Internal parasites?

[Friendly]

I got some new hatchet fish a few days ago and one has started pooping out strands of white poo. Could this be caused by internal parasites? Here's some pics:

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[TCTFish]

I was always told that white stringy poo like that can indicate internal parasites. Before treatment, it should be confirmed a parasite exists. Watch the fish for other signs such as listlessness, loss of appetite, erratic swimming, and rapid breathing. The following is a little info on meds. for treating internal parasites for aquarium fish.

http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=NJ054
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004+113017

 

[Friendly]

Well the hatchet doesn't seem to be listless at all and swims around normally just like the others. He eats very little, but it's the same with all my hatchets (just recently got them). They're always skimming the surface as if they're looking for food or something.

Hmm I think I might just buy some medicated food ( http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=31950;category_id=3995 ) for now and if any of those symptoms (listlessness, loss of appetite, etc) appear I'll go for the full treatment.

Thanks for the reply TCTFish!!

 

[TCTFish]

Hatchets are surface skimmers always on the look out for a tasty bug to land on the water's surface. Hatchets are not captive bred as far as I know, so you'll be observing natural wild behavior when space allows. Most fish in general do not know when they are full (they lack that neural impulse communication) so they will always act hungry. Do not give in to this. LOL. That's how we end up with bad water and fat fish. Feed them sparingly throughout the day. Two to three minutes worth of food per day. Maybe even skip a day or two out of the week. Best to divide the food into several feeds. There are many fish that graze and search all day long for a meal instead of snacking up food all in one shot.

Because the chances of them being wild is high, parasites from the wild might show up in the tank. Observe and use your best judgement. Try to take a closer look at that stringy poo. Does it have segments? Mouth parts? Hooks or suckers? That depends on how into you get. Those kiddie microscopes do come in handy once in a while...LOL.

 

[Friendly]

Hatchets are surface skimmers always on the look out for a tasty bug to land on the water's surface. Hatchets are not captive bred as far as I know, so you'll be observing natural wild behavior when space allows.

I keep my hatchets in a 75g planted so I'm hoping that they have lots of space to show off their natural behavior. They do act pretty strange sometimes. I have seen two pair off together and swim side by side really fast as if they're trying to have a race lol.

Most fish in general do not know when they are full (they lack that neural impulse communication) so they will always act hungry. Do not give in to this. LOL. That's how we end up with bad water and fat fish. Feed them sparingly throughout the day. Two to three minutes worth of food per day. Maybe even skip a day or two out of the week. Best to divide the food into several feeds. There are many fish that graze and search all day long for a meal instead of snacking up food all in one shot.

Thanks for the great info and advice!

Because the chances of them being wild is high, parasites from the wild might show up in the tank. Observe and use your best judgement. Try to take a closer look at that stringy poo. Does it have segments? Mouth parts? Hooks or suckers? That depends on how into you get. Those kiddie microscopes do come in handy once in a while...LOL.

Hmm next time I see the hatchet pooping again I'll try to net the white stuff and take a close look.

I was wondering, are lfs's supposed to give new fish anti parasitic treatments once they get them in to sell?

 

[TCTFish]

Usually wholesalers are the ones who do the profilactic treatments. On the retail end it's done when there's a problem. Keeping up on water quality is usually the best preventative for an LFS. That and knowing their suppliers won't send them sick fish. Sometime though there are mass break downs and that comes with having that many tanks with a constant turnover of fish. I'd actually be weary of places that do anti parasitic treatments on new fish other than a simple FW dip for marine. NAtural approaches to preventatives is much safer on a large scale like that instead of chmeically based meds. Garlic soaked food is good to give to newbie fish at the LFS.