White poo like sausage links

[dave Cox]

I have a 2 Discus (out of 7) that have white sausage link looking poop hanging a couple of inches out of them. It doesn't look slimmy though. After reading articles on SD, I concluded that it was probably tape worms and have treated three times with Prazi. I don't see any progress. The affected fish stay in the back of the tank and don't eat. The Blue Diamond has gotten pretty dark. The Pigeon Blood hasn't changed color much but hasn't been afected as long. Is there alternative treatments such as Metronidazole?

[Don Trinko]

Prazi (external flukes and internal tape worm), Metro (some bacteria and other internal parasites), are the two most common treatments for internal parasites. Since you tried prazi I would try Metro. Levamisole is also used for nematodes or round worms. It can be found at farm stores. If you decide to use it do some reading first. Dosages are small.
If you have a microscope you may be able to find what parasite has infected your fish. This would determine the med. I bought a scope, now I have to lern how to make slides etc. Don T.

[ShinShin]

From your description, it is not a tapeworm. I'd try metro. It is not a normal nematode symptom, so I would not consider levamisole at this point. Bacterial infections also produce a white slimy fecal discharge similar to hex. Metro only kills a few anaerobic bacteria, besides intestinal protazoans. After the metro treatment, and the results don't change, another antibiotic needs to be considered.

Mat

[krazykat]

I have a blue diamond that is exhibiting the same symptoms as Dave's fish. He has turned dark and has a 2-3" slimy feces trailing behind him, with little red lumps every inch or so. There was a piece that got caught on a plant and it stretched out into a string-like strand about 20 inches long - ugh! Is this contagious to my other discus? He does not have any scratches or signs of possible ''hole-in-the-head." I have five other discus and they all seem to be doing fine with good appetites and liveliness, good color, nice fins, etc. The blue diamond has been hanging back which is unusual for him. He does still eat but his appetite is not as good as before. I wasn't sure if this was something that just needed to run its course but it sounds like I need to treat my blue diamond. Do I need to put him in a quarantine tank? What about my other discus? I also have 8 corydoras, 2 black neon tetras, and one clown loach in my 90 gallon tank with my discus. Maybe I need to medicate the whole tank? Help!

[brewmaster15]

Hi,
How long has the fish been like this? and is there any Bloating or swelling of the abdomen?

-al

[krazykat]

Hello Brewmaster! I'm not sure if you're replying to Dave's post or mine (sorry Dave - didn't mean to steal your thread :D) But my discus has been like this for about a week and a half now. He does not have a sunken belly and he does not looked starved - maybe just a teensy bit slimmer than before, and he was "just right" to begin with. He can't seem to get rid of that string of slimy whitish poo trailing behind him even though I see discarded ones around the aquarium.

[brewmaster15]

Hi kat,
Can you put the fish into a hospitol tank to observe/treat?

-al

[krazykat]

Hi Brewmaster! I could put him in a 15H with a sponge filter. I hate the thought of stressing him out further, though, and it's going to be quite a feat catching him from my 90-gallon show tank. I have probably had him about 2 1/2 years now and he was about 2 1/2 inches when I got him from my LFS. If you think that he does not have anything contagious, I would prefer to leave him in the big tank. He does not have a bloated belly, he would almost look normal except for the darkness and the trailing poo which he has not had before.

[brewmaster15]

Okay then... what I would suggest is try feeding that tank of fish frzn Blood worms exclusively for 2 days and see if it helps clear out the problem.... Its possible the fish has an internal infection and/or parasites.... If after a few days of the blood worms only theres no improvement then I would treat the tank with Metronidazole... You can buy it fairly cheap online at places like Jehmco.com You'll need enough to treat the tank for 7-10 days.

Hth,
al

[krazykat]

Okay, I will try that. Those little pigs are just going to love nothing but bloodworms for the next two days! If nothing does change and I treat with metro as you recommended, will my clown loach and 8 cories be okay? I also have 2 BN plecos and a clown pleco as well as 2 black neon tetras in there. I can put the blue diamond in the 15H if you think that he doesn't have anything contagious. This way not everybody is getting medicated for one fishies' owies. Hmm...how about my live plants? Thanks for the advice Brewmaster!

