White Poop!

[williamvo]

I THINK MY DISCUS HAS HEX!!! I've notice that my discus has not been eating for the past week and yesterday I saw it was pooping out white jelly-like poop. Can this be hex in its early stage?

[G-1000]

If it hasnt been eating for a week then it wouldnt be early stage mate. If you are sure you have seen white poo - then you need to go ahead with a metro treatment.

G

[williamvo]

i'm sure that i see white poop. is metro safe with plants?

[G-1000]

yes - metro is fine with plants.

G

[Robdog]

What about thick white poo, normal appetite, no weight gain or growth and one with a permanent white string poo?? :? :? :? :?

Metro, prazi, levamisol? What the heck is all this stuff for??
Cestodes, nematodes, flagellates, trematodes the list goes on.

[G-1000]

Ok Robdog

Thats a bit tough

THICK white poo can be a shedding of the intestinal layer of the fish in some cases or a sign of hexamita. If you have thick white poop - then administer metronidazole in their food (metro is an antibiotic). The metro should be able to kill any organism causing it and prevent infection in the fish.

Treat 1.5g metro per 100g food (it is meant to be 1g per 100g, but with the resistance of bacteria to metro you need a higher dose).

after treating with the metro in food (only use the metro food, nothing else) for SEVEN days, then I would use praziquantel to treat for gill flukes and tapeworm. Levamisole is generally not indicated for usage unless you suspect the involvement of worms.

G

[Robdog]

I suppose my symptoms were a bit confusing. Any medication will be going into my maintenence tank as a few fish seem to be affected.
The occupants that are showing signs are 2 small discus that are either stunted little runts or there is something eating what they eat. One orange flash cacatouides who for the last week has had a fairly long (7-8mm) white string from his bum. Another small discus which passed this fat light coloured poo yesterday. Blue ram male that passed a similar poo but a bit darker at exactly the same time.
A few recent deaths which all seemed to include a bit of bloating and one with a sunken tummy. I think there may be more than one problem going on here.
Every single occupant is not acting weird or unusual and all have normal appetites. Go figure!

[fishgeek]

stringy white poo is due t increase mucous production by the intestinal cells
this can occur due to parasitism it can equally occur due to a food intolerance (allergy in those cells)

the mucous tends to bind any material and make the feaces longer and stringier

this is why faecal sampling is useful, you are then actually looking to see if portozoal cyst/organism worm egg's or nothing is visble i the stool
and then choosing a more appropriate medication

metronidazol is an antibiotic with some gram negative effects, it is primarily used as an antiprotozoal medication
levamisol is a benzimadol anthelmenthic, it is effective against nematodes(round worms)
praziquatel is a cestocide(kills tapeworms)

the last species you ask about trematode are flukes

andrew

[Robdog]

Thanks Andrew. Clear as mud :lol:

[fishgeek]

sorry i have never been good at expalining things

ask away and i will try and answer more clearly

[Robdog]

No mate that was fine.
Just curious though, how would the symptoms differ between a tapeworm and roundworm and any other worm?

[fishgeek]

external clincial signs are still going to be the same that why we need to do feacal examinations
the shape of the egg's are different dependant on which species is involved

basically somethg is utilising the host fish's energy and depending on worm taking blood
larval stage's may damage tissue
and large numbers of adult stages may give a feeling of fullness and lack of apetite

hence the slow wasting and lack of appetite as being primary signs and also not very specific to any particular disease