe and viewed it under a microscope.

View attachment 112605View attachment 112606

Its been 7 days since the end of the 2nd dose. Should I dose again?

I have flubendozole, that is all I have available to me and unable to get anything else in Canada.

Prior to this I have also treated with Epsom salts directly soaked in the foods, while it helped some, it did not totally eradicate anything. Can this be used with the flubendozole?

Keep half dosing flubendozole, or can I use it full dose with the cories, hoplos, and BN pleco in the tank? Ive removed my inverts as its not good for them already so no worries there...

The fish passing the poops today has been severely bloated in the past... but with deworming has "deflated" but still passes white poops. My platy girls pass looooooong white poops too.

Getting a bit frustrated.

I used this bird wormer (active ingredient is Levamisole) back when ndx medicine wasnt created and Levamisole fish worming medicine wasnt available in the UK.

 

[Naughts]

This addresses your concerns

How do I worm my fish safely?

Dr Peter Burgess advises a reader who is having issues with worming their fish safely.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

And this is Colin's general approach for de-worming (I copied his text)
"Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons.
1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be cured because massive internal organ failure has already occurred.

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2) Internal Protozoan Infections cause the fish to lose weight rapidly (over a week or two), fish continues to eat and swim around but not as much as normal, does stringy white poop. If not treated the fish dies a week or so after these symptoms appear. Metronidazole normally works well for this.

There is a medication (API General Cure) that contains Praziquantel and Metronidazole.

It's interesting that API and the Californian government have listed Metronidazole as a carcinogen. That's a concern considering it was widely used to treat intestinal infections in people.

Anyway, if you use this or any medication, handle with care, don't inhale the medication, and wash hands with soapy water after treating the fish or working in the tank.

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3) Intestinal Worms like tapeworm and threadworms cause the fish to lose weight, continue eating and swimming normally, do a stringy white poop. Fish can do this for months and not be too badly affected. In some cases, fish with bad worm infestation will actually gain weight and get fat and look like a pregnant guppy. This is due to the huge number of worms inside the fish.

You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If you can't find these medications, look for Flubendazole, which treats both lots of worms.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second, third and forth treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time to prevent cross contamination.
You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish the next time you treat them. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish. "

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Glad me got someone to get @Colin_T’s advice - good for you @Naughts!