Worms in saltwater fish

[JessKaye]

Hi everyone, I’m very new to saltwater fish keeping after coming over from the freshwater hobby. I’ve just recently (a week ago) purchased our first two juvenile clownfish for my 200L tank. They seem very active, eating well and happy. I’ve noticed long trails of white/clear faeces - video attached. In the freshwater world I would be querying internal parasites (tapeworms) and considering a praziquantel treatment. Just thought I’d check to see on opinions about this in the saltwater side - is this normal or a concerning sign of parasites? Does it require treatment? Thanks so much! Excited to learn from everyone’s experience here! Jess

 

[JessKaye]

 

[Fish Fan]

Sometimes this can just be the food they are eating, but let's ask the R2R FIsh Medic team to take a look. Internal parasites are not out of the question.

#fishmedic

What I see in your video is the water surface is very flat and calm. Typically, you want to point a circulation pump up at the water surface to increase gas exchange (CO2 out and O2 in). Unless you turned off your circ pumps for the video, I would look to add some more surface agitation to your system for better gas exchange.

Good luck!

 

[jackintheboxfish]

What kind of food are you feeding them? If the food you feed matches the color of the "poop string" it's likely just the food.

When I fed my fish paler colored foods like white fish eggs sometimes they also drag a long white poop string.

 

[winxp_man]

Internal parasites can also make a fish not eat.

Are the fish eating? You’re saying yes.
breathing looks normal? From the short vid I would say yes.
As stated above, what kind of food have they been eating? Mysis, brine and these types of food can make them have white feces.

My recommended food for seeing if this is an issues is New Life Spectrum pellets, Easy Reef DKi Marine food both come in small pellet size.
These two I listed above do not have fillers and have great ingredients for dry good. Yes reading ingredients for fish, in my opinion, is a must. Especially with how many foods have crazy amounts of fillers in them.

After a day or two you should start seeing some change in the feces. If you have a microscope and understand how to use it, you can get a sample and put it under and microscope to see if you find any parasitic things in the feces.

Some LFS’s feed more frozen foods, vs dry pellets. The ones near me do.

Since the fish is eating, what are you feeding them? And have you noticed feces coloration in the other fish?

 

[MnFish1]

Hi everyone, I’m very new to saltwater fish keeping after coming over from the freshwater hobby. I’ve just recently (a week ago) purchased our first two juvenile clownfish for my 200L tank. They seem very active, eating well and happy. I’ve noticed long trails of white/clear faeces - video attached. In the freshwater world I would be querying internal parasites (tapeworms) and considering a praziquantel treatment. Just thought I’d check to see on opinions about this in the saltwater side - is this normal or a concerning sign of parasites? Does it require treatment? Thanks so much! Excited to learn from everyone’s experience here! Jess

This can be internal parasites - or as @Fish Fan said merely their diet. What are you feeding? Do both fish have it? Metronidazole (in the water - not fed with food) would be the best choice if it's determined to be a parasite. I apologize I don't remember where, but there is an article about white stringy poop on R2R, which when I search I cant see it. (Most cases are not). If they are not thin I wouldn't focus on it. Additionally I'm assuming you didnt quarantine the fish. Prazipro treats some internal parasites, not all.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi everyone, I’m very new to saltwater fish keeping after coming over from the freshwater hobby. I’ve just recently (a week ago) purchased our first two juvenile clownfish for my 200L tank. They seem very active, eating well and happy. I’ve noticed long trails of white/clear faeces - video attached. In the freshwater world I would be querying internal parasites (tapeworms) and considering a praziquantel treatment. Just thought I’d check to see on opinions about this in the saltwater side - is this normal or a concerning sign of parasites? Does it require treatment? Thanks so much! Excited to learn from everyone’s experience here! Jess

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Mucus feces in new clownfish is pretty common, but have many causes. By itself, it isn't possible to say what is causing that. Some causes are serious, but others are benign. Here is a write-up I did for the possible causes:

Excess mucus in fish feces:

This will present as white or light colored, stringy fecal material that often hangs from the fish’s anus for a longer than normal period. There are a number of different causes for this, some benign, others very serious. Without access to a microscope, there is little that can be done to diagnose this issue effectively.

Idiopathic mucus feces: this fancy term is just to describe white mucoid bulky feces of no serious consequence, but of an unknown cause. Some suspicion is that this can be caused by changes in diet or diets high in fats.

Starvation: Fish that have no food moving through their bowels may excrete white mucoid feces with little bulk to them. The primary diagnostic for this issue is evident in that the fish won’t been seen to be eating. Resolving the anorexia is of course the prime focus to resolve this issue.

Bacterial infection: internal bacterial infections can cause stringy feces as well. While some of these may resolve on their own, medicated foods containing a broad spectrum, gram negative oral antibiotic may be required.

Metazoan infections: multicellular worms are often blamed for mucoid feces, but in reality, they are almost never the root cause for this, and really, can only be diagnosed through looking for their ova in fecal samples. Fish can harbor tapeworms and nematodes without producing mucoid feces.

Protozoan infection: Hexamita and related diplomonad flagellate protozoans very frequently cause white stringy feces, especially in newly acquired clownfish. Metronidazole is the most frequent treatment for this issue. It can be dosed orally at 25 mg per kg of fish body weight, or 5 g in a kg of food. However, it is a very bitter medication, and some fish will refuse to feed on food containing it. It can be dosed in the water at 25 mg/l, but this is more effective in treating marine fishes, as freshwater fish do not “drink” aquarium water.

Coccidia: These microscopic, spore-forming, single-celled parasites are common diseases in dogs and cats. In fish, they cause epithelial necrosis of the gut, enteritis and the copious production of mucus (Noga 2010). These cannot be diagnosed without microscopic examination, and there is no well researched cure for this in fishes, although Toltrazuril has been tested.

Constipation: This malady is often given as a cause for stringy feces, but it is not as common as one would think. When it is seen, the feces are usually dark, not light in color. Often touted as a “cure for constipation”, many aquarists add Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) to the aquarium’s water – do not do this in marine aquariums, its use is primarily as a tonic/dip for freshwater fish. Seawater formulas already contain between 7 and 19 grams of magnesium sulfate per gallon (depending on the recipe). NSW magnesium level is around 1200 ppm and sulfur is around 840 ppm. Some benefit might be seen using it as a dip in additional concentrations, but adding a small amount to a marine aquarium itself has no benefit. Epsom salts do have some possible benefit when mixed into the food as a 3% by weight adjunct. Another commonly heard remedy for constipation is; “feed fresh peas”. This is an effective cure for fancy goldfish and Malawi cichlids that develop constipation and bloating. Again, overextrapolation has marine aquarists trying to feed peas to carnivorous fish, etc. The best method to enhance gut motility in fish is to feed frozen adult brine shrimp – not as a permanent diet, just long enough to get the constipation resolved.