The reason I suggested the high temp is because the fish is not eating. If the OP i s unwilling to treat with meds other than medicated food then the high temp may boost the metabolism and immune syste enough for the fish to start eating. It takes months for a fish to die from hexamita so if left untreated the fish will hang on for ages. The rest of the fish are probably infected but may not succumb to it at all depending on the level of enviromental stress .Some fish species are better at fighting it than others
White stringy poop
- Thread starter Alexxxxsv14
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In tropical aquarium fish, in the majority of cases the pathogen found responsible is Spironucleus vortens, which most definitely does not necessarily take months to kill a fish. The effects and severity of these types of infestations are based on a number of factors, including fish size, location of infection site, environmental conditions (such as water quality, stocking density), overall stress level of fish, etc. S. vortens is also capable of causing systemic infections because they often invade the intestinal mucosa, and then disseminate to other tissues. The moment that a fish stops eating the clock starts ticking.
As far as not treating the main tank, IMO that would be a very serious mistake. This parasite is easy to wipe clean from a closed system, it makes no sense to leave it lingering in the background waiting for the next opportunity to explode.
As far as not treating the main tank, IMO that would be a very serious mistake. This parasite is easy to wipe clean from a closed system, it makes no sense to leave it lingering in the background waiting for the next opportunity to explode.
Just to make it clear, I am not suggesting that the entire tank should not be treated. But those that can eat, are easily treated with either epsom salt soaked food or nls hex shield. The severey sick fish needs more drastic measures that the rest of the fish do not need.
And it can take months, I am certain of it because I dealt with it with my livebearers. I had hexamita in my tanks for over a year before I did anything about it... I just didn't know what it was at the time....
You can't miss the emaciated skinny look and white stringy poop. When they carry the parasite, they don't seem to always succumb to it. It seems to be only via stress. It could be a bullying fish or simply moving the fish to another tank, and of course water quality. But you can keep them alive for a long long time before they die. They do die eventually if showing the symptoms and if untreated and its always the same way, getting skinny at first then stop eating, wasting completely and dying.....after months.
I do believe that in a very stressful environment you can have a full blown tank outbreak but its unlikely in a mature well kept tank. Some will fight it off, the odd ones will fall prey to the parasite.
And I think some species are more susceptible to the parasite than others. None of my other fish(clown loaches, kuhli loaches, corydoras and plecos) ever showed symptoms but I treated all wtith epsom salt soaked food. One of the livebearers was so emaciated at the time of treatment, it barely kept itself afloat. It surprisingly recovered but it took it two months to fully fill out the belly and I initially thought the treatment didn't work out because that fish was my basis for whether it was hexamita or some other sort of worm infestation.
I just could not dump meds before I knew what exactly I was dealing with because I also keep inverts and most of my fish are med sensitive...They didn't need any other treatment thankfully.
I also believe most fish we buy in the shops, at least here, carry hex so I now feed all new fish with hex shield but just epsom salt soaked food works too and its way cheaper and safer to use often.
And it can take months, I am certain of it because I dealt with it with my livebearers. I had hexamita in my tanks for over a year before I did anything about it... I just didn't know what it was at the time....
You can't miss the emaciated skinny look and white stringy poop. When they carry the parasite, they don't seem to always succumb to it. It seems to be only via stress. It could be a bullying fish or simply moving the fish to another tank, and of course water quality. But you can keep them alive for a long long time before they die. They do die eventually if showing the symptoms and if untreated and its always the same way, getting skinny at first then stop eating, wasting completely and dying.....after months.
I do believe that in a very stressful environment you can have a full blown tank outbreak but its unlikely in a mature well kept tank. Some will fight it off, the odd ones will fall prey to the parasite.
And I think some species are more susceptible to the parasite than others. None of my other fish(clown loaches, kuhli loaches, corydoras and plecos) ever showed symptoms but I treated all wtith epsom salt soaked food. One of the livebearers was so emaciated at the time of treatment, it barely kept itself afloat. It surprisingly recovered but it took it two months to fully fill out the belly and I initially thought the treatment didn't work out because that fish was my basis for whether it was hexamita or some other sort of worm infestation.
I just could not dump meds before I knew what exactly I was dealing with because I also keep inverts and most of my fish are med sensitive...They didn't need any other treatment thankfully.
I also believe most fish we buy in the shops, at least here, carry hex so I now feed all new fish with hex shield but just epsom salt soaked food works too and its way cheaper and safer to use often.
