sick male swordtail - swimming sideways

Since QT is no longer an option - basically it's treat everyone or not at all....

Should I treat the tank or not? If so, with what? If not, should I just try to wait it out, or euthanize him ( I would hate for him to suffer until he dies)?

Still no eating, and pretty lethargic, and not turning sideways anymore...
 
While I don't usually recommend treating non-sick fish, you may be forced to do it since you can't set up a Q or H-tank.

If he were eating, you could feed an anti-parasite food like Jungle Brand's product.

Jungle also makes a Parasite Clear Tank Buddy tablet and Tetra (owned by the same conglomerate that owns Jungle) makes a product called Parasite Guard that has the same ingredients in it. They are broader spectrum internal parasite medications so either should work and will also treat your non-sick fish.

Treating them in the 10G is advised so you're not having to use 5 times more meds. Also, do a PWC, gravel vacuum and *proper* filter maintenance prior to starting the meds... and remove any carbon from your filter(s).

Here's DrsFosterSmith's page on internal parasite meds to show prices for comparative purposes. http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.c...n/fish-parasite-treatment/ps/c/3578/4615/4620 It looks like the Tetra product is a much lower price but I didn't look at the details of each product.
 
I got the QT tank. Hopefully I will never need it again, but just in case. Just started the meds about an hour ago. Keeping my fingers crossed!
 
Jungle tank tablet....looking back on your past post, I think I bought the wrong one.

I could not remember which one you said so I was reading the backs of the packages and bought the one that talked about Dropsy/swimming bladder issues - Fungus Clear (the Parasite Clear did not say anything about swim bladder issues.) I was tempted to buy the "all in one" tablet, but decided against it being that I didn't want to treat randomly. Looks like that may have been the better decision.
 
Well, while the thin whitish colored poop is often a sign of an internal parasitic infestation, it sounds like your fish may have also had a bacteria issue and the medication helped heal that and the fish's own immune system helped them combat the parasite issue... or they could still have a parasite issue but are feeling well enough to eat. Keep an eye on their poop.

Oftentimes, we never know what was the leading cause of a problem and when a fish gets sick from one thing and then their immune system falters, other things can also become a problem. While it's usually best to treat things that are the most obvious (such as the thin whitish poop usually being internal parasites), accidentally treating something else could also do the trick by giving the sick fish enough help to get their own immune system working better.

Remember that immune systems don't really protect us from most parasites... just like a perfectly healthy human will get leaches if they go swimming in waters with leaches in it. Our immune systems will help protect us from bacterial infection from the funky water but the leaches will still enjoy their feast on our blood. ;-) Fish do have the ability to secrete excess slime coat which does seem to help them fend off some external parasites but I'm not sure if they have any defenses against internal parasites... although Nature (since I can't use the G word.. lol) works in mysterious ways! ;-)

I should add that if they are eating but you're still seeing thin whitish colored poop, then get the Jungle Anti-Parasite food and get them to eat that and it will fix them up. It's cheaper and more effective and easier on the fish than treating the entire water column with another medication.
 
I am sure you are tired of me by now :) I just moved them into the 55g last night (I finally got the filter a couple days ago)

I did 2 treatments of the Fungus Clear, but I never saw issues with there poop, only the baby guppy. I am thinking of treating my 10g with the above mentioned Parasite food, as the molly also had the same looking poop. (I was gone for 3 days and noticed it from the molly when I returned last night)

The only fish I ever really see poop to be honest with you, is the guppy and the molly.
 
stephybabe88 said:
I am sure you are tired of me by now :) I just moved them into the 55g last night (I finally got the filter a couple days ago)

I did 2 treatments of the Fungus Clear, but I never saw issues with there poop, only the baby guppy. I am thinking of treating my 10g with the above mentioned Parasite food, as the molly also had the same looking poop. (I was gone for 3 days and noticed it from the molly when I returned last night)

The only fish I ever really see poop to be honest with you, is the guppy and the molly.
Click to expand...

While there might be one or a few people out here that I could grow tired of, you don't even make the long list, much less the short list. LOL

As far as fish poop is concerned, this is why it's good to move a sick fish into it's own Q/H-tank so you can observe it better and know that any poop on the plain bottom of the tank is from that fish. When you have a bunch of fish and gravel on the bottom, it makes it very difficult to observe fish poop unless you catch them in the act.
 
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