Clear poop, bad?

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Andy Sager said:
What we are talking about is trying to get the fish to start eating again and pooping out the parasitic worm or worms or worm segments. What brine does is basically it acts like a laxative and should get the fish back on on track, poop wise. Once the fish is eating again on a regular basis, then it can be put on a different more balanced diet.
What it sounds like (to me) is that there are multiple problems with the system and fish which the food probably had little to do with. Possibly the wrong amount of one food (ie too much protein and not enough vegetation) might have added to the problem but most likely was not the cause.
I've heard of potential problems with live bloodworms as they are alive and can contain all types of things but I haven't heard of anyone absolutely concluding that an organism survived a freezing and became vital again after thawing and effecting fish. Do you have anything like that because I'd really like to read it (y) You can never learn too much :)

No I don't have any scientific evidence here. But the most important part is to try to provide advice to the original OP's... I agree with you that the primary thing here is to identify the possible cause for the illness in this tank, and to get the fish better.
 
Oh im sorry :( and yes we feed frozen bloodworms twice a week, they are for our pecock eel and gabrial loves them.... That must be why he is dying..
 
I hate to say this but....

I know. I feed bloodworms and my angelfish ate too many to quick giving him internal parasites :(

I have to ask, who told you the things you are coming up with as for why the fish is sick? Whomever told you this is way off base. Too much food too fast gives you a stomach ache and not much else. Fish don't get diseases from eating too much other than those caused by obesity. A parasite is a living organism and this one had to be either injested or hereditarily passed on to the fish. It wouldn't matter if he ate it slow or fast. He only had to eat it. PERIOD!
You mentioned some other fish problems which including this situation, all equal an ecosystem that is out of whack. THAT is why your fish are sick. Fix the system then you can fix the fish. Your fish will never be healthy in a sick system.
So to answer your previous question, IF all the water parameters are stabilzed, the water temp is a constant temperature, the medication you are using recommends a water change during treatment and you've done this and the fish is still not eating enough to poop out the worm, then you should continue treatment. ALL these things MUST be happening in order for this recommendation to work. If not, you're just wasting your time, your money and your fish's life.
Sorry to be so abrupt but that's the reality of your situation. :(
 
What if there are parasotes in the worms?

I don't know of any parasites that survive the drying or freezing process (although there probably are some, but im not a microbiologist) that bloodworms are found in at the store. There is some risk (although negligible in most cases imo) of parasite transmission with live/fresh dead foods, but I've never seen live bloodworms personally so I wouldn't be so quick to blame it on them.
 
But it is a parasite....

Okay so it isnt a parasite? Then how would you save this fish? I am lost and hopeless here


Intestinal worms are parasites. What we were trying to correct you on is how the fish got it. Your version of why it got just doesn't add up or happen.
Here's your solution:
Fix the things I suggested before, follow the directions on the package of the medication until you've completed the treatment exactly as perscribed then try some live food, (preferrably brine shrimp) and see how he does. There's nothing more we can tell you that's going to matter until you do these things. The longer it takes for you to complete this, the harder it's going to be to save the fish.
Don't take this the wrong way but STOP asking and START doing!! You've been given all the info you need to suceed. :blink:
Once again, I don't mean to be rough but it sounds like you are refusing to do the right thing in hopes that someone will tell you something different. Once the fish dies, there will be nothing anybody can do to save it. Time is of the essence!
 
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Im sorry but i dont think there is anything i can do. I have dont waterchanges and dosed meds 3 times each 2 days apart. I have increased the heat to about 83 (still increasing to treat ich). I have tried feeding everything i own. I have no access to live food, and even if i did i have heard that those also bring parasites and desieses. I will does the meds again tonight. I dont really care how my fish got this parasite anymore, i just want it gone and i have followed all the instructions i have been given (except live food, which again, i have no access to). I dont want to sound ungrateful, but if there was something i felt i could do right now, i would have done it. I would do 500 waterchanges if thats what it took, but that wont solve anything. If i had high nitrates or something there would be something that i could do, but i cant.

Honestly, thank you all for helping me. I truly appreciate it!
 
Okay, one last word....

Im sorry but i dont think there is anything i can do. I have dont waterchanges and dosed meds 3 times each 2 days apart. I have increased the heat to about 83 (still increasing to treat ich). I have tried feeding everything i own. I have no access to live food, and even if i did i have heard that those also bring parasites and desieses. I will does the meds again tonight. I dont really care how my fish got this parasite anymore, i just want it gone and i have followed all the instructions i have been given (except live food, which again, i have no access to). I dont want to sound ungrateful, but if there was something i felt i could do right now, i would have done it. I would do 500 waterchanges if thats what it took, but that wont solve anything. If i had high nitrates or something there would be something that i could do, but i cant.

Honestly, thank you all for helping me. I truly appreciate it!

Okay then. There's really not much more you can do except wait. That being said, We need to clear up a few things once and for all. Anything I repeat from an earlier post is not by accident ;)
#1- You need a larger heater. It shouldn't take your heater more than a couple of hours to raise the temps 4 degrees. If yours can't do that, it's too small for YOUR living conditions. Just because it's rated for up to a 40 gal tank doesn't mean that it can handle a 40 in all conditions. Just something to think about replacing.
#2- Frequent water changes are sometimes necessary when you have a system that is out of whack. Being willing to do those 500 water changes is a good thing. Needing to do 500 water changes to fix a problem is a bad thing. I hope you can see the difference. ;)

#3- Live food: Yes, there is a minimal risk of bringing in a disease with live food but you need to understand the basics. In nature, fish living in ideal conditions don't usually succumb to the diseases they pick up in their natural food. In the case of parasites, most often the parasite moves from host to host or leaves the host at some point to reproduce. Strong fish can carry the parasites and deal with them. Stress makes the disease or parasite better able to attack the host. Ich is also more of a sympton than a disease. Healthy fish in a healthy system rarely come down with ich. In your case, you had multiple fish showing stress in different forms making one believe that the problem is the tank more than the disease.

#3A- Diseases from live food: As I said earlier, there is a minimal chance of a disease being transferred through live food. In the case of Live Brine Shrimp, this is a saltwater creature which would only carry a saltwater disease. As explained to me years ago, once in freshwater, the osmotic pressure difference between saltwater and freshwater would make any parasites attached to a brine shrimp burst thereby making it harmless. (This is the reason we give FW baths to saltwater fish effected by external parasites as a means to eradicate the problem.) So you shouldn't hesitate about feeding live brine to your freshwater fish. Just let them sit in Freshwater a few minutes prior to feeding to eliminate any potential problems. So the rule to remember:Foods raised in freshwater can pass things to freshwater fish, Foods raised in saltwater can't pass things to freshwater fish. The same rule applies to marine fish. They can't catch a freshwater disease from food raised in freshwater.


Finally, if you don"t have access to live brine, try frozen brine. The whole object it to get the fish to see something natural and see if it will eat it. Flakes and freezedried foods don't always cut it. Brine shrimp is my choice because it works somewhat like a laxetive which from the sounds of it, is what your fish needs. The living shrimp would be a moving target and hopefully rekindle that natural instinct to eat a moving object.

So other than that, you're just going to have to wait it out. Keep the system as healthy as possible and hope for the best.

Keep us posted (y)
 
I am the happiest kid alive right now. My good friend Gabrial has been acting good as new! Just fed a few flakes and he went CRAZY! Eating like a madman! I am so happy. Thank you all for the help, i truley appreciate it. And no doubt about it, Gabrial would have died without the help of you guys. Words cant explain my gratitude.
 
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