poop question

cjrose

cjrose

Member
I have a coral beauty angel and 2 clowns in a 55gl qt tank and I'm slowly lowering salinity to get it into hypo. I've had the fish for about a week now. Today I noticed that my CBA has long poop sticking out of it's butt. Now I now in freshwater fish this means constipation. Does it mean the same in SW fish? Also it looks kinda like the green algae sheets that I put in for him to eat. I haven't noticed a problem with my clowns. I feed formula 1 w/garlic flake, mysis and sometimes brine shrimp in addition to the algae sheets.
Any thoughts on what's up with his poop?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Great subject title, LOL

Anyways, my when my Coral Beauty goes, YOU KNOW. She normally has more yellow strings, BUT I do not feed what you are feeding.
Green Seaweed strips are not the greatest. They should be used more as a "treat" than a mainstay in their diet. They're not very nutritious. I suggest using Red/Brown algae sheets with added garlic. You also should be feeding your angel specific food made for angel fish. Angels need sponge in their diet, and I also recommend spirulina.
I really like Hikari's Mega-Marine Angelfish food. Your clowns will eat this as well, but it has added nutrients that your angel needs for continued health.
Good luck
 
cherylann

cherylann

Member
This can be a symptom of internal parasites, and the parasites may be effected by the hyposalinity. Just a thought.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Cherylann brings up a good point. However, IMO, I think you should stop feeding the green seaweed and feed the angel properly to rule out diet first. The diet, to me, is a much more likely scenario.
Why are you doing hypo?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
there is a frozen food called mega marine angel....I feed that (along with a lot more). it has ingredients just for angels
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3163251
there is a frozen food called mega marine angel....I feed that (along with a lot more). it has ingredients just for angels
Great stuff
That's what I suggested above. The other fish will eat it too and almost every LFS has it. It's made by Hikari. I think my clowns like it more than my angel, LOL
 
cjrose

cjrose

Member
I'm doing hypo because it was recommended to me by someone else here on the board. I asked that since they have to be in qt for a month should I go ahead and hypo them just to be proactive incase they might have ick. I have had them for about 1 week. I just started lowering the salinity a couple days ago and it's at 1.020 now. Should I not be doing this? I had wanted to start hypo sooner but a couple days after I got my CBA and clowns, my larger clown had her jaw locked open. I did 3 formalin dips. After the 2nd she was fine and eating again. She's been great since. Both the larger clown and the CBA eat with no problem. I'm not sure the smaller clown is eating. But I read that they can go a while w/o eating. They are all acting normally . The CBA is very active and not too skittish. She'll actually come over to the front of the tank and watch me. I have a fake cave in the tank which she hangs out in and the clowns seem to be hosting the outside of the cave.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by cjrose
http:///forum/post/3163380
I'm doing hypo because it was recommended to me by someone else here on the board. I asked that since they have to be in qt for a month should I go ahead and hypo them just to be proactive incase they might have ick. I have had them for about 1 week. I just started lowering the salinity a couple days ago and it's at 1.020 now. Should I not be doing this? I had wanted to start hypo sooner but a couple days after I got my CBA and clowns, my larger clown had her jaw locked open. I did 3 formalin dips. After the 2nd she was fine and eating again. She's been great since. Both the larger clown and the CBA eat with no problem. I'm not sure the smaller clown is eating. But I read that they can go a while w/o eating. They are all acting normally . The CBA is very active and not too skittish. She'll actually come over to the front of the tank and watch me. I have a fake cave in the tank which she hangs out in and the clowns seem to be hosting the outside of the cave.
Being proactive is fine. I was just curious as to why you were. I normally don't like to stress my fish like that unless there is an issue. I just leave them in QT and observe them. If you're going to do hypo, you'll have to raise the salinity back up when you're done and get them used to the conditions that are in your main tank. It's a personally opinion as to do hypo or not when quarantining fish, I just don't, unless I have to, that's why I asked.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I personally don't consider hypo to be a stressor. I've done it on too many fish and have never seen an adverse reaction.
I wouldn't think the hypo would be affecting internal parasites, because the fish still maintain the same "salty insides" despite the change in the environment. But stringy poop is indeed a sign of internal parasites.
It also can also mean they haven't eaten in a long time.
 
cherylann

cherylann

Member
Actually the fish internal salinity changes, as they are now in a hypotonic solution, the fish internal fluid is now hypertonic and it seeks a balance to become isotonic. While not notable when changes are made slowly, if you stick a fish right into fresh water .....Fish skin like our are permeable membranes, and when exposed over long periods of time the salinity does indeed change.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
We have done necropsies on fish that still succumbed to internal parasites despite being in hypo for a long period of time.
"Regular" saltwater fish have internal ion concentrations that are lower than the surrounding water. "Normal" range saltwater is more saline than the internal fluids of marine fish. Most are not iso. Sharks and some others are different.... I know nothing about them.
 
cjrose

cjrose

Member
So should I slowly raise the salinity back up and treat for internal parasites or can I do that now with the salinity at 1.020?
 
cherylann

cherylann

Member
Just the nerd escaping, I believe that all alternative possble explainations have a place and this where we learn, I am not in it to prove I am right. I will try to keep the nerd in me from in check. And I would follow Cranbarries advice.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I'm not sure what you are saying. I would love to discuss it if you have some differing info and nobody is here (well not me anyways) to prove they are right. I love nerds and is why I have a stack of case studies and scientific journals on some of my favourite topics. If you have something different to share, something to add, a contradiction.... I like hearing about it. So please, continue discussing....
I deworm through food, not through the water. So salinity doesn't make a difference in my case. I've never added a product to the water to do it, so I'm not sure of the specifics of doing so.... it would just be a regurg on my part. Maybe someone else can share their deworming process of adding something to the water itself.
He could also be just starved and needing a few good meals. You could wait a couple of days and see if anything changes.
 
cjrose

cjrose

Member
The CBA has been eating since I got him. The larger clown has as well except for the 2 days that her jaw was locked open. The smaller clown still isn't eating. I'm not sure what to do to get him to eat. What food do you use to deworm?
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
If he's not eating, there's not much you can give orally via food unless you tube fed him. The fish I dewormed was either eating or I forced fed using a tube. If I had to deworm one of my scorps, I would have to go with adding meds to the water column. There's no way I would be able to tube feed them, even with sedation.
Just for anyone doing a search and come across this thread, when you see stringy poop suspect one or a combo of these things *constipation, *parasites and *haven't eaten in a while. In this case it's a combo of the latter two, IMO.
EDIT: I just saw one had lock jaw.... you definitely have fish with parasites. A hypo would help with that.
 
cjrose

cjrose

Member
The CBA is eating and so is the larger clown that HAD lock jaw. After the 2 formalin dips the clown with the lock jaw was fine and able to open/close her mouth with no prob. It's the small clown that I haven't seen eating in the past couple days. What can I feed the 2 fish that are eating to help them get rid of the parasites. I suspect that the smaller clown might take a nibble here and there but I can't be sure since I havne't planted myself infront of the QT and watched him for a length of time.
 
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