Wierd Poo

[Lichan]

Hi All,

Firstly let me say, Great site - Lots of helpful tips and tricks for beginners and advanced Discus keepers. Keep up the good work.
Now to the poo problem.
I recently aquired a smallish healthy looking pair of brown Discus.
I had them for several weeks before noticing one of them had a long stringy looking thing hanging from its vent. (Kinda looks a little like a single strand of spiderweb, not white or slimy but gray and kinda matt but very thin) After doing some research and enquiring at the local fish shop which happens to be Pet City at Mt Gravatt in QLD it was decided it was some form of internal parasite for which they prescribed Sterazin by Waterlife. The fish never stopped swimming around, eating well - in general he didnt look sick. Anyway I dosed with the Meds and it cleared up for a week or two, however yesterday I noticed it back again. There is normal poo and then a longish spiderweb bit followed by another normal coloured poo bit. Should I treat again ? Could it be anything else ? Any other suggestions ?
He is still swimming around great and eating really well. Should I remove that one to the hospital tank and treat only it, should I remove both to the hospital tank and treat the two at once just to be safe ??
The fish are in a 280L curved glass tank, with bio filtration in the hood, and an Eheim 2215 external canister filter with UV on the return.
red rock river sand as substrate (its not sand), several pieces of driftwood and several types of anubias and some java moss. I add the recommended dose of Geo Liquid and Blackwater extract to the water while in the aging barrel being aerated. I also use RO water mixed with normal water to acheive a TDS of about 100 or close to when measured with the TDS meter. All other water paramters are good and temp is constant between 28 -30 depending on the time of the day. There are also a couple of tetras in the tank. I am planning on getting maybe 2 more discus sometime before Xmas to join them.
Any suggestions re the poo would be much appreciated.

Kind regards

[Merrilyn]

Hi Lichan and welcome to the forum.

I do think the fish store was right in saying internal worm problems the first time. And Sterazin is a very good treatment, but you must follow the directions exactly.

I think what you're seeing now is something different altogether. Fish shed a little of the lining of the gut and regrow it constantly, and this is very normal. Some of that shed lining is going to be visible in the droppings. It's only when it gets to the stage where there is an excessive amount of lining shed, and it appears like white jelly like droppings, that there is a more serious problem.

In this case, I think you corrected the initial problem, and what you're seeing now, is part of normal droppings.

Keep an eye on all your fish, and if you see a drastic change in the droppings, or if you see the return of those worms protruding from the anus, then you'll need to do more treatment.

[DarkWings]

Hi.

One of my discuss has this white jelly poo always hanging out of it ( sorry - not sure how else to explain )

It used to be a very happy fish but is now pretty reserved and does not eat as much as the others.

Can anyone tell me what treatment I should give this sick fish??

Thanks!

[Mattie]

is this serious?

[Merrilyn]

Welcome to the forum darkwings and mattie.

Seems you both have a similar problem. Is this just an occasional event or is it happening all the time. If it's just occasional, then it could be to do with the food the fish are eating, and just neds to be watched.

For the fish that is showing white droppings all the time, then that's more serious and needs to be treated.

First thing I would be doing is worm the fish with a treatment containing levamisole which will rid the fish of all roundworms and threadworms. Next, if the white droppings continue, then it's possibly the start of hexemita (an intestinal bacteria) and needs to be treated with a product called Flagyl. Depending on the regulations in your part of the world, you may need to go to your vet to get the tablets (it is only available from the vet here in Australia).

There's quite a bit of information available in this thread:-

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2475

HTH

[Phlipper]

I also find my discus, and other fish display exactly that kind of poo after being fed a beefheart mixture, in which case it may be nothing to worry about........however worming as suggested wouldn't go astray.