Neon gobies, one dead, the other having worms/stringy poop

[Carla2]

I've been quarantining two neon gobies and a springer's damselfish (all about 1/2"). Five days ago I found the larger neon goby dead on the bottom. On the previous evening the goby didn't eat and was hopping behind the filter. I thought it was strange because it always came out to eat, but I didn't think further then. The dead goby wasn't skinny, so probably it wasn't starvation. The only strange thing I noticed was there was a white spot (1-2mm) on its left belly. But I don't think it was ich because I had already treated them for ich.
Two days ago I found translucent stringy thing dangling behind the smaller neon goby. It still has it, so the thing has been stuck on its anus for almost three days. It's almost transparent so I'd have missed it if I wasn't looking closely. It looks much like clownfish's white stringy poop except it's much thinner and transparent. The length is I think a little less than an inch. I don't know if it's stringy poop or a dead worm. The smaller goby is very thin though it's been eating well.

This is what happened during their quarantine so far:
Cupramine for 11 days. On day 12 transferred the three fish to the new quarantine
a week without any medication for them to settle in
PraziPro 1st round
After a week, on the night of the 2nd PraziPro dose, the larger neon goby was found dead before I dosed the med.
Three days later I found the translucent stringy thing dangling on the smaller neon goby.

What should I do? I've been thinking of doing PraziPro one or two more times and waiting to see if it disappears, but should I try MetroPlex or some other meds right now? I'd really hate to lose such a friendly fish ...

Thanks!

 

[Maritimer]

If you can feed some Metroplex or General Cure with Focus, that'll be more effective on any internal parasites. You'll need to keep it going for about 10-14 days.

~Bruce

 

[Carla2]

Thanks for the reply! I'll be using MetroPlex then.

PraziPro in water and MetroPlex in food: okay
PraziPro in water and MetroPlex in water: no-no

Correct?

 

[Maritimer]

If you'd like to use both medicines, take a look at API's "General Cure". It's a powdered blend of Metronidazole (the active ingredient in Metroplex) and Praziquantel (the active ingredient in PraziPro). It can be used in the water, though it's a bit slower to dissolve than Prazi-Pro, due to the latter's use of ... I think it's called "Oxybispropanol"? ... which acts as a solvent, but also can cause bacterial blooms, etc. General Cure can also be used with Focus, and dosed in the fish's food.

It's not recommended, but in the past I have gotten away with using it in-water and with food at the same time. Kind of overkill, though.

~Bruce

 

[Carla2]

I'll look into General Cure, and in the meantime I'm trying to feed MetroPlex (wishing it were tastier ) because it can take a few days before I get the med delivered.
I will post later how it goes!

 

[Carla2]

So here's what has happened so far ...
I gave the neon goby and springer's damselfish MetroPlex food once. They ate grudgingly. After only one feeding I saw a brownish worm on the bottom so I sucked it out.
The next day I had to do PraziPro if I wanted to break the lifecycle of possible flukes (the third and last dose). I still didn't have General Cure at hand, so I had to use PraziPro and stop feeding MetroPlex food just in case. Three days later I began feeding MetroPlex food again.
The neon goby ate quite voraciously yesterday but today it looks lethargic and keeps staring at the food. It worries me because that goby had never refused to eat before. (And the other goby died a day after it refused to eat for the first time.) It's still possible the goby ate too much yesterday, but it might be ill.

I've already treated them for ich, velvet and flukes, so these are almost ruled out. The goby may have more internal parasites. It still sometimes has stringy poop.
Is there anything else I can do to help my goby? Thanks!

 

[Carla2]

Just now I've tried feeding them again and the neon goby ate well. Then I found three white worms crawling near the goby. I removed them using the turkey baster, but one was hiding between the tank glass and silicone and when I sucked hard its body broke into multiple pieces and some floated away. Is it possible the worm reproduces from these bits like tapeworms ...?

 

[Maritimer]

Not sure ... but if you're continuing the Metroplex and food, you should have it covered. (I know that some worms can multiply by being broken up like that ... not sure about yours.)

~Bruce