stringy poop?

[bwaymusgal]

In my 50 gal tank, my three gouramis, two GBR, and two black mollies now ALL have thick stringy poop. The serpae tetras and pictus catfish do not.

It seems like no matter what I feed them or in what frequency... it is still there. The color varies depending on what I feed them. At first I thought it was the mini cichlid pellets I was putting in for the GBR because all the poop was bright orange. But even after changing to flakes, shrimp pellets, carrots, zuccini, and peas one by one for a couple days at a time, their poop is still stringy and turns whatever color the food is that I'm feeding them. For a day I thought the peas had worked, but then they all started have light green stringy poop.

Any ideas on what to do? My dad (who is a fish biologist) claims that most wild fish have stringy poop, but generally there is more of a current/water load that it becomes more diluted or pulled away... but on this forum and others I've heard that can be a sign of bloating and/or internal parasites. Do you generally not worry about it or change your feeding routine or what?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Probably normal in my guess. You will be able to tell if the stringy poo is related to internal parasites when you start seeing a noticeable thinning or indentation in the belly of the fish. Try fasting the fish for about 3 days, and see if anything changes.

 

[Zagz]

I agree that if the poo is still changing colors with the food it is probably normal. Fish with parasite frequently have whitish stringy poo, in addition to the thinning of the fish.

 

[bwaymusgal]

good to hear... I was just checking to make sure :0)