white fish poop

[wigglejaggles]

hey now,

Well I have now seen the two dwarf gouramis I brought home earlier poop, and the one was brown but the other just pooped and it was white.

Does this mean it is sick? I just bought it this evening so if its a caution sign i will take it back tomorrow.

thanks!

take care,
Jared

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I'm not sure, but I know some fish just cannot digest certian things. What color thier poo is depends on what they eat.

I fed my little africans some frozen brine shrimp and i guess they couldn't digest them cus the shrimp were just pooped out whole! (very strange, and quite a sight :eek: ).

[wigglejaggles]

hey now,

Ok so I am not gonna take it as a sign that the fish is sick, because it is nibbling like crazy at the hornwort and other plants. He is also a juvenile gourami which may explain the different color.

thanks

take care,
Jared

[carpguy]

White isn't normal.

The mighty WetFeller has this to say about Dwarfs at his SkepticalAquarist (http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/fishes/labyrinth.shtml) site:

Though the Dwarf Gourami used to be recommended as a good beginner's fish, I couldn't recommend it whole-heartedly now to anyone. Dwarf Gouramis have weakened in the last forty years. Now they come to your LFS riddled with the tell-tale lumps in their musculature of encysted metacercariae formed by dormant parasitic trematodes. And Dwarf Gouramis are martyrs to Camallanus, an insidious intestinal nematode.

I'd guess at worms or some other kind of intestinal parasite.

Whatever the one has the other has been exposed to. I'd take them both back or treat it (parasites are generally treatable).

I would definitely not blow it off…

[wigglejaggles]

bummer

If I take them back will the aquarium still be ok for putting other fish in?
I won;t have to completly tear the aquarium apart and start over will I?

thanks

take care,
Jared

[alexv1n]

I wouldn't hurry with returning the fish. Just observe it over some time. The poop content and color depends on what the fish eats, its stress level, and many other factors.

If the gouramis are the only fish in your current aquarium, I'd just keep them there and just keep a close eye on them. If you put the new fish in an established tank with other fish, I'd say using a quarantine tank is always a good idea before you introduce a new fish to the main tank.

In any way, I'm (almost) sure that your fish is OK. My gouramis' poop differs greatly from time to time. Sometimes it is thick brown, sometimes it is very light and soft (from what it looks :)).

[PooCooper]

I bought a small jd a week ago. He was fine till the white poop. He died within 8 hours.

[aquariumfishguy]

Here is a great website which gives a diagnosis of fish poop:


Jo Ann's Diagnosis of Poop (http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/puregold/disease/technique/technique.html#JoAnns_diagnosis_by_poop)

[kveeti]

Originally posted by aquariumfishguy
Here is a great website which gives a diagnosis of fish poop

Wow, it's true, there really is a site for everything! That was an interesting read; thank you for finding and posting it!

[aquariumfishguy]

hehe, a friend gave me that link several years ago as a JOKE but when I got to reading the article, I loved the whole site! :p

If you'd like the whole site where you can find more of Jo Ann's pages on fish care, go to:

Diseases and Treatment for Fish (http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/puregold/disease/disease.htm)