worms?

[J-D]

Most of my harlequin rasboras have these strings coming out of their bums, I'm guessing probably worms but as the lfs is shut now any of you advise? I've attached a picture but I'm afraid I couldn't get a decent one as the harlequins never stay still!!

It just looks like a fine brown string...I thought it might be just poo but I've never seen them do this before and it seems to be 4 out of the 6 of them.

They live in a 27 gal tank with 5 x ray tetras and a whiptail catfish. I only got the whiptail yesterday so I guess he might have something to do with it but not sure that 24 hours would be enough for something like worms to take root? The harlequins have been in the tank about 2 months and the tetras about 3 months.

I feed them nutrafin flakes which they were fed at the lfs before I bought them too.

Any suggestions as to what it might be and how to treat?

[An t-iasg]

Since you say it's a brown string now, I'm guessing it's poop...they may be constipated. Constipation seems to show up in fish like a string of poop that won't fall off. I would try to feed a pea to ease the constipation. I like to use frozen peas - canned peas tend to mush up too much to be of any use. I fill a regular glass measuring cup with water, put the frozen peas in, and microwave for about 4 minutes on high. Pour off the hot water carefully and fill the cup with cold water. When the peas cool, in 10-15 minutes, peel the skin off and throw it away. Cut the "meat" of the pea into small pieces about as big as the fish's regular food. If it is the same size as their regular food, they should accept it. Feed them some peas today and tomorrow. Then do not feed for a day or two. This will give their digestive system a rest and also make sure they pass the constipation.

After a few days, if they are not better, or the brown string starts to look white, or the fish look skinny or sunken in, they may have internal parasites. Jungle labs has an anti-parasite food. If you can't find it in the UK, then get some metronidazole. You can add this to the water - just watch for a mini-cycle afterwards. You can also feed the metronidazole to the fish - just get some tank water in a cup, add just a little pinch of the medicine (it should be a powder) and soak some freeze-dried or frozen food in the water for about 10 minutes, then feed. Good luck!

PS. Feed a variety of food to your fish - a balanced diet may help prevent constipation. Your harlequins would like some frozen or freeze-dried bloodworms a few times a week.

[J-D]

thanks...i just did a water change and fed them! having said that they munched their flakes pretty quickly so I was thinking about giving them a bit more so i'll try them on some peas. thank you

I have noticed now some of the strings on the floor, there are quite a few in the area i didn't vac today and they do look like long thin poos...i guess i just panicked so hopefully it is just constipation - that would make sense as they've been eating more enthusiastically in recent weeks. They had trouble with the size of the flakes at first, they kept getting stuck to their faces (which although quite entertaining to watch wasn't very nice really!).

thanks for your help

EDIT: LOL nice idea I just gave them some peas but the harlequins didn't get a look in - the pristellas went mad for them!! A few have landed on the floor though so I expect the cat will get them overnight. I will get some bloodworms for the harlequins

[An t-iasg]

It's good to know the tetras liked the peas! Hopefully you can get some to the harlequins too. You can feed peas once a week to all the fish as a constipation preventative.