Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Health => Topic started by: jesnon on April 25, 2013, 08:45:03 AM
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I just saw a conversation in TigzFish's gallery showcase thread that has set some alarm bells ringing about fish poo...!
Now, never having kept fish before I hadn't even considered the concept of fish poo and what it looked like until the second day of having my fish when one of them had a long string of white / clear something hanging on them. Eventually it fell off, and I was confused until I realised it was a poo (stupid I know!).
However I'm now worried this isn't normal at all. And since Madge died of symptoms relating to swim bladder, which can be related to constipation etc I'm now very concerned.
None of my fish atm have any 'poos' of concern, but I'm pretty sure I've seen this from all of my fish. They had a starvation day the day that Madge died, which may have helped. What causes this and do I need to treat for something ASAP?
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The usual advice is that white stringy poo is a sign of something not right. But I have to confess that I've never really known what is meant by stringy poo :-[ A lot of my fish have poo that could be described as stringy but they've been like this for a while and have no other symptoms.
Stringy poo is supposed to indicate internal infections or parasites. But fish like endlers eat constantly, and poo constantly. If there is not food left, they'll nibble algae - females are the worst for that.
What does their poo look like now? Usually, it is the colour of whatever they've been eating. With fish fed on flake food it is usually red, as it is when they've had bloodworm. When they've had peas, it's green.
Sometimes, dry food like flakes and pellets can get a bit compacted and cause long trailing poo. The way to get rid of that is feed peas, then nothing for a day or two. The peas flush them out so when they have food again it should work its way through more easily.
Sorry I can't be more help.
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mmmm, me neither unless you have something more specific. I tried a google image search of 'white stringy fish poo' to get piccies to help you ...... and really wished I hadn't. :P :P
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Yep my fish are constantly eating / looking to be fed! If I don't feed them they'll be nibbling on the heater, pre-filter, etc etc nuzzling around for something! Their poo has always been like it, and I can't see any other symptoms in the fish - they're all eating as usual / coming to the top of the tank waiting for food.
Since their starvation day the other day I haven't actually noticed any other poo. It's always white / clear though and in little strings, I've never seen it any other colour (or at least never noticed it).
I'm giving them some pea today, and then starving them tomorrow so hopefully will see if that makes any difference.
Haha sorry for the Google results Colin! I guess it's like this one from Google:
http://www.discusnada.org/images/discus/diseases1.jpg
I haven't noticed any since Madge's death though
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Earlier I saw a 'normal' fish poo (kind of a browny, reddy colour). However one of my fish had another of the clear stringy poo. It was on him for about 2 mins until it fell off. I've since fed peas, and will leave their food for a couple of days
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OK so last night I caught my fish Cat with a normal looking poo, but Holly still had a longish slightly darker than white poo that fell off a couple of minutes after I spotted it. I'm going to feed about one flake and see if I can spot any more, but unfortunately I'm in work for 24 hours after 3 today so I won't be able to keep a close eye on my fish. They all seem to be behaving happily though. Do you think I should buy something to treat parasites just in case? Or would that do more harm than good if they don't have anything like that?
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Parasite treatments are pretty strong stuff, I would wait till your know for sure before adding anything like that.
I have several male endlers, I know what their behaviour is like and that they never keep still. But, one common parasite in guppies is camallanus worms. When the fish is not moving (!) the worms protrude from the amus and look like the bristles from a child's paintbrush only red. When the fish moves, they disappear inside again. You'll have problems seeing anything like that if your endlers are as active as mine :-\. Other signs to look for is if they start to look emaciated with sunken bellies.
There is a treatment for camallanus worms, but I would be careful using it if you want shrimps as you'll have to remove every trace of it before getting them.
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They never really sit still, but at night time tend to float almost like they're sleeping - I've never seen anything like what you're describing though. None look emaciated either and all appear to be eating normally. It's so tricky isn't it, especially with smaller fish?! I just really don't want to lose any more fish :-(
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Do you think you should all perhaps get out more ;D ;D ;D
Resa
:)
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Why is fish poo spotting not one of your hobbies? :-D :-p
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I have to wonder ;)
It is however, a hobby I am seriously considering taking up.....if only for the google images ;D ;D ;D
Resa
:)
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Now that's funny! ;D ;D ;D
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Haha well so far all poos are looking normal - so hopefully all is good!
I do however have a question mainly for Sue about my fishes behaviour.
Basically I remember when I was first getting my endlers, you mentioned all males would still try to 'mate' with each other. So this behaviour I've previously discounted as just that, say the males displaying to each other etc. However I thought it was probably best to check this out...!
So it's hard to really describe, but basically sometimes they curl round into themselves when next to another fish and sort of 'shimmy' or swim backwards a little bit. Is this normal behaviour or is this another sign of something wrong? Sorry since Madge's death I've become a bit paranoid and after the whole 'poo fiasco' I thought it better to be safe than sorry and check all of their behaviour out!
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My guppies definitely do this 'guppy dance' and it seems to be a display for pecking order purposes.
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Well that's a relief!
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My endlers do it too - curling themselves into a semicircle with their fins extended in front of another fish and sort of twitching or jerking. If you had females, they'd be doing it in front of the females rather than each other. Mine also do it in front of the green neon tetras, the only other endler sized fish in the tank.
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Yep that's exactly it! Very glad there's nothing to worry about there ha. I thought it was just something like that but better to be safe than sorry I guess! I'm tentatively suggesting all my fishies are AOK :-)
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Long string white poo is normally a symptom of over production of mucus in the intestines. The mucus is produced as a response to intestinal iritation caused by flagellatte parasites. If untreated or if it continues this can lead to parasites entering the organs and eventualy death. The parasites occure naturally and are jormaly kept in check by the fishes immune system. They start to become a problem when the fish get stressed for what ever reason. The best way i have found of dealing with this is a course of octazin.
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Yippeee.... another fish poo fan. ;D ;D
Poor SteveS, he's well outnumbered now. ;)
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Thanks for that Don, my fish have got er.. normal poo again now..is it possible for these things to cure themselves? :s I haven't noticed any problems since
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Yes apparently it can if the problem dosnt get to bad and the fish settles quickly. If the stress continues or its been going on for a while it can need treatment. My male ram was eating fine and acting normal it may have gone on its own but for peace of mind and to stop the discus getting it i used octozin. Ye watch my discus poo on a daily bases
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I suspect my fish probably had the problem from the shop I got them from and then once theyd settled it and were less stressed it cured itself. I'll make sure to keep an eye out though just in case and get that med if it happens again. Haha see Resa and Steve, it's not just me! I can imagine with fish as lovely as yours it's really important to look out for any signs of trouble and catch them early
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Ye i think its more of a problem with more sensetive fish. Rams can definetly be that. Ye with discus you have to catch any thing early. If you dont its quite often too late. I keep octozin on hand now and use fluke solve once a month just cause its easier than waiting for the symptoms showing.
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I've seen creamy white poo with my female albino convict, but since feeding the dried bloodworm at suppertime it seems to have cleared. Strangely though, my male firemouth is a bit deranged, he eats the poo the albino convict drops. Not sure if this is normal or not, since in a lot of animals it is normal, I assumed it might be because there were nutrients left in the poo. Oddly, I've never seen the firemouth poo, I must make the effort to be more observant, I seem to be slacking. :)
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::) :o ???
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I don't believe it! I look away for a while, and we're back on poo!
You people are obsessed...get some help! ;D ;D
I think Steve summed it up...
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Quite normal for fish to eat each others poo, especialy if it looks like food. Every one will be on poo patrol soonpo