White feces is 99% of the time NOT a parasite!..old wives tale says fish Vet.

[Stan510]

She says when scientists do actually examinations of fish with white feces? It's not parasites. It might be an infection,constipation and something like a epsom salt bath might be all you need..or do nothing. What hits hard is "So much internet tells the fishkeeper to use antibiotics when its not the problem,just a big profit for fish medicine companies". Not an exact quote. I think you should all bookmark her channel. She destroys the pea myth too in one other vid...

 

[Stan510]

I'm getting some hostile feedback that she doesn't know what she's talking about. So,just take this with a grain of salt (heh) and look at her opinions.
I know I've heard of fish farms having 45% infection rates and what have you..but its not a vet who wrote that percentage,but a hobbyist who got his from who knows where. Like I always say...internal problems is just a guess by me..exterior maybe I can I.D. and seek the right medications. Internal ..usually its fatal before you know it.

 

[Stan510]

She mostly is against jumping to "parasites and worms"..she gives the impression that wait it out is best. Unless you actually see a worm,and I never have other then the external anchor worm types.
It started because one of my largest Rainbows had the feces thing,and I decided to just add epsom salts to the tank..and he seems peppier. Ate again.

 

[CassCats]

a microscope is helpful to view things in the white poops if your fish has them...
Even just a cheapy one, they can be very useful.

One of my own images of a fish suspected of having internal worms, collected a white poop after it fell and viewed it under the microscope

 

[Stan510]

Hard to tell if that's a worm or just something worm shaped. Could even be worms can be expelled in a salt bath?..but more guessing. The vet says what she says.
Although she does say white feces only means your fish hasn't eaten...they pass white material on an empty stomach since no food is digested to make the feces brown. Never new that.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

She mostly is against jumping to "parasites and worms"..she gives the impression that wait it out is best. Unless you actually see a worm,and I never have other then the external anchor worm types.
It started because one of my largest Rainbows had the feces thing,and I decided to just add epsom salts to the tank..and he seems peppier. Ate again.

If I am not wrong, Epsom salt works like a laxative and it can clear any constipation that may be caused by bacteria or even worms/parasites.

However, majority of the advice given is to treat with anti worms and parasites because majority of the fish are fed with live food that carry worms and parasites.
This is a very common practise among the fish breeders.

The Epsom may help a while but if the worms or parasites are still lodge in their intestines, the fish may die eventually.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Hard to tell if that's a worm or just something worm shaped. Could even be worms can be expelled in a salt bath?..but more guessing. The vet says what she says.
Although she does say white feces only means your fish hasn't eaten...they pass white material on an empty stomach since no food is digested to make the feces brown. Never new that.

A trained doctor can easily tell with a microscope.
It's not a guessing thing.

Some fish breeders will even dissect the fish stomach, intestines to analyse under a microscope after the fish have died.
This is very useful to confirm the root cause.

Take note that salt can kill bacteria and parasite, worms. So, its quite useful.

 

[Stan510]

I haven't fed live foods this time around back in the hobby. Color flakes,cooked shrimp, cooked beefheart/shrimp pellet/gelatin mix,dehydrated krill...and I do toss in vegetables every now and then. Rainbows really like vegetables. Funny that they might ignore aquarium plants..but boiled veggies they fight over.
But,I do add aquarium fish to the tank every few months..and I know thats been a problem to the older stable fish. I try to pick out of only the healthiest looking dealer tank with all fish fine. Always a crapshoot still.

 

[Stan510]

I went with epsom salts for a large 5 1/2 inch M.trifasciatus that had stopped eating and had white feces. I also found a vid of somebody who actually came up with a formula of how much and he says a tablespoon per 40 gallons is enough for mild cases.
I did that,and two days later he was eating again and now he's back to a glutton!