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I have had three blue rams for a few months now. I have noticed clear stringy poo on all of them. Lately, one has become dangerously thin and weak. I have treated a couple of times with jungle parasite clear, but haven't had any success. What should I do?
Tina

I've got a fever... and the only prescription... is more cowbell!

What are the parameters: Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temp. We can look at this as a sense check, though it is unlikely anything amiss would cause emaciation and white stringy poo.

There are different types of parasites. You may want to give the new Jungle Anti-Parasite Medicated Food a shot. Petsmart was the only one carrying it until a few weeks ago. Now I've seen it in some other stores. IT has not only the praziquantel in there, but also has metronidazole, and levamisol. Metro is good for things like hexamita should it be in abundance in the intestine. Levamisol is about the only effective med for camallanus nematodes. YOu may want to watch the fish at rest and see if there are any red worms dangling from the vent. They will only show when the fish is at rest.

Now, if the fish is not eating for some reason - lets say he doesn't like what's on the menu, then that may explain the poo. No eating will produce clear casings. I wonder if he was tank bred or wild caught. Have you watched him eat all this time? How is the apetite? Ever notice him vomit much later after eating (not like the usual spitting out they do when breaking down food - I mean, like 10 minutes or more later).

If your fish suffers from listlessness, loss of appetite and pale stringy feces, then this can be signs of internal parasites. PraziPro and metronidazole are both effective.

If you treat your fish with medications, always be sure to remove any carbon or charcoal from your filter media. You should also do a substantial water change prior to medicating your tank.



Last edited by bob wesolowski at 13-Mar-2005 17:37

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Prazi-Pro can be purchased through companies like [link=Drs Foster and Smith]http://www.drsfostersmith.com" style="COLOR: #C000C0[/link]. I haven't seen it readily at stores just yet.