Red Stringy Poop In Discus?

[Mr Melt]

Allright lads;

I've had my Discus Nero for quite some time now (some of you may remember problems I was having with a former tankmate of his, but that has been dealt with and removed). I was just looking at the fish when I noticed that my Discus had red stringy poop coming out of his anus; kinda like a solid red bit with split ends or something! The best way to explain it would be by comparing them to miniature bloodworms; they looked the same in terms of size and colour (on the end of it at least).

Anyways is this a cause for concern? And if so then what can I do about it?

PS - the Discus is relatively slow in terms of swimming; not particularly lively. However he DOES have a roaring appetite - and will happily gorge down bloodworms when I put them in the tank - by God he can move fairly quickly when the tanklid comes off =P

In addition I can confirm that I can not see (nor have I ever seen) anything remotely resembling red worms or bloodworms on my substrate floor (except when I actually feed my fish bloodworms and they land on the bottom ¬_¬). None of the other fish seem to be displaying the same problems either.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

That's camellanus worm, it's very infectious. Treat with praziquantel which you'll get in Fluke-solve and I think Sera Tremazol.

 

[Mr Melt]

#106###. I've heard all about Camellanus - I've also heard that nearly half of the products that treat worms are useless against it.

Also, it seems that whatever it was has now dropped out of him; could it just be normal faeces or is it defenitely Camellanus? Because most of my fish seem to be swimming about quite normally.

In addition, what should I be on the lookout for (in terms of behaviour), and what would be the best product to use in a community tank (check my sig for details)?

 

[Mr Melt]

UPDATE - I can't get a picture of these red things anymore (as they've completely disappeared) but heres a picture of the Discus in question.

I should note that these were literally taken 5 minutes before I posted this message. Can any of you see any symptoms or signs of parasites or internal infection? Because to be honest he seems perfectly normal - I don't wanna go out of my way to find Levamisole or whatever if my fish doesnt even have the parasite in the 1st place if you understand me. Further details - he is relatively slow in terms of swimming; not particularly lively. However he DOES have a roaring appetite - and will happily gorge down bloodworms when I put them in the tank - by God he can move fairly quickly when the tanklid comes off =P

Anyways here is:

So does my Discus look ill, or show any signs of internal parasites? A reply soon would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

While levamisole is the best treatment you can't get it over the counter in the UK which is why I recommended praziquantel. If you want levamisole you'll need to take the fish to a vet.

 

[Mr Melt]

While levamisole is the best treatment you can't get it over the counter in the UK which is why I recommended praziquantel. If you want levamisole you'll need to take the fish to a vet.

My local vet laughed when I told him about my fish this morning; advised me to just go to the LFS (even after I told him about the possible Camellanus worm infection). I'm not sure they take fishkeeping as seriously in N. Ireland as they do elsewhere ¬_¬

UPDATE - My LFS doesn't have anything for it either; they just advised going to the local chemist.....

¬_¬

 

[SaTiVa1984]

While levamisole is the best treatment you can't get it over the counter in the UK which is why I recommended praziquantel. If you want levamisole you'll need to take the fish to a vet.

My local vet laughed when I told him about my fish this morning; advised me to just go to the LFS (even after I told him about the possible Camellanus worm infection). I'm not sure they take fishkeeping as seriously in N. Ireland as they do elsewhere ¬_¬

UPDATE - My LFS doesn't have anything for it either; they just advised going to the local chemist.....

¬_¬

Its a real pain in the #17##### trying to find worming meds in the UK, the only two i have found is kusuri wormer, and fluke solve.

 

[Mr Melt]

Went to another specialist fish store in Lisburn this time; they said to use Fendamizole or whatever its called. From what I know that is in the Kusuri Worming Agent, so I went ahead and bought that.

As it will kill any snail in my tank I went on an "ark hunt"; I dug up my substrate and got as many of the Trumpets and Ramshorns I could find, and I've put them in a tupperware container with tankwater, leaves and some sand.

I just put the worming stuff in there now.... bit annoyed, because I know I didn't get every snail in the tank........ feel so guilty =/

 

[snazy]

Before you decide that if there are no signs you shouldn't treat, read this:

The larvae can't live without fish, they have to find a new host within a few days. But then they will live three months in the bowels of the fish until the females are big and old enough to climb down the bowel hang out of the anus and shed new larvae. So the re-infestation will be done immediately, but you will not see them until three month later. Normally it is not necessary to do a routine treatment later, you just have to do the first medication with a right dosage and long enough. (About 9 days with water changes every three days and new dosage of the medicine

 

[Mr Melt]

That Discus Powder I used said to use it only once, with another dose in 4 days for particularly heavy infestations.

Either way if I've caught them mid shedding then I assume I've got them at the best time?

 

[missyangeljunk]

These worm things are red, long and stringy right? Not about a half an inch long and thick looking?? I just watched one my fish expel something like that and freaked out since everyone is sick...and then saw this.

 

[Mr Melt]

UPDATE - Saw the thing happening again there; just fed my fish some Daphnia whereupon I noticed the red stringy thing again; whats more is that the strings were followed by like a large solid red bit from which they all stemmed. I know this sounds pure dirt like but I'm trying to explain as best I can here.

As soon as the Discus pooped this solid red thing out I immediately scooped it out and held it under the light for a picture:

I should add that this stuff is brown under the light, not red. Also under inspection I noticed that none of these things moved at all, and I sat there for a few minutes just to make sure.

PS - immediately after taking these pictures I scooped this stuff out of the tank altogether with some normal toilet paper - they were quite dark brown, and slimy. Once again sorry for being gross, but does this sound/look like Camallanus? And even if so, are they dying off due to the stuff I applied earlier?

 

[Mr Melt]

Does no one have any idea? =/

 

[Prime Ordeal]

It certainly could be dead worms but I have a nagging doubt because the kusuri wormer contains flubendazole and I don't think that's strong enough to kill camellanus. Certainly dead worms will be inside the fish though as that can often be the cause of death as the worm decays in the gut. You need to feed something like brine shrimp to clear out the gut.

You also need to treat with an anti internal-bacteria med as the damage caused by the hooks of the worms on the gut leads to secondary infection and death.

 

[Mr Melt]

It certainly could be dead worms but I have a nagging doubt because the kusuri wormer contains flubendazole and I don't think that's strong enough to kill camellanus. Certainly dead worms will be inside the fish though as that can often be the cause of death as the worm decays in the gut. You need to feed something like brine shrimp to clear out the gut.

You also need to treat with an anti internal-bacteria med as the damage caused by the hooks of the worms on the gut leads to secondary infection and death.

I'll give them some brine shrimp tonight, then treat the tank with the worming powder again on Monday.

Finally I'll give them anti-internal bacteria medication to cap it off.

Sound good?

Also; today my Discus was pooping there again (immediately after feeding); it didnt look the same, but it did have a slight red streak to it.

Anyways I will do what I mentioned above, in the hopes of fixing this =)