White Stringy Poop

[Guest tidytourniquet]

Ammonia Level? 0

Nitrite Level? 0

Nitrate level? 40ish

Ph Level? 7.5

Ph Level out of the Tap? 7.5

Tank size(How many Gals) and How long has it been running? 20 gal running for around 6 months

What kind of Filtration? marineland penguin 330

How often do you change the water and how much? around 20% a week

What kind of Water additives or conditioners? Prime

Any Medications add to the tank? just salt hoping that would help

How many fish in the tank and there size? 3, all around 4 inches w/out tail

Add any new fish to the tank? no

What do you feed your fish? OSI goldfish pellets

Any unusual findings on the fish? Such as

"grains of salt", bloody streaks, frayed fins, fungus? no

Any unusual behavior? Like staying

at the bottom, not eating, ect..? no

If you can what is the chloramines Level

from the Tap? dont know

One of the fish started to poop whitish around a month ago and lately the other 2 started pooping thinner and longer. I put salt in the tank a few days ago hoping that it would help. I put in 1 teaspoon for each gallon, so far nothing seems different. I read on here that medigold is good but I just dont have that much spare change around to order that. Is there something else that I can use? I went to the pet store yesterday to get Maracyn-two but the expiration date was this month so I didn't want to spend $5 on something that is old. Any help would be appreciated

[akk0415]

Medigold is a great product. It cured my fish of the very same symptoms you are experiencing. I have very little experience with Maracyn & Maracyn 2 with goldies. They work somewhat well with my betta but have yet to cure a stubborn fin rot in over 2 months of treatment. They work by being absorbed through the skin so the internal concentration is not going to be what you would get with the medigold. What you are seeing is an internal bacterial infection. My advice is beg or borrow to get the medigold. It is almost a guaranteed solution where the maracyn's would be a maybe. And, you get a good amount with the medigold. It will last you a long while. Maracyn is more expensive for what you get in the long run.

Also, your nitrates seem a tad high. Maybe do a good 50 to 60% change to see if they come down to reduce the stress.

[Guest shj]

It really sounds like the problem is internal. Medi-Gold or Metro-Med would be good choices (I would doMetro-Med) If you cannot do that you may want to look into Jungle anti-parasitic medicated food.

HTH

[Guest tidytourniquet]

I was hoping to find out about something I can get at my LPS so I didn't have to pay for the S&H of ordering something online especially since I dont really have the money, thats why I was going to get the Maracyn Two. Is the Jungle medicated food good, have you tried it and it worked for you?

I know about the nitrates being kind of high but I've tried doing bigger water changes and it doesn't really seem to make them go down much so I just stuck with doing the 20%

[akk0415]

I tried the Jungle medicated food with my betta as well and had no luck. To be honest though, his infection is so resistant that hardly anything has worked. I have my own fish pharmacy thanks to my sick little guy. I know your pain. The medigold and metromeds are definitely worth the money but it took a lot for me to place an order as well. I didn't like that s&h either.

Hmmm. Maybe someone else will come along with high nitrate experience. I'll do some research as well. Don't plants help keep nitrates down?

[Guest tidytourniquet]

I made it to vvvv yesterday and bought Jungle Anti Bacteria medicated food. It says to feed for 5-10 days as needed, I dont know if its just me or what but I think I can already see a difference in how 2 of them are pooping already even though Ive only fed them 3 times so far. It could just be that they didn't really seem that sick so its not taking much to get them better.

I've tried to have live plants but they never survive with me so I dont really know what to do about the nitrates. Do you think that them being at around 40 has anything to do with the fish getting sick?

[fishyfan7]

possibly...and to be honest, I think your tank is a bit overstocked....fancies need 10 gallons per fish and commons need about 20 gallons per fish so a 20 gallon tank with 3 fish is a bit too much and that can lead to your high nitrates. I would save up for a bigger tank...since you can't afford it now, water changes, water changes, water changes! That is the only thing that will help.

I too just finished a course of Jungle Anti-bacterial and I think I notice a difference so keeping my fingers crossed!

[Guest tidytourniquet]

Yes I know I am overstocked a bit but since I have over 15 times the amount of filtration I didn't think it was a big deal. I've done in the past 50% water changes everyday for almost a week and it barely made my nitrates go under 40 so instead of taking the chance of messing with my cylce I went back to 20% a week.

Good luck with your fish too, I hope all is better

[fisharenewtome]

Here's a thought - have you tested your tap water for NitrAtes? My tap water comes with 20-40ppm (usually 40) so I can't ever get my levels below that using tap water (& my fish are so far fine with it BTW) I could change water all day & I can't get any lower than what my tap water comes with.

Remember you filtration is removing the solid wastes but you have to change the water to get rid of the end product of the liquid waste (& when cycling or some other cycling mishap you need to change the waterm ore frequently to get rid of the liquid waste that the existing bacteria can't handle)

Just a thought!