What if the feces look different?

[Ardan]

The Feces Look Different
Normal fish feces look dark in color unless what we are
feeding them is color enhanced, such as tetrabits, the the
feces may look red.
However if the feces look different, the fish may have an
internal problem
Some differences may be
White slimy feces indicating hexamita (or spironucleus), This
is generally treated with Metro (metronidazole)

http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/disease_medications/internal/hexamitiasis.shtml
White segmented feces are probably a tapeworm
treated with Praziquantel
http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/disease_medications/internal/tapeworms.shtml

Yellow feces may indicate internal nematode worms (capillaria)
treated with medication in the food, panacur, flubenol, or
pipzine may be used
The following 2 pictures are of capillaria and the capillaria eggs under a microscope
The third picture is of the hexamita flagellate under a microscope

A microscope, even an inexpensive one with low power can be a very helpful tool for diagnosing these types of diseases.

these pics were used with permission From the Handbook Of Fish Diseases by Dieter Untergasser,TFH Publications

hth
Ardan

[Ardan]

capillaria eggs

[Ardan]

hexamita flagellate

[EyeOfThierry]

Advise would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm having illness breakout in my tank, and i've moved 2 discus to their own qt tanks, since it seemed like they were suffering from different issues.

I've treated the sickest one in a 10g qt for what is now becoming the 6th day.

The discus was experiencing the following:
Huge gash on the forehead, looked bloody, now seems to have cleared up a bit still large hole but seems to be healing.
Feces were white at one time with plenty of tiny white worms found in tank, maybe coming from feces not sure.

But the feces has now become yellow and stringy.

There is also a huge skin rash on the side.

I have been administering 250mg of Metronidazole. Every other day and am due to administer the 3rd dose. (yes 1 more than the 2 does recommended since it seems like it's getting better but really not there yet, and don't think i should stop the meds.)

Now this fish was picture of health last week. Only thing i did was remove it's (what turned out to be another female) from a breeding tank. Yes, not long ago it was laying eggs.

I've also been placing Aquarium salts into the tank hoping that it would help heal that huge gash on it's head.. that i thought could be HTH.

Question: Now that the feces is Yellow, do i give the meds a break for a day or two and start with Piperazine/Levamisol mix called DISCOMED? I read on this thread that yellow feces could be treated with something else. But, change meds ok?

The discus has not been eating since well over 6-7 days. I've tried some live brine shrimp... it seems to be ignoring that. i will try some live blackworms tomorrow, hoping that something live and wiggly might attract the appetite.

The other discus has white feces still, yesterday i started treating it with metro, today is the break.

I've included 3 pics... 1 showing gash in forehead. 1 show rash on side, and yellow feces, and it seems to even have some gill deformation now. The last pic was my beautiful discus when she was healthy.


-Thierry

[EyeOfThierry]

here are the pics...

[rodneyfisher]

Hey I too was wondering what is the best way to treat a fish if there is signs of white & yellow feces?

[Ardan]

Hi,
I would suspect possible nematode worms.

Use the discomed in food. You can soak live worms in one cup of water with one capsule of discomed in that water. leave it in there 3 or 4 hours. the worms will die, but they will soak up the med. hopefully the fish will eat some.
I would also have the temp at 90F+.
hth
Ardan

[rodneyfisher]

Where is the best place to buy discomed?

[EyeOfThierry]

thx Rodney

so having had my discus on metro and switching over is worth it? or will metro kill the worms? What a painful process this is seeing my discus suffer... but she seems to be waking up from the meds... i'm getting live black worms tomorrow, from a more reliable source than my LFS, so i'll try feeding her that tomorrow.

[kaceyo]

The company that made DiscoMed has gone out of buisiness quite a while back. So if you find any discomed it will be very old. Look for another brand that has either panacure, piperazine or lavamisol as the main ingred.
HTH,

Kacey

[brewmaster15]

Hi,
Looks like multiple things could be Going on here....


One thing to note on that "rash" It looks almost like a scrape.. or the feeding of a pleco...are their plecos in the tank.?if so what kind...


-al

[EyeOfThierry]

Hi,
Looks like multiple things could be Going on here....


One thing to note on that "rash" It looks almost like a scrape.. or the feeding of a pleco...are their plecos in the tank.?if so what kind...


-al


No, no plecos .. not for a very long time now... the fish didn't have ANY problems beginning of last week. The last picture is a bit old, only one i had that clearly showed her before sickness. See the dangling yellowish feces in pic 2?

[EyeOfThierry]

The company that made DiscoMed has gone out of buisiness quite a while back. So if you find any discomed it will be very old. Look for another brand that has either panacure, piperazine or lavamisol as the main ingred.
HTH,

Kacey

Ya.. i looked at the box of DISCOMED and it's expired in '03 ... guess not a good idea to use... but was going to use anyway. still hesistant on switching meds though.

