New clownfish in quarantine not eating (Is this stringy white poop?)

[rhildinger]

I purchased a large pair of captive bred ocellaris clowns from my LFS 3 days ago, and placed them in a 20 gallon quarantine tank. The clowns were part of a huge group of about 20 clowns all swimming together at the LFS. They settled in fairly well but over the past 3 days they've hardly eaten. They don't show signs of heavy stress or physical ailment, but they're very shy and hang together in the back corner of the tank, venturing out only occasionally. I've tried feeding them Rod's fish-only blend as well as NLS Thera+A pellets, but they don't seem very interested in any of it. I haven't witnessed either fish poop, but I did notice the following at the bottom of the tank:

Is this the fabled "white stringy poop" inside the red circles?

NOTE:
- All QT tank parameters are good, no issues there
- No medicine has been dosed in the QT tank yet.

I was about to follow Humblefish's prophylactic QT guide and begin with Copper Power, but now I'm wondering if I should just start immediately with Metroplex or General Cure and wait on the Copper Power?

Thanks for any and all advice...

-Robert

 

[JGT]

I purchased a large pair of captive bred ocellaris clowns from my LFS 3 days ago, and placed them in a 20 gallon quarantine tank. The clowns were part of a huge group of about 20 clowns all swimming together at the LFS. They settled in fairly well but over the past 3 days they've hardly eaten. They don't show signs of heavy stress or physical ailment, but they're very shy and hang together in the back corner of the tank, venturing out only occasionally. I've tried feeding them Rod's fish-only blend as well as NLS Thera+A pellets, but they don't seem very interested in any of it. I haven't witnessed either fish poop, but I did notice the following at the bottom of the tank:

Is this the fabled "white stringy poop" inside the red circles?

NOTE:
- All QT tank parameters are good, no issues there
- No medicine has been dosed in the QT tank yet.

I was about to follow Humblefish's prophylactic QT guide and begin with Copper Power, but now I'm wondering if I should just start immediately with Metroplex or General Cure and wait on the Copper Power?

Thanks for any and all advice...

-Robert

Could be but I’d confirm by seeing them poop. I’d try some live brine shrimp or mysis to see if you can get them eating. Then move back to pellets.

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

Is this the fabled "white stringy poop" inside the red circles?

I'm no expert, but white poop could be excess mucus from a poor diet. You can't tell if it's an internal worm unless you see it move. That's why it's best to take the feces and observe it under a microscope to be certain you're dealing with internal parasites (worms in this case).