Swordtail with white stringy poop

[digimom]

Hi everyone,

I have a female swordtail that over the last few days has been pooping long white stringy poop. From everything I have read on the internet, it seems she either has diarrhea or some kind of parasite.
I have removed her from my 10 gallon tank in which I have a male betta, 4 neons, 3 corydoras,and a crab.
The other fish do not seem to have this condition.

Now I have her in this small bowl and am not sure what type of medication to give or how to help her. Like I said I have been researching on line and not really come up with much more.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.

digimom

 

[Leopardess]

Hello there

It does sound like an internal parasite. How long have you had the fish? Have you added any new ones to the tank she was in recently?

My advice:

(First, move that crab out! That thing will, sooner or later, kill all of your fish. I'm also not sure about medicating it, because they're generally not supposed to be mixed with fish...)

Put her back into the main tank. Internal parasites are usually shared among tank mates from being spread before you notice them. All tank inhabitants should be treated.

Buy some Pepso food. It is a medicated food (small like betta bites) that targets parasites from the inside out.

Get a jar of minced garlic (the kind at the grocery store). Soak their regular food in the juice of the garlic. You can even soak the pepso food in it. Garlic is a known appetite stimulant (and they need to eat all they can to combat the disease) and negatively affects parasites. It is not harmful to fish and you can't really "overdose" it.

Get a medication. Internal Parasite Guard/Clear made by Jungle is cheap and effective. Follow the instructions.

That should get rid of them. Once a week or so, thereafter, feed the Pepso food as a meal, or occasionally soak one of their meals in garlic juice

You may want to try just using the Pepso and garlic routine, and skip the medication for a few days. If the stringy poop hasn't cleared up by then, it is likely not diahhrea and you can assume that it is, in fact, parasites, at which point you should add the medication to the mix.

Good luck and let us know what happens!

 

[digimom]

Hi
thanks for responding so quickly.

I have had the tank for about 3 months now. I have only had the swordtail for maybe a few weeks. No new fish have been added since.

Do parasites spread before you actually see them? I would really hate to put her back in the tank and infect our betta. (I actually took the swordtail out as soon as I saw the white poop and had read up on it)

The crab has never bothered any of the fish in the time I have had the tank and hides mostly. It also lived through the two dosings of medication for ick that I orginally got once I had set the tank up.

Thank you for your advice. I will definately try the Pepso food and garlic and see what happens.

digimom

 

[Leopardess]

It is greatly possible that the betta and other fish have already been infected and are yet to show signs. It would be worse, IMO, to leave them untreated, then reintroduce the swordtail and infect the swordtail again, leaving a whole tank of still infected fish. Parasites are rarely isolated.

If you put the swordtail back in, and follow the medications, it will kill the parasites anyway, so you won't really need to worry about the other fish getting sick if they somehow already aren't. Internal parasite meds aren't too harsh on the fish, IME, so it shouldn't bother them very much even if they aren't sick.

I would tell you to go out and buy a cheapo 5g tank from walmart for 10$ (just the tank) and to treat her in there (this is why hospital tanks can be a necessary thing!), but she might not go through the cycle very well. Do you have an extra filter cartridge on your main tank? The reason I say this is that it is extremely difficult to properly and safely dose medications in a bowl, or anything under 5-10 gallons for that matter. Also, water quicly becomes contaminated with ammonia/nitrites/nitrates in such a small volume of water. Your best bet, if you indeed choose not to put her back in the main tank and have her in a smallish bowl, is to get that 5g tank I was talking about and put her in there. It will be easier to dose, less quick to foul, and will be very handy for future mishaps. You can find a filter for about...7 -8 bucks (the internal whisper ones, also at walmart), and plastic wrap with holes can make a decent make-shift cover.

DISCLAIMER: I do not know anything about how the internal meds will/can affect an invert like a crab. Therefore, I cannot tell you for sure that the meds will be safe to treat with. From my experience, most snails have died during treatment with internal parasite meds....

 

[Crazy Carl]

It is possible that this is not internal parasites. It could also be an internal protozoa called Wasting Away, Wasting Disease, Livebearer Disease, or Guppy Disease. It is most common in livebearing fishes. If it is this disease, treating for parasites will not help. Instead, try using Hex-A-Mit by Aquatronics. My fish recently had the same thing, and this sounds like it. Also, after treating with this, you will have to THOUROUHLY clean your tank. This includes scrubbing with bleach, draining all water, bleaching other items, boiling gravel, basically sterilizing the tank and everything in it. Also, disgard the current filter cartrige if it is this disease. This is because the protozoa produce microscopic eggs that cling all over the tank walls and other stuff, and will not die simply by being taken out of water.

If the fish is appearing to lose appitite, shy away from group, act oddly, poop white/clear and stringy, and appear to be caving in on the bottom, or wasting away, then you most likely have this protozoa.

 

[digimom]

I put the swordtail back in the 10 gallon tank. Removed the crab for medicating. Used Internal Parasite Clear by Jungle for the recommended time, did a 25% water change and changed filter cartridge. (2 dosings with 48 hours between treatments and a 25% water change)

Swordtail is still pooping very very long white poop, but doesn't act or look sick and has a very healthy appetite.

There doesn't seem to be anything else wrong, except maybe some small red inflammation around gills, which also led me to believe the problem was internal parasites.

I have no idea what to do next....was thinking of trying the medication again to make sure is got rid of the internal parasites, but now I don't know what to do.