Intestinal worms in clowny

[Husmut]

Hey!

I bought a bunch of clownies a while back and one of them, though showing healthy behavior, did not grow and was lacking in color. Also, although he ate, he always looked emancipated. Then I noticed his waste was white and knew he had some kind of worm. I looked at treatments and they all looked extremely harsh and I dont want to use them. Is there another, less drastic treatment? I had decided to leave it to fate, but every time I see him, I feel sorry for him.
Are they contagious? None of my other fish seem to have contracted them but I am worried that when he dies, the parasite will look for a new host

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Jungle Labs makes a medicated food for intestinal worms http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=JF170
In the US it is available at petsmart. If you can't find it locally down under you should be able to find it online.

 

[FMJnaX]

The food recommended above is great. Works quickly and can even be used as prevenative medicine.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

I agree with both apocalypse_gold and FMJnaX, but you also may want to start looking for a much larger tank. How many gallons is your tank, I'm not familiar with any 5 foot tanks. Clown loaches get up to 14" long, so your tank is overstocked or will be overstocked soon. For 5 of them I would suggest getting a tank of at least 300 gallons. JMO