Suspect Sick

[DoomervilleG]

Hello everyone!

We picked up a Wyoming White Clown almost a month ago, and it was in QT for 14 days in a 15g. He wasn't medicated while in QT, just put him there for observation, and he appeared to be 100%. I've been feeding it Omega One Marine Pellets daily and a little bit of mysis once a week (Still working on my feeding routine, am new to saltwater). However, after moving it to my DT, I noticed this morning that he had some of the infamous, white stringy poo. He had a bit of white poo after buying him, but the LFS was feeding their clowns almost exclusively on Mysis, and I know that can turn the poo white too. He has been eating like a pig, but he does look like he might be a little thin, though I have very little experience with saltwater fish. We have a black and white ocellaris in the DT, both are juvenile so they aren't really hanging out together, but they aren't being aggressive either. That one looks totally healthy, and has been since we got him.

The Wyoming White has no other symptoms that I can tell, he enjoys riding the current and is very active in the top 1/4th of the water column, he retreats to the rock the two have adopted when its sleepy time for him. He isn't breathing heavy, or peeking the surface. I wasn't sure if this is cause for concern, persay, but I wanted a second opinion. We have some inverts in the tank, and I have two zoa frags that were in QT'd and dipped before I put them in the DT. I didn't even think about getting a picture of the poo, but I will keep an eye on him today, and get one for this post. Do I need to move him back into QT and start medicating? I have Prazi and Metro with Focus on order, but they won't arrive until Friday. The LFS didn't have any in stock, and petco only sells the imaginarium stuff that I wasn't a fan of, after using it a few times with our freshwater fish.

Here is a video, I turned all of the powerheads and the return off in an attempt to get better clarity of him. I will try to get a picture later today, when he poos.

The tank params are good, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5-10ppm nitrate, phos 0.2, alk 9, sal 35ppt.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Added the best picture I could get of the stringy poo, this one does have a bit of brown at the very end of it, but otherwise still white and stringy.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can’t open video on the phone
Does it have a sort of white or milky film on its skin?
Has its appetite reduced or seems listless?

 

[DoomervilleG]

No white or milky film that I can tell, just the stringy poo. Appetite hasn't changed any. Definitely not listless, hes super active. Not sure why the video won't open, I'll look into that. Still waiting for the fella to poo today.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

No white or milky film that I can tell, just the stringy poo. Appetite hasn't changed any. Definitely not listless, hes super active. Not sure why the video won't open, I'll look into that. Still waiting for the fella to poo today.

I was able to open the video on a desktop, but the fish is pretty far away in the video. It does seem active, but a bit skinny.

Observational quarantines really are pretty much always a mistake, unless they are 45+ days long. Clownfish are better off being treated with copper and then General Cure. That won't eliminate all problems (like Brooklynella) but it gets you about 80% of the way there.

Sometimes, mucus in feces isn't anything to be concerned about (with new clownfish) but since your's also looks a bit skinny, you may want to consider dosing with General Cure in a QT....

Jay

 

[DoomervilleG]

So use General Cure, instead of prazi and metro? Or are they the same thing? (I only chose prazi and metro, because that is what we used to treat our freshwater fish.)

 

[Jay Hemdal]

So use General Cure, instead of prazi and metro? Or are they the same thing? (I only chose prazi and metro, because that is what we used to treat our freshwater fish.)

Yes, General Cure is praziquantel and Metronidazole.

Jay

 

[DoomervilleG]

So I have moved my clowns to the QT tank, as I didn't want to risk General Cure leaching into my display tank (I have quite a few inverts, and some coral), to help treat the suspected internal parasite issue. I have run into a new problem, in that the fish with the suspect parasites refuses to eat the medicated food. He has no problem voraciously eating the non-medicated stuff, I tried them to make sure he still had an appetite. Its only the medicated stuff. I don't currently have any garlic extract. I have garlic salt, but I wasn't sure if that is safe for the fish, so I haven't used it. (Thinking preservatives or MSG, etc might cause problems).

Any other advice?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I didn’t see where you were medicating food with GC. You should read my article on medicated food in the article section here.
Metronidazole is very bitter. When dosed at treatment levels in food, most fish will try it once, then not again.
Jay

 

[DoomervilleG]

I read through not just one of your articles, but all of them on here, very informative, I appreciate that. Unfortunately, our little clown didn't make it. The other clown was also moved to the QT and thus far seems to be healthy, its eating and is very active, haven't witnessed any stringy poo from this one. It is very upsetting. I suspect this ones prognosis to be very good, it has no problem eating the medicated food.

I suspect it was the added stress of moving it back to the QT, in addition to him being weak, QT water parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 2ppm nitrates. I'm wondering if we had left them both alone in the DT, if he would of faired better, but I was scared of hurting the inverts and our coral.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I read through not just one of your articles, but all of them on here, very informative, I appreciate that. Unfortunately, our little clown didn't make it. The other clown was also moved to the QT and thus far seems to be healthy, its eating and is very active, haven't witnessed any stringy poo from this one. It is very upsetting. I suspect this ones prognosis to be very good, it has no problem eating the medicated food.

I suspect it was the added stress of moving it back to the QT, in addition to him being weak, QT water parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 2ppm nitrates. I'm wondering if we had left them both alone in the DT, if he would of faired better, but I was scared of hurting the inverts and our coral.

Internal disease issues are not always contagious from one fish to another, so your second clown may be fine.
what foods are you feeding this one?
Jay

 

[DoomervilleG]

This one has the same diet as the other did, omega one mini pellets with garlic, and then mysis once or twice a week. Still learning the saltwater stuff, so I'm trying to be conservative with the feedings, even still I change the water once a week to help with nitrate levels. Freshwater fish a definitely less complicated, but after I get through the learning curve, I suspect saltwater can be relatively simple too.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This one has the same diet as the other did, omega one mini pellets with garlic, and then mysis once or twice a week. Still learning the saltwater stuff, so I'm trying to be conservative with the feedings, even still I change the water once a week to help with nitrate levels. Freshwater fish a definitely less complicated, but after I get through the learning curve, I suspect saltwater can be relatively simple too.

Thanks a good diet, I just wanted to check.

Jay