DG w/ white stringy feces

[hbeth82]

Several times in the last week I've noticed that my dwarf gourami has been trailing white stringy feces but I haven't noticed any other problems - no dropsy, eating well, no change in color, swimming and behaving normally. Haven't noticed any of the other fish doing this either.

Is this just something that happens occasionally or should i be looking for other symptoms?

Thanks!

 

[dkpate]

That's what mine just did! I thought he was just stressed from the move, but he ended up with dropsy. If I were you, I would try to get some antiparasitic food and feed him that. You can see my whole thread under "Maracyn Plus Question."

Sadly I had to put mine down yesterday, as he was not able to swim right.

 

[hbeth82]

That's what mine just did! I thought he was just stressed from the move, but he ended up with dropsy. If I were you, I would try to get some antiparasitic food and feed him that. You can see my whole thread under "Maracyn Plus Question."

Sadly I had to put mine down yesterday, as he was not able to swim right.

Sorry to hear about your fish. Did he start out with white poo or dropsy, or did both start about the same time? Since I still don't have a filter for a quarantine tank, I'm hesitant to put him in the 10gal but not sure I have enough of the Maracyn Plus to dose 55gal community tank. Do have plenty of the Jungle anti-bacterial food so I'll try that.

Thanks

 

[dkpate]

He had the stringy poo, then he started hiding in the corner, and then he developed dropsy. It was a two week process for him and I.

 

[hbeth82]

I know he ultimately died but do you think the Maracyn Plus helped much? Not having a filter for the 10gal, it's hard to maintain decent water quality without daily changes but it looks like you can't do that when using Plus, but 1 dose for the whole tank would be 11 cap-fulls!

Do you think I should quarantine now & start dosing, or start feeding the anti-bacterial food & hope this cuts out the problem?

Thanks!

 

[dkpate]

I would start with the food in the QT tank, since you are supposed to feed them that only for a month. I am not sure if I would go with the Maracyn Plus again, I would go with the Maracyn 1 or 2. I think I just started dosing too late because I thought he was just stressed from the move. I didn't notice him getting better with the meds, it was just too late. You can get a cheap little power filter at Walmart for now. They are like $10. Better than nothing.

 

[Phrozian]

White stringy poop is almost indicative of internal infections either by parasites or bacteria. On top of dkpate's suggestions, I would also recommend feeding your fish boiled peas. Simply microwave them in water for 3 minutes, cool them down, and remove the shell. Then mash them up and feed it to your fish.

The reason being, internal parasites or bacterial infections can lead to swim bladder or digestive problems. A little laxative (peas) can perhaps delay the onset of that happening, and allow time for the medication to kick in.

 

[hbeth82]

Thanks. Noticed he had a normal-looking poo-string last night - is it possible that whatever it is has passed out of his system or do the symptoms kind of come and go?

Also, I'm a little confused on medications. On the bottle of Maracyn Plus, it says it works for dropsy, but looking at Mardel's medication guidelines, it recommends Maracyn 2. Thoughts?

 

[hbeth82]

Yay, more normal poo this morning! This seems like a good sign but does it mean I shouldn't worry unless the white stringy poo comes back?

 

[dkpate]

My DG had a day of brown mixed with white, but then it was back to white. I am not sure of what you should do! I am glad his poo is back to normal. If it was my fish, I would probably just keep an eye on him, and if it gets stringy again, I would medicate ASAP.
I was told in my thread that they can have the parasites and you don't know until they are stressed and have a weakened immune system. I had my DG for over a year and he was fine until after I moved. There has been nothing new in the tank for months.

 

[hbeth82]

My DG had a day of brown mixed with white, but then it was back to white. I am not sure of what you should do! I am glad his poo is back to normal. If it was my fish, I would probably just keep an eye on him, and if it gets stringy again, I would medicate ASAP.

Thanks, I think I'll go that route - monitor and if white poo comes back, then take action. Guess another reason I'm hesitant to quarantine is that I haven't yet had a fish come out of QT in better shape than when he went in.

 

[hbeth82]

Dang, white stringy poo is back & I just realized that the only spare heater is currently in my boyfriend's tank May have to treat home tank with Melafix until I can get another heater.
Once he is in QT, would you recommend adding some epsom salts to the water? Seems like some sources say it helps with swelling, whereas others say salt in FW aquariums is the source of all evil in the world.

 

[mattrox]

I'd search on here for "Metro" and use that....

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=23678

 

[libbyb]

That's what mine just did! I thought he was just stressed from the move, but he ended up with dropsy. If I were you, I would try to get some antiparasitic food and feed him that. You can see my whole thread under "Maracyn Plus Question."

Sadly I had to put mine down yesterday, as he was not able to swim right.

My condolences.

 

[mudraker]

If you are convinced he has an internal bacterial infection I'd definately go for the Maracyn 2. And I'd definately do as dkpate sais and get a cheap hob for the qt. You can fill it with gravel from your established tank instead of fresh carbon. Old gravel will provide good bacteria. If you put in a fresh hob with new carbon the tank will cycle and the carbon will remove the Maracyn 2.

 

[hbeth82]

If you are convinced he has an internal bacterial infection I'd definately go for the Maracyn 2. And I'd definately do as dkpate sais and get a cheap hob for the qt. You can fill it with gravel from your established tank instead of fresh carbon. Old gravel will provide good bacteria. If you put in a fresh hob with new carbon the tank will cycle and the carbon will remove the Maracyn 2.

I'm not totally confident that it is bacterial but that seems to be the most likely culprit. Thinking about playing shuffle-the-filters - move the 30gal AC into the 10gal tank (on lowest outflow settings), then borrow one of my boyfriend's 70gal AC for my home tank. Don't use carbon, just bio & mechanical but may also add some gravel from home tank. Just have to find a heater.

 

[hbeth82]

Did a bit more searching online and it seems like Kanamyacin is among the best treatments for dropsy, though of course nobody seems to agree on it. Rushing delivery of that and a heater for the 10gal QT. Thankfully no signs of dropsy yet, other than the poo, so hopefully caught this early enough. Think he also ate a bit of the antibacterial food tonight so hopefully that will help as well.

 

[dkpate]

I wish you more luck than I had! Please keep us updated.

 

[hbeth82]

I wish you more luck than I had! Please keep us updated.

Thanks, will do. Looks like a few people have had luck with the Kanamyacin even after the fish has been sick a while and no other meds have worked, so I'm hopeful. Heater will be in tomorrow, Kanamyacin on Saturday.

 

[vic021]

my balloon mollie is doing the same its stringy at one end but the other its brown its weird i have no idea what to do