Loooong poo ... do I worry yet?

[dixiedog]

Not white, just long, but REAL long. Only one one of my eight juvs show this.

Water quality is very good. The fish in question is the dominant individual in the group and shows no other signs of any problems - beautiful color, eats like a horse, grows like a weed.

I'm inclined to think I have nothing to worry about, but I'll throw this out anyway.

Hmm?

[KIWI13]

If it aint white then its no fright............

Listen I am no expert of Discus poo but if its brown or reddish or whatever it is your feeding them with, it should be ok. Maybe he just eats more than the other fish. Maybe he is just real talented and likes showing off by making record breaking poo's. LOL

I think it's ok but thats just lil ol me...

Jas :D

[dixiedog]

Thanks Jas, that's what I want to hear!

[Carol_Roberts]

Long strings of normal colored feces are a sign of overeating - watch for constipation.

[dixiedog]

Long strings of normal colored feces are a sign of overeating - watch for constipation.


Ah so.

I definitely feed these fish a LOT. I mean a WHOLE lot. Never to the point where anything goes uneaten, of course, but beyond that, if I'm home, they're eating like piranhas at least every hour.

Should I back off a little??

[Andrew Soh]

Hi,

I think your discus diet is short on fiber. A good feces should be short and solid and is generally black unless you overcolor feed...then it turns to brownish or reddish.

Whether you are feeding dry processed feed....carbohydrate may be too much...or if you feed them with beefheart...insufficient fiber added. Fiber ratio should be at least 1 : 10 of beef.

Take care,
Andrew :angel:

[dixiedog]

Hi,

I think your discus diet is short on fiber. A good feces should be short and solid and is generally black unless you overcolor feed...then it turns to brownish or reddish.

Whether you are feeding dry processed feed....carbohydrate may be too much...or if you feed them with beefheart...insufficient fiber added. Fiber ratio should be at least 1 : 10 of beef.

Take care,
Andrew :angel:

Hey Andrew -

Thanks for the advice!

Hey, what do you use for your fiber content?

Gene

[Andrew Soh]

Hi,

You can mix carrot or/ and vegetable like spinach (cooked). Good source and high concentration of beta-carotene and calcium.

Red Carrot : 300-500gm to 10 kg of BF
Spinach : 1 kg to 10 kg of BH

Try it and you will see the feces in short, breakable yet solid form.

Take care,
Andrew :angel:

[dixiedog]

Awesome. Thanks!

Gene

[dixiedog]

Uh oh.

This morning the big guy's long brown poo has turned to long and whitish.

Not good. It could be my imagination, but he and the rest seem a little off, attitude-wise. Skittish. Picky as they eat; some of them spitting food out more than normal.

I just went to the LFS and got some metro, dosed the tank to about 400 mg/10 gal. The instructions said 250, but all over this site folks say 400 so that's what I'm doing.

As it happens, I'm leaving tonight for three days so this is all I can think to do. I cranked up the heat a little to where I think it'll reach 90 or so but I'm afraid to go further as I won't be here to watch things.

The fish will soon all have to fast for 72 hours, but if they do have flagellates they probably won't know the difference.

Any advice would certainly be welcome!

Gene

[Carol_Roberts]

You are overreacting. Give them a few days of extra water changes to see if they get back to normal.

Also - You are not dosing the metro correctly. Wait until you get back. Raise temp to 92 plus, dose 400 - 500 mg per 10 gallons 2 or 3 times per day for 3 - 5 days. Keep temp up for a weeks aafter treatment ends.

[dixiedog]

You are overreacting. Give them a few days of extra water changes to see if they get back to normal.

Also - You are not dosing the metro correctly. Wait until you get back. Raise temp to 92 plus, dose 400 - 500 mg per 10 gallons 2 or 3 times per day for 3 - 5 days. Keep temp up for a weeks aafter treatment ends.

Thanks, Carol.

Should I continue the usual daily water changes during the treatment?

Gene

[Carol_Roberts]

during metro treatment you change 50% water daily prior to a dose. Use pH stable water that is 90+ degrees

[Andrew Soh]

Hi Gene,

That's great. Raise temperature, soak in metro and no feeding for 3 days to 4...that's just what they need.

When you come back, feed beefheart incorporated with metro....they will be very hungry, they will just eat the medicated food..just what we want.

In feed, it can be 1 gm to 1 kg of beefheart. That's what I use. IT can even go up to 1.5 gm without any adverse effect.

Take care and enjoy your leave...

Andrew :angel:

[ppv1951]

how is everyone weighing out mg. and g.'s?

good luck with those fish gene!

pat.

[dixiedog]

Thanks Pat, and I guess I was lucky. I used a pack of ten 250mg capsules in my 75 gallon tank (which I guess comes to 333mg/gallon, contrary to what I stated earlier), went away for three days, and had no more problems when I returned.

Maybe I was just overfeeding, who knows.