Intestinal parasite!!! Best meds?

[Karackle]

Well, I recently posted about fungus on the eyes of 2 of my fish, they have been QT'd and are doing well. I noticed that they had stringy white poop but thought it was from not eating very much while their fungus was being cured. This morning as I was leaving for work though I noticed one of my guppies has the same thing! I did a little research/searching and found out this is most likely a sign of intestinal parasites. My question is what have people found is the most effective way to treat this? I've read about using garlic? does anyone know about this? Or i hear jungle makes medicated food? and/or tablets? I've read about other meds as well. What would people recommend? So far everyone is still eating.

My tank parameters:
20g High, well planted
Penguin Biowheel filter
78-80*F
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 5-10
3 Neon tetras, 3 glo-light tetras, 3 zebra danios, 3 female bettas, 2 guppies, 3 mollies (2 are in QT for fungus), 1 blue dwarf gourami, 1 clown pleco.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Karegg]

What are you currently feeding them?

 

[An t-iasg]

Stringy white poop is usually a sign of internal parasites. Jungle makes an anti-parasite food. The pellets are very hard and can be too big for some of your fish. Try soaking some pellets in tank water to soften them and cut them in half if necessary. Follow the directions - I think it says to feed the medicated food exclusively for 3 days, feed with regular food, and then back to the Jungle food again.

If you can find this Seachem medicine, you can add a little bit of tank water to a cup, put the fish's regular food in it, add some of the powdered medicine, and let it absorb into the food.

Jungle Laboratories Corporation

Metronidazole

 

[Paty]

What are you feeding them? I read somewhere that stringy poop is sometimes a sign of overfeeding, but I'm also a noob so I'm curious if there's a difference between stringy poop because of overfeeding and because of intestinal parasites? I'm just curious because you mentioned that you thought it might be because they weren't eating much while their fungus was being cured.

 

[Karackle]

Karegg & Paty - I feed them a mix of Hikari pellets and micropellets, betta pellets, flake, and algae pellets (all mixed in one container) and i feed a couple pinches, only what they consume in a minute or two. I feed once a day, and usually skip one day a week. Occasionally (once a week-2 weeks) i feed freeze-dried blood worms.

An t-iasg - Thanks for the info and the links! I'll see what I can find at my LFS tonight.

Also, has anyone heard of the garlic treatment? Do you know if that works? I prefer to put as few chemicals in the tank as i can, but i also understand that it's sometimes necessary and am of course willing to get the parasite meds.

Thanks again!

 

[Paty]

Sounds like a good diet, I'm sorry I can't help you figure out what the best method to treat your fish with would be, but I wish you and your fish the best! Actually, I think I'll do a little research now...

Good luck!

 

[An t-iasg]

Saltwater people add garlic to the fish's food as an appetite stimulant and an immune system boost. You can squeeze fresh garlic in a garlic press and soak the fish food in the liquid garlic. I think you can buy a commercial garlic supplement too. I really don't know of any freshwater members doing this for their fish and I don't know why exactly. I have never added garlic to my fish's food.

 

[Karackle]

Interesting, thanks for the info. I wonder why too, perhaps since saltwater fish are already in...well...salty water, the combination of salt with garlic works better than garlic would in fresh. Just a thought. I'll look for the meds this evening though.

Thanks again

-Kara

 

[Zagz]

Also take a look for geltek, it is a medicated gel that you soak their regular food in and treats internal parasites. When your fish won't eat any medicated foods, it is a great alternative.

 

[Karackle]

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for it just in case

 

[BillD]

The jungle fizz tabs are effective (and economical), especially if the fish aren't eating. Medicated foosd would be my first choice for fish that are eating.

 

[Karackle]

All of my fish are eating still, and I haven't noticed more white poop in the main tank, i did see some stringy, very thin poop from one of the mollies in the QT last night... Did water changes all around and added salt and garlic with food (they ate it) so I'll try that again and keep an eye on everyone. I'll pick up the medicated food tonight as well (i didn't have a chance to run out and wanted to try the garlic treatment anyway)

Thanks for all the input!

 

[Zagz]

Hopefully you have warded off the evil parasites. I'll be hoping anyway.

 

[Karackle]

Thank you very much, that's really sweet! I'm hoping so too!!! My whole apartment smells like garlic now, but if it helps the fishies it's definitely worth it! And I love cooking with garlic anyway so i don't really mind it

Thanks again!