Poop or Parasite?

[Shelz1209]

I’m on the tail end of treating my QT for Ich, and I’m noticing a lot of white, stringy poop on the bottom. I’m wondering if this is a parasite or sign of something else like fungus, bacterial infection, etc. If it is, when should I start treating for it? I want to make sure the ich is completely gone first (I’m on day 8 and the spots just disappeared off the fish two days ago) but I don’t want to risk them getting even sicker from something else. I’ve attached a photo and I’m keeping one Dwarf Gourami and one Bristlenose Pleco in the QT. Thanks for the help!

 

[dudley]

My guess is poop from the BN pleco. How is eating for you? What are you feeding and how often?

You could remove a bit of the stuff to a small container to see if it moves at all and if it does, it is a parasite.

 

[Shelz1209]

My guess is poop from the BN pleco. How is eating for you? What are you feeding and how often?

You could remove a bit of the stuff to a small container to see if it moves at all and if it does, it is a parasite.

ooh that’s a good idea, I’ll do that. I feed half an algae wafer every other day and then I have some sinking fish pellets that make it down to her. Going to blanch some zucchini tonight.

 

[fishorama]

I'm worried the poo is white. With what you feed it shouldn't be. I would think hard about an antiparasite treatment. Not sure which I'd choose, flubendazole or metronidizole (maybe combined with praziquantil) come first to my mind. I'm not sure a combo of those is recommended. Are you in the US? What ich med are you using?

 

[Shelz1209]

I'm worried the poo is white. With what you feed it shouldn't be. I would think hard about an antiparasite treatment. Not sure which I'd choose, flubendazole or metronidizole (maybe combined with praziquantil) come first to my mind. I'm not sure a combo of those is recommended. Are you in the US? What ich med are you using?

Hi! Yes I’m in the US and I’ve been using Seachem’s Paraguard.

 

[fishorama]

It's so great you are doing a QT!! That's a major plus & will help you treat your fish once the ich is gone. Don't stop treating for that until all the spots are gone for 10-14 days. 1 thing at a time...

Parasites are not usually an emergency but it seems like you should be ready after the ich tx. Flubendazole (NOT fenbenazole) is pretty easy on fish, metro/prazi treats different parasites. Like I said, I'm not sure which I'd choose (I have expired flubendazole). Read up on those 2 treatments while you finish the ich tx & see what you find out. It's been a long time since I used flubendazole or levamisole mostly as prophylactics in wild caught loaches...

 

[Shelz1209]

It's so great you are doing a QT!! That's a major plus & will help you treat your fish once the ich is gone. Don't stop treating for that until all the spots are gone for 10-14 days. 1 thing at a time...

Parasites are not usually an emergency but it seems like you should be ready after the ich tx. Flubendazole (NOT fenbenazole) is pretty easy on fish, metro/prazi treats different parasites. Like I said, I'm not sure which I'd choose (I have expired flubendazole). Read up on those 2 treatments while you finish the ich tx & see what you find out. It's been a long time since I used flubendazole or levamisole mostly as prophylactics in wild caught loaches...

Ok, I’ll look into them and keep treating Ich in the meantime. Thank you so much for your help!