Clownfish with stringy poop

[NaturallyKait]

Today I noticed our male clown has some stringy white/translucent poops. He also has a single white spot, on his “chin” that’s hard to photograph, but it’s too big IMO to be ich or anything, and it’s kind of translucent. There has been some aggression toward him from the female lately, but that’s mostly simmered out. I suppose the spot could be related to that though and unrelated to the white poops. 

 

I’m in Canada, and don’t have free access to meds. I do have a small amount stashed away, but if I don’t have something I likely can’t get it to use. I’ll include the best photos I could get plus a photo of what I do have for meds. Thanks in advance for any help. 

 

 

 

 

[Krish87]

Hello!

1. When clownfish are fed Mysis, they do get white poop, but if you have not fed him Mysis, then there is a likely chance that it could be parasite.
2. There are some folks who have claimed that it would go away within a week's time.
3. However, there are some other folks who have treated the fish with Prazi-Pro (which you already have per you picture, thanks for posting that!)

Some Qs: Is he always at the bottom of the tank? Or is she swimming regularly? Are you noticing any lethargy in his behavior? 

 

I would say if you are feeding Mysis, stop and see what you notice. And if you think, it is still the same and getting worse, the treatment would be the key.

[NaturallyKait]

1 hour ago, Krish87 said:

Hello!

1. When clownfish are fed Mysis, they do get white poop, but if you have not fed him Mysis, then there is a likely chance that it could be parasite.
2. There are some folks who have claimed that it would go away within a week's time.
3. However, there are some other folks who have treated the fish with Prazi-Pro (which you already have per you picture, thanks for posting that!)

Some Qs: Is he always at the bottom of the tank? Or is she swimming regularly? Are you noticing any lethargy in his behavior? 

 

I would say if you are feeding Mysis, stop and see what you notice. And if you think, it is still the same and getting worse, the treatment would be the key.

He does get mysis, but he also gets LRS fish frenzy so I wasn’t sure if the mysis white poop issue still applied? He’s swimming normally, all over the tank. Seems to be acting fine, he and the female are still working out their apparently marital problems (😂😂) but he’s doing his submission dance and she seems to finally be accepting that again. 

[Humblefish]

If the white poop persists, treat for intestinal worms + internal flagellates: https://www.nano-reef.com/forums/topic/406133-internal-issues-fish-disease-information/

[MrObscura]

While I can't help much in regards to fish diseases(I've been fortunate to avoid them, outside of losing all my discus despite daily water changes and then trying treatments. So, I chalk that up to sensitive fish not being able to tolerate something in my tap water ), I can say clowns do often have weird poop. 

 

My pair had it for a while after I got them but behaved normal and seemed healthy so I didn't worry about it. I've had them over a year now. So, as long as yours seem healthy and is eating I'd just keep an eye on them to be safe. 

[NaturallyKait]

Thanks everyone. So should I not worry about the white spot/bump on his face either? I wish I could get a good photo. It’s almost like a pimple if he were a human haha. 

[MrObscura]

It could be a minor injury, is he eating and behaving normally? 

 

 

[NaturallyKait]

4 minutes ago, MrObscura said:

It could be a minor injury, is he eating and behaving normally? 

 

 

Yes he’s a bottomless pit as usual haha. 

[MrObscura]

I would just keep an eye on him and not worry too much as long as he continues to seem healthy and nothing worsens. 

[mcarroll]

The first order of business is to eliminate the stress since you know what it is.

 

On 8/25/2019 at 8:38 AM, NaturallyKait said:

There has been some aggression toward him from the female lately, but that’s mostly simmered out.

Stress puts a load on their immune system -- on top of all pre-existing stresses.

 

If his immune system was resolving any issues with something like worms, then lowering his immune system with stress would have the effect of giving the worms the upper hand.

 

Meds may help in the short term, but you should spend at least a couple of nights and a couple of days watching the tank like a hawk for continued aggression. 

 

If there are ANY further signs, you really should get one of the fish out of the tank.

[MrObscura]

A little harassment from a female is normal and shouldn't stress a clown out much as long as it isn't anything outside of normal pair bonding. 

 

It's very possible there's absolutely  nothing wrong with the ops fish. 

 

 

[NaturallyKait]

He’s fine again. Like I said at the beginning that aggression had already mostly simmered out, I only mentioned it because it had happened recently. They’ve worked out their differences. I’m guessing it was the mysis. 

[mcarroll]

Very possible.

 

Folks sleep on aggression issues all the time and jump to conclusions about stringy poops all the time, so IMO it's worth emphasizing. 

 

Plus aggression is not always easy to catch -- could even be over sleeping spaces or stalking by a nocturnal predator such as a serpent star or hitchhiker crab, which can be hard to catch.

 

If it was only pair bonding and it really has curtailed to nothing, then probably no worries.

 

Pair bonding is violent and actually does kill an awful lot of clowns tho....so maybe "only pair bonding" isn't quite the right characterization.  But if it's over, it's over.  Just don't wanna be wrong for the target fish's sake.  🙂