[krazykat]

Hey Dave! How are your fish doing? :D

[brewmaster15]

Kat,
Metro should not hurt anyof the fish.. when possible I like to treat a fish in a hospitol tank as its easier to observe and dose in that set up....

whether its contagious or not I can't say as we don't really know what it is :)...but since this has been going on a for 1 1/2 weeks..its probably not ....since no one else is sick...still its not good that its shedding that feces into the tank and has been..so in this case treating in the tank is probably a good idea...if its needed.

hth,
al

[krazykat]

Hi Brewmaster! It's been a while and I got my order of metro delivered to me last Friday. Did an H2O change (35 gallons) today and then dosed the 90 gallon tank with 3500 mg of metro, crushed. My tank temp was at 82F but I raised it a couple of degrees to 84F (kinda worried about my other fish with the temp). After I dosed the main tank, I took another look at my blue diamond and it seems like he's bloated, as if he'd swallowed a marble. Now he still had the slimy white feces stringing along but the belly is also bigger. Now am wondering if I should have tried Epsom salt first? But there's the slimy feces, too. I'm confused at the moment. I think there may be several things going on but I think I'm going to keep up with the Metro protocol. Am planning on another 3500 mg dose tomorrow morning before I go to work. Should I follow that with a 25% H2O change in the evening when I get home followed by another 3500 mg (I got 500 mg pills)? Or wait to do another H2O change the next morning and dose with 3500 mg then? All the other fish seem fine but i wanted to treat the tank in case the others have already been infected. :confused:

[MostlyDiscus]

Hi Kat, sorry to barge in but was wondering if you spoke with John at Jehmco. John is pretty good with meds and dosing. For the record, When I use metro I dose every 8hrs and double the reccommended dosage. any disease/infection needs to be treated at the first sign of trouble if possible.

[krazykat]

Hello MD,! At this point I need all the help I could get. My Blue Diamond's belly is looking even more bloated right now, and lately he has also been doing some headstanding :cry:. It doesn't look good. I haven't spoken to John at Jehmco. I got my Metro from dog.com where it was sold as Fish-Zole, or something like that. Got 100 tablets of 500 mg pills for about $29.00, plus shipping. All my other fish seem fine but I can't say that the medication has helped my sick discus at all. :( Maybe I should take my sick discus out and treat him more aggressively.

[MostlyDiscus]

Kat,


Headstanders hard really hard to cure. Most time the treatments kill faster than the original problem. I bought a kilo of metro from John for 68. US dollars. If the other fish are not stressed or showing signs of infection then I would move just the one. I have a tendency to go more extreme on my treatments due to the fact that I dont consider my discus pets. I dont like loosing them when they pass on, but I dont spend tons of time trying to cure sick fish either. Jehmco is on the web. John is pretty good with the meds as is Graham from Canada. Good Luck Kat. If there is anything I can do for you plz let me know. Ed

[krazykat]

Hello everybody! I just wanted to post an update on my blue diamond... Good news is he is doing much better! Color has gotten lighter and he is swimming about the tank more now and showing interest in food! I dosed with 3500 mg of Metro every 12 hours, upped temp to 84F from 82F, medicated for seven days, no WCs for the first three days and then did 15 gallons WC once a day the last five days. Haven't taken any water readings so don't have parameters on Nitrates, etc. Everybody in the 90 gallon tank seems to be doing well, all the other fish did not seem to be affected or even seem to notice that anything was amiss with the medicating and all. It was just 'snowing' to them, and they even tried to peck at the undissolved granules of Metro. Bluey is still hovering in the corner most of the time but he doesn't look quite as close to death as he did three weeks ago. Thanks for everybody's advice. I hope that my discus will continue on the road to recovery. :)

[Don Trinko]

82 is the lower limit for discus. (my opinion) I dont think it caused your problem but the fish would likely be happier at 84 to 86. Don T.

[MostlyDiscus]

Great news Kat:). Thx for the input and the notes. I agree with Don though. I would have at least 84 as my temp in community setting with other fish. I keep my system for all fish at 87. I really am happy to hear good news.. Ed

[krazykat]

The discus do seem to be happier with the higher temp. I have decided not to lower the temp even though all the medicating is over with. Their colors are also a little brighter. The daily WCs probably had a lot to do with this, too. So, am keeping the temp at 84F and will be doing more frequent WCs from now on. Just got a 29 gallon tank to condition the water in to help with this. :)