Trust me, it is not always an unlikely event that entire tank full of fish will succumb to S. vortens. Nor does it always take months for a fish to die. Death can come in at various stages, in many cases fish don't last more than a couple weeks, and sometimes it is a secondary infection that eventually causes a weakened fish to die. I have seen it all over the years, in numerous species. Entire tanks full of Tropheus sp., hundreds, sometimes thousands of $$$ of fish gone in less than 30 days. The scientific community agrees, they even mention in the paper that I linked to in my sticky on this subject that in commercial angelfish hatcheries S. vortens can cause as high as 50% mortality rates. And it doesn't take months, or years.
If you are interested in learning more about S. vortens, here's one of the best reads on the subject, and there are scores of others.
https://theses.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-120399-140825/unrestricted/ANGEL.PDF
A much shorter version, that touches on most of the basics.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm053
Do livebearers last longer than other species? Possibly, I have no idea as I don't keep livebearers, nor have I ever read any research specifically with this genus or species. What I can tell you is that the people that have done the most research in this area will tell you that there is still much they do not know. But there is lots that we do now know, and one very important thing is that this species of parasite can become systemic, which depending on various factors will often be the deciding factor on how long a fish lives, or doesn't.
For the most past S. vortens is a "cichlid" disease, and while it may be found in various other species of fish, there are numerous pathogens that could mimic this parasite - one can really only be certain when viewing the parasites under a microscope. With livebearers, the symptoms that you describe are most commonly associated with mycobacteria infections, which is very common within all of the various livebearer families.
http://www.fancyguppies.co.uk/page42.htm
Again, without a microscope hard to say with certainty. Either way Spironucleus vortens most definitely attacks different species of fish, and even different fish within the same species, differently, depending on various factors previously mentioned. This is not a one stop shop form of parasite.
If you are interested in learning more about S. vortens, here's one of the best reads on the subject, and there are scores of others.
https://theses.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-120399-140825/unrestricted/ANGEL.PDF
A much shorter version, that touches on most of the basics.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm053
Do livebearers last longer than other species? Possibly, I have no idea as I don't keep livebearers, nor have I ever read any research specifically with this genus or species. What I can tell you is that the people that have done the most research in this area will tell you that there is still much they do not know. But there is lots that we do now know, and one very important thing is that this species of parasite can become systemic, which depending on various factors will often be the deciding factor on how long a fish lives, or doesn't.
For the most past S. vortens is a "cichlid" disease, and while it may be found in various other species of fish, there are numerous pathogens that could mimic this parasite - one can really only be certain when viewing the parasites under a microscope. With livebearers, the symptoms that you describe are most commonly associated with mycobacteria infections, which is very common within all of the various livebearer families.
http://www.fancyguppies.co.uk/page42.htm
Again, without a microscope hard to say with certainty. Either way Spironucleus vortens most definitely attacks different species of fish, and even different fish within the same species, differently, depending on various factors previously mentioned. This is not a one stop shop form of parasite.
I have food soaked in salt that I will feed, and bc I don't have extra tank I will just be precautions and treat whole tank. I bought the metro already and waiting for construction to be done at my house Monday so I can treat tank. I don't want to treat tank and still be stressing my guys out even more. Thanks for all the knowledge
Okay I got the metro and Prazi I haven't bought nls hex shield yet but I will this weekend. So my question is even though both my sajica poop white and don't eat anymore, by me treating tank with those meds will it bring back their appetite and possibly live. Bc if metro is the same as the food soaked in epsom salt I've been doing that but they don't eat any of it bc they have no appetite. I did it anyways bc in case of my other fish had it. I will treat tank tomorrow since I have all day to observe their behavior in case something goes Wrong
Update on this, thanks guys i followed the metro and metro in their food and my little sajica is actually eating again and coming to front of tank now. i never felt so good seeing the normal poop again lol
Hey RD.
For some reason I don't get alerts when new stuff is posted.
I saw the parasite under a microscope, the sample being from my own fish....I
I agree it is a cichlid disease because I read they are most affected by it and most scientific studies about Spironocleus Vortens are based on them. I have never kept any cichlids though... My fish did/do have hexamita(I can never be certain because as I said it takes a long time for them to show symptoms if ever and always under stress...) It severely affected the livebearers over a long period of time little by little......and they are platies(severely means in my tank they were the ones showing symptoms.)...I've read when the parasite goes into their blood stream originating from their gut, its when one sees the symptoms.....and then its too late in most cases...).
In terms of mycobacteria/fish TB, you have to consider I have fish older than my live bearers that caused the problem, and are still living. I hope my issues were not related to that nasty thing, as its my biggest fear. But if I have to be honest, in my last research(not very much scientific) I found info that bottom dwellers such as my oldest fish currently, may not be susceptible to mycobacteria.... So.....who knows...I have mostly kept bottom dwellers with a few exceptions and I don't buy fish very often....I like long lived species and I aim at stocking my tanks with such, meaning I haven't exposed many fish to my own tanks and my current fish don't have fish TB symptoms despite of years of live and observation on my part.
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