The gill seems folded up now... doesn't look like it used to look like.. not sure if it's the problem or the meds causing it...

[EyeOfThierry]

do have lavamisol with a more current expiration.

[EyeOfThierry]

Hi,
I would suspect possible nematode worms.

Use the discomed in food. You can soak live worms in one cup of water with one capsule of discomed in that water. leave it in there 3 or 4 hours. the worms will die, but they will soak up the med. hopefully the fish will eat some.
I would also have the temp at 90F+.
hth
Ardan

Yes temp is at 90. fish is moving around more but still looks horrible. i think the gills definitely look messed up. folded up a bit. I will have bloodworms tomorrow, so will try the feed, but she hasn't been eating at all.

[EyeOfThierry]

Well my fish are still alive... their feces looking better.. no more yellow feces, or white worm balls. Main med used.. metro w/pratzi. 250mg. Administered every other day.. for 4-5 doses (don't recall exactly). 50%-75% w/c daily. Kept going on meds since results were not entirely positive after 'supposed' 2 dose recommendation on box. Although did see improvement.. so continued. Also after each w/c added A.Salts, 2 tablespoons. Temp is raised to 90... highest my thermometer would take it in the 10 gallon tank.

Used DISCOMED a few times... made one fish very weird... so stop usage. Weird, meaning not good, and 'drugged' up ... doing nose dips... didn't continue, fish got back to just looking sick...

Well the patch is still there but somewhat seems less severe but still quite noticable.. that's what i was hoping DISCOMED could cure. Gil problem is less severe, but still noticable. I'll post picks soon..

[EyeOfThierry]

Oh right... so right now... just doing 50% w/c with A.salts... no more meds.. feeding them blackworms... they eating. Stool is increasingly black now, but not 100% normal i think.

I will wait to see what happens.. not sure when i should reduce tank temperature. but right now.. it will stay high.

[Kevin22]

I’m getting into a big trouble today.

I have a big guy and four small Fuji Apples . Last night, one of the Fuji apples was staying at corner, looked sick. I took a close look; he got a whitish poop with clear lining.

Looks like Hex problem. Another 3 and my big guy look OK but not sure.

I put him separately. I heard high temp and Metro helps.

The problem is I bought another four discus in Qt tank, they look perfectly healthy.

I don’t know what to do now. Do I need treat the other three fish and the big guy as well, since they shared same tank. Their poops look dark, so there’s no symptom.

Now all my fish are in three tanks.

How can I mix my new fish with my old fish? Looks like my new fish are lot more healthier than my old ones.

If I treated all my old fish, would it be safe to mix them with my new fish afterwards?

I heard if I raise the temp to 95,96F, it will cure the fish, really?

I'm planing treat the sick fish with Metro. watch another 3 and my big guy closely, heated the tank up, feed them some frozen food soaked with Metro.
Do the same to the new fish in QT, just in case. doesn't make sense? any suggestions?

[Bizzaro]

What about poo that is all stringy and falls apart easy... really dark O.o

[Eddie]

What about poo that is all stringy and falls apart easy... really dark O.o

It's fine, nothing to worry about.

Eddie

[lorressa]

there are black spots on my discus faces

[Sivasama]

there are black spots on my discus faces

Are they pigeons....that would be normal. If you have a dark background on your tank I have seen this develop as well as they try to blend in. I saw this with a few fish in my tank. Nothing was wrong with the fish. Just sharing my limited experience with this.

[AndrewB]

Does white feces always indicate something bad? I've noticed the one has white clumpy poop. All fish appear to be eating and behaving normally. Should I be concerned?

[Ardan]

If you have a microscope I would examine the feces for internal worms. Maybe a treatment with levamisole would help also.
Feed only Frozen blood worms for a few days and see if it clears up.

hth
Ardan

[Melissa]

what if feces are reeeeeaaaaaally long? Like we're talking 4 1/2 inches! Normal color though....

[Eddie]

what if feces are reeeeeaaaaaally long? Like we're talking 4 1/2 inches! Normal color though....


Then the fish gets an award! :o

[Melissa]

It just keeps coming! How weird!!!! I HAD to take a picture.....

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs634.snc4/59401_1471131351389_1626790161_1138138_2172410_n.j pg
:thumbsup:

[Eddie]

LOL, yeah, its definitely long and looks like sausage links. Still looks dark so I wouldn't be too concerned.

[Melissa]

Thanks Eddie :p

I guess maybe this guy was holding it for a while or something...

[gsteve]

I have a 7 inch pleco that has latley had 8 inches hanging out of him like a show lace:confused: