# stringy white poo disease?



## karatejo (Apr 10, 2003)

Hi

I came across something recently on cichlid forum not sure what it was about but it mentioned someone loosing a lot of their Frontosa Fry to "Stringy white poo disease" does anybody know what this is? I only ask cas recently I've been loosing a lot of fry. I recently moved them into a specially sectioned off part of my sump. They can't get out or get hurt by anything. The ammonia and Nitrite in my tank is 0 with low nitrate. I've noticed a couple of them have lost equilibrium before they die. They roll around and around unable to stay still. Then I noticed one had a slightly blown stomach? Also I've got one like that at the moment with the Stringy white poo? Is there something wrong? The only thing I can think of is could it be snails? For some reason I've got very small snails in my sump. The only thing I can think of as to where they appeared from is that I picked up some bio balls from my local LFS couple years back that where already cycled in their huge sump filters. I payed for a 3 gallon bucket full. Put them in the sump then I started to notice the snails. Never got rid of em didn't need too. They have not affected the adults but they can't get into the main tank. Does anybody know what could be causing this as I am at a bit of a loss. Is it the snails or do I have another problem? Sad face


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

Random white poo is not really an issue, its when it becomes continuous in a fish. The disease they are refering to "Bloat" its a digestive problem though to be cause by parasite/bacteria/inflamation in the gut. It starts with the fish refusing to eat, hiding, then practically wasting ways before they die.

Snails can be a vector for parasite in our tanks, but if they have been there for a good while and you are only now seeing the problem they are not likely the cause.

Bloat is not something I have heard of as a problem with fry. Fry are generally more opportunistic feeders than adults in the wild and sort of have more iron clad stomachs. A good way to test if its the sump would be to put the fry in either a separate tank or use a breeder box in the main tank. I have never had much luck with using my sump as a hospital or maternity ward. Seemed to loose a lot of fish, though don't have a rationale for it.


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## karatejo (Apr 10, 2003)

Thank you. After reading about Bloat I think I might be over feeding? Iâ€™m feeding about 3 times a day and 3 different food stuffs. Iâ€™m feeding NLS Grow, crushed flake and also crushed up plecomin algae tablets all to a fine powder. Iâ€™ve left a lot of it in the bottom of the sump sometimes cas basically it all gets stuck on the strainer that *** got connected to my overflow and eventually gets sucked away but some of it turns bad. Could this be the cause? Before I administer meds im goner try and clean up every day and stop feeding for maybe one or two days then im goner feed only NLS thera plus A crushed, only for a while and see if I loose any more. Good plan of Acton? *** basically been over feeing cas I thought Fry needed it to grow


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

The biggest factor in fry growth is water cleanliness and nitrate levels. High nitrates greatly slow fry growth. I found that my mbuna fry would grow practically twice as fast in a separate tank where the nitrates were kept below 10ppm doing 3x weeky water changes of 50% than did the fry in the tank with the adults where I did weekly 50% changes and the nitrates stayed just below 20ppm. Once I moved out the fry from the main tanks their growth rate exploded with the same amount of food.

The fry don't need any more food than an adult "of the same body mass" would need so those tiny munchkins need very little.


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## karatejo (Apr 10, 2003)

*** updated tis post here

http://www.cyphos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23386


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