# severum white poop, please help!!!



## jbjack (Jul 10, 2005)

my male severum who is about 3 - 4 years old was in a tank since young with 2 blood parrots and 3 cory cats in a 60 gallon. they have all always been healthy and friendly. about 3 months ago i moved the cory to another tank, and introduced 5 yo yo loaches and 3 yellow labs ( i no this is not a good mix) it was all good tho, no aggression, no problems. but in the last 3 weeks i have noticed slight nippage to the severum (and no one elses) fins. I have (today) removed the labs and yo yo's because all tho there is really no aggresion, i fear they are stressing out the sev. I have added 3 much more calmer, slower swimming silver dollars.

I have always been O.C.D. on keeping the tank in top notch condition with weekly water changes and bi-weekly gravel vacs. this tank was cycled for 3 months 3 1/2 years ago and has ALWAYS had perfect water conditions. I keep a very small amount of salt in the tank about 4 tablespoons per 60 gallons. my water conditions are usually 0 amonia. zero nitrite. 5 - 20 nitrate. fairly hard water and 7.5 ph.

however i have been extremely busy with work, and have been out of the contry most of the last 2 months and the water hasnt been near as good and i believe my wife over feeds a bit while im gone.

I just did a masive 60% water change and vaccuum, and clean one of my 2 aqua clear 70 filters.

the 2 parrots are fine with normal feces, good colour and eat well. the sev's colour is a good as ever, swims well, body , fins, and eyes look great, and is eating but not as aggresively as normal, and has hollow looking white poop. ( has been like this for about 2 weeks)

whats wrong? what do i do?

could it be just stress, and less then usual water quality? if so i fixed those problems, when should i see an improvement?

if not what is it? please help!

sorry about the novel, but wanted to be as specific as possible.

thanks!

whats


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Thanks for being so informative. It makes responding alot easier.

White feces alone isn't indicative of a problem. But since you say he isn't eating as aggressively as usual, that concerns me.

Since you're working on cleaning up the tank, I think I would add some epsom salt as a preventative measure - 1 cup per 100G of water, dissolved in some tank water first.

This will purge the fish a bit if it has been overfed in your absence, and will also give you a better idea on what's going on.

When you do water changes, only replace the amount of epsom salt applicable to the amount of water you remove and replace.

We all get behind on tank maintenance at times, but I think it hits even harder when we're overly meticulous 98% of the time. I've always done weekly water changes. If I get behind a week, I can tell by looking at my fish, even though the actual water quality is fine. They don't look as energetic and vibrant as they do with those weekly water changes. They act sluggish, and things change. I think we spoil them, but having good tank maintenance habits obviously works!


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## jbjack (Jul 10, 2005)

thank you so much for your help, i worried now cause hes not eating at all. still looks completey normal. i have never used epsom salts before, this is ok for my parrots and silver dollars? i understand its a mild muscle relaxant, how long should i keep it in the tank?

you dont think its internal parasites?

i am very scared for my sev, as he is my favorite fish 

would you sugest just using the epsom sor say 5 days hoping that it isnt a parasite, and if not better use a parasite med after that? i am crossing my fingers that its not a parasite since so far he is the only one with this issue.

if i see any of my parrots or dollars with the white poop that then would be a clear sign its a parasite right?

if it doesnt get better in 5 days, (assuming thats what you decide for length of epsom salt treatment before i go to parasite meds) is it ok to treat with say like jungle parasite tablets or what ever in conjunction with the salt, or sould i remove most of the epsom salt before i add any meds? the tank is well aerted (2 water fall filters and a bubbler)

thanks again!


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## jbjack (Jul 10, 2005)

also should i put some pima fix in there with the salt maybe? if so is it ok for the silver dollars?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

If he's not eating at all along with the white feces, then I would proceed with one of the bloat treatments in the links below.


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