# white string from anus



## Aquarius Keeper

Boy I am really being tested with this fish disease thing-

I know somebody just posted about white stringy poop, but I wanted to post separately because in my case it doesn't seem like poop to me - it's coming out of a very pregnant platy and it just trails behind her while she swims - it never falls off.

I saw the same thing with a dwarf gourami during my recent tank plague, within 24 hours the gourami was dead (but back then I had all sorts of fish dying from all sorts of things, so who knows...) That was several weeks ago - there has been a quarantine and a 90% water change since.

What is this most likely and what do you recommend for treatment? I am leaning towards copper...

(It's a 30g cycled tank; although it just lost part of it's filtration and is experiencing a bacterial bloom (I added more filtration tonight) - so there have been small amounts of ammonia and nitrite which I'm staying on top of, but the fish are stressed anyway, tank is about 50% stocked, I may be overfeeding slightly, still feeling them out, 75 degrees, PH 7.5, I'm currently medicating for ich as well, have been doing water changes almost daily...)

I don't want to lose any more fish, I'll do whatever it takes, please help!

Thanks,

Jonathan


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## 1077

Were it me I would not treat with copper while also treating for ICH I do not know what affect copper, formalin,and malachite green would or could have on the fish. How many fish are in the thirty gal. and are they all livebearers? How large and what type of filter are you using? what dechlorinator are you using? I would do whatever it took to keep ammonia, and nitrites at 0. I would cut back on food to once a day and only feed what you actually see them eat in one to two minutes depending on the number of fish. I would SLOWLY turn the temp. up to 82 degrees over a two day period one or two degrees every twelve hours or so. I would vaccum the bottom of the tank to remove any uneaten food or poo this will also help with ICH. I would clean all of the tools used in the tank or tanks after each use with bleach and water and then rinse them and soak them in dechlorinated water. I would only use PRIME or AMQUEL+ for dechlorinator. I would remove carbon from the filter during medication if you haven't done so. I would do small frquent water changes until ammonia and nitrites were back under control as opposed to large water changes. I would add dechlorinator BEFORE new water went into the tank. I believe you prolly know most of this but I thought I would toss it out there anyhoo.


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## Aquarius Keeper

Thanks 1077 - I am already doing most of what you suggest.

But is anyone familiar with these white stringy things? What are they? Fungus? Parasites?

To answer the other questions, the 30g tank currently holds 8 platys, 3 glolight tetras (the rest of their school died in the previous trouble), a small 1/2 beak, and 3 small khuli loaches - I have some other fish in quarantine waiting to be added but ironically the quarantine tank is the healthy one right now. I've been using API "stress coat" as my dechlorinator since the troubles started, and AMQUEL+ as a supplement to deal with traces of ammonia and nitrite. I originally had a 20g whisper filter AND a submersible running together but the submersible stopped working which is part of the problem - last night I added a 30g whisper and have both filters running concurrently. The tank is also moderately planted.


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## aunt kymmie

Aquarius Keeper said:


> Thanks 1077 - I am already doing most of what you suggest.
> 
> But is anyone familiar with these white stringy things? What are they? Fungus? Parasites?.


Yes, I'd also really like to know too. Anyone?? 
I've seen one of my fish have this type of poop occasionally and am hoping it's just a bad poop day!


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## qpc68

From what I gathered when my fish were going through this (none of them died however) it's a result of overfeeding.


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## Aquarius Keeper

I probably have been overfeeding, more out of worry that the loaches get their share than anything else.

So does everyone else agree I should forego any other treatments/medications and just put them on a diet??


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## 1077

Are you still treating for ICH? If so I would continue as per the directions on the medication. I am only indicating That I would NOT mix medications. Most ICH remedys require seven to ten days of treatment to rid the tank of the parasite. In my expierience STRESSCOAT is not a suitable product. It gums up the filter making it less effective, and The so called coating it provides for fish makes no distinction between the fishes skin or gills and nostrils and in my view it is not something I would use on regular basis. You may wish to consider googling Jungle Lab's ant- parasite or anti- bacteria medicated fish food. I am no fan of meds or chemicals in the tank but this product directly treats the fish rather than the water and I have used it to rid discus of worms. It is also effective against some other parasites as well. With that said ,all the medications on the market are not going to keep your fish from becoming Ill until you stop overfeeding which is directly affecting the ammonia problem you are struggling with.


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## Little-Fizz

White stringy poo is usually an internal parasite infection. I believe it could also be bacterial.

and I've never had a problem with stress coat? I've never actually seen the coating come to think of it...


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## Aquarius Keeper

RE overfeeding leading to an ammonia issue - I haven't been overfeeding that much!! Although it might be a contributing factor, I think the main issue is that I lost half my filtration.

So, I'll wait until I've kicked the ich before I do anything else, but there doesn't seem to be much consensus about the white stringy stuff as just a result of overfeeding or if it also indicates infection which needs to be treated. that medical fish food sounds like a good idea...

I have an intuitive dislike for AMQUEL+ - I don't like the way it smells or feels on my fingers. I try to only use it as water "first aid" to remove traces of ammonia and nitrite (in conjunction with water changes of course) - I like NOVAQUA+ better for dechlorination (It's made by the same company and contains echinacea).

Anybody else want to weigh in on the "stress coat" debate?


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