Stringy tube like feces

[crazie.eddie]

I have a cobalt, about 6" (TL). It will go out to eat, but is not as an aggressive eater compared to the other discus. It only comes out of hiding to eat when I'm gone, compared to the other discus, which will come out and eat out of my hand.

Anyway, when I was feeding the fish this morning, I saw the cobalt with stringy, almost clear, tubular feces, which was about 3" or so, still stuck from it's anus. At first I thought it was a worm, but after looking at at more, I noticed that it was like a tubular feces, nothing inside it.

Tank Info
Tank: 125 gallons semi planted (low tech) with substrate
Temp: 82 degrees F
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: 0
NitrAte: about 10ppm (color charts are in intervals of 20, but color is between 0-10ppm)
Tankmates: 4 discus total, 2 angels, 5 clown loaches, 9 harlequin rasboras, 2 praecox rainbox, 1 bosemani rainbow, & 1 L018 gold nugget pleco

I have one tank with 2 juvenile discus, endlers, and an L333 pleco, which I'm using to growout the 2 discus, but I have a couple of extra tanks I can use for QT if I need to medicate the cobalt.

I saw this, but I'm not sure if it's the same...
http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/disease_medications/internal/hexamitiasis.shtml

Any ideas and/or remedies?

[Harriett]

Sounds like Hex to me. If it looks like a duck and it quacks, it's probably a duck, as they say. The basic directions on your link are correct. I treat with 500mg pet grade (or 250mg pharaceutical human grade)/20g of water 2 or 3 x day for 3 days straight, changing 50% water 1 x day before the next dose treatment. I grind the metro up and add a little water to make a smooth slurry and dump it in the tank. It won't hurt your filter. The water in the QT tank MUST be at least 90 degrees, I go 90-94 for the med to absorb properly in the water and work. I salt my tank when I do the treatment, as well, at 1-2 tablespoon/10g. At the end of the 3rd day, I do a massive water change and keep salting for a couple days, slowly lowering temp back to 82-84. Watch the fish for a week to make certain you have knocked out the Hex and no secondary issues are coming up. If the fish is still eating well, an alternative to try that many prefer is using metro medicated food. You can buy it online several places.
Good luck.
Harriett

[crazie.eddie]

Thanks.

I contacted a a local breeder and he mentioned that discus often shed the inner linings of their stomach, so it maybe common for the discus. He mentioned to just keep an eye on it.

I just did a gravel cleaning and water change today, so I'll watch the discus the next few days to see if it continues. Meanwhile, I had trouble finding meds locally for it, so I'll order it first thing tomorrow.

[pcsb23]

Eddie,

I think the local breeder gave some good advice, it may be nothing more than the stomach lining, being hollow suggests that is the case. Discus will shed their lining if they don't eat for a while.

If it is hex then we have time on our side anyway so its best to try and deal with the none eating issue before worrying about hex. Adding metro can dampen their appetite so it would only make it worse.

I would suggest running your main tank a couple of degrees warmer as standard, ie at 84f or 29C. 82 is the lowest temp I would use, either way souldn't be a major.

How do its eyes look? is its colour vibrant or dull? Sometimes they can have internal parasites like nematodes that suppress appetite and also rob them of nutrients.

If you can isolate it then treatment will be easier and cheaper. It would be worth upping the temp to say 86 to 90 for a little while to see if it will stimulate its appetite. May be worth running an airstone at the higher temps too.

[crazie.eddie]

It's color is still vibrant, so I guess that's a good sign. I'm just concerned about it's health, since it's a very picky eater compared to the other discus. As I mentioned, it hides when I'm around and will come out when I go away. So when it's feeding time, all the other fish gets first dibs on the food and it's left with scraps.

[crazie.eddie]

Fish seems to be doing better. I haven't treated, just been watching it lately. Haven't seen clear feces coming out of it.

I also noticed it's a slow, picky eater. It never really attacks the food, like the others, so it misses out on the bloodworms. Even if I blow BW by it using a turkey baster, it kind of ignores it. The only thing it does seem to want to eat are beefheart.

I'm planning to put it in the growout tank with my juveniles. It's a BB 29 gallon tank, so it should have an easier time finding food, compared to the 125 gallon. I just need to fatten it up a little more.

[pcsb23]

Hopefully moving it into the smaller tank will do the trick. keep us posted.

[CoKen]

hi guys

what does it mean if the discus has a long hanging stringy dark solid feces, and it doesnot seem to be easy for them to get rid of it. will this also mean it might be the same problem as those stringy clear feces?

what form of feces should a healthy discus has?

thank you.

rgds
Ken

[Cosmo]

Eddie, my understanding has been that Discus eject the intestinal lining as a first line of defence against infections. If it were me, I'd put it in a hospital tank, crank the heat up to 90/92 and treat with Metro and non-iodized salt. Paul's correct that metro can inhibit eating but I've found that the sooner you treat the easier they are to cure and the sooner they become healthy eaters again. Three to five days of treatment may be followed by a couple days of loss of appetite but they usually come around quickly after that.

You mentioned gravel, you should vacuum gravel daily or at least with every water change. It's disgusting how much detritus can hide in gravel and even though unseen it leads to nasty buildups in the water column that will effect the fish, especially considering you're feeding beefheart. Also, make sure you keep up a good WC regimen to keep the water quality up.

82 degrees Paul.... brrrrrrr LOL But then, you have some planted tanks. I usually keep my tanks between 86 and 88 as the norm and the fish seem to get a little unhappy if I drop to 84, which I only do if treating a bacterial infection. Plants wouldn'l like 88 I don't think.

Jim

[Cosmo]

Ken,

Depending on the size of the fish, the turds can get rather large :p As long as they are dark, it's probably not an infection issue.

If he seems to be having trouble passing it though, you might try some epsom salt to help him clean himself out. 1 tbls per 10 gal should be sufficient I'd think?

Jim

[pcsb23]

82 degrees Paul.... brrrrrrr LOL But then, you have some planted tanks. I usually keep my tanks between 86 and 88 as the norm and the fish seem to get a little unhappy if I drop to 84, which I only do if treating a bacterial infection. Plants wouldn'l like 88 I don't think.

Jim

Jim, yes 82 is on the low side, Inormallt target 84f to 86f. I have found once I drop below 82 for any length of time they start to suffer. 88f is tolerated by the plants, provided they get their nutrients too!