# Need anti-parasite food



## dsun (Nov 10, 2013)

A few of my cichlids have internal parasites, can tell from sunken stomach and white poop.

I cant find Jungle anti-parasite food, can someone point me in the right direction or another antiparasite food that is good?

Thanks!


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Are your fish eating at this time?


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## dsun (Nov 10, 2013)

yes, quite normal...def have appetite.

They had white string poop, and now its back to brown, not as tubular, still a little bit thin but at least not all white.

do you think their bellys look sunken? I fasted them for two days and been feeding very little yesterday and today. The red collar below only maybe had 6 or 7 1mm pellets in the last two days


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Well it's good that their poo is back to normal and they've been eating. They do not appear to have sunken stomachs to me.

I think there's 2 things you can do. Add Epsom salt to your tank at 1 tbsp per 5 gallons. This acts as a laxative and will help ease digestion. Secondly, order some metronidazole and soak your food in that before feeding your fish. Read the articles here on Malawi Bloat.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Something I forgot to add...

You need to be absolutely sure that your water is in check. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and a nitrate reading. Aim to keep nitrate reading low and perform water changes as it approaches 20 ppm. Before adding any salt/meds do a large water change.


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## dsun (Nov 10, 2013)

my water parameters are near perfect except nitrate, it looks like its 40ppm, the API master test kit 40 and 80 are super close but I know that my tap has a bit more than 10ppm.

I fed them green peas this morning, they were fiends fighting over the food. all the poo looked normal too, and i got a ton of brown poo on my substrate since i fed them last night. I guess thats a good sign...if it is internal parasites does the poo color change from white to brown and maybe back to white or is it constantly white? If cichlids are constipated, do they poop thin white? I hope that they were just constipated and that their 2 day fast helped them clear their intestines


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Did you feed anything light in color? Did you lose a fish recently and some of them ate the white flesh?


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## dsun (Nov 10, 2013)

I slighty overfed them tetra cichlid flakes...the crisp is half green half brown. No fish deaths. White poop occurered after i introduced a single larger peacock from my fathers tank. Maybe he was stressed out and he stressed the other fish?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Was is white/clear and threadlike? That's indicative of bloat. Stress plays a big factor in that.


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## dsun (Nov 10, 2013)

Yup, they were popping normal then next day white stringy poop...fasted for 2 days, now its back to usual brown poop factories. Im baffled...im hoping it was a combo of stress/constipation. If its bloat, it would be clear all the time and they would not eat right? They have great appetite and fight for food...


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Sounds like it is not bloat. Just watch them closely and make sure everyone is eating and not hiding away at the bottom or in the upper corners.


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## dsun (Nov 10, 2013)

Ok
Hiding means they are sick? Any other reasons for staying in corners? I saw my ruby stay at top corner but he poops normal and hes sub-dominant and is scared of the red collar


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Fish lurking at the top are harassed. If the aggression problem is not solved the stress will lead to sickness.


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## dsun (Nov 10, 2013)

ruby stopped lurking, maybe it was a one time thing...woke up this morning adn the substrate was full of green pea poop...all eating well this afternoon too. I guess they were constipated and maybe a bit stressed with the new addition of the red collar. I got metro just in case if they start pooping white again.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Not a bad idea to medicate their food for a week or so. You have the metro. It won't do any harm.


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## dsun (Nov 10, 2013)

if the metro wont do harm even if they are not sick then I will do that. Thanks!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The metro is not going to fix the lurking though. Watch them every day and manage aggression.


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## dsun (Nov 10, 2013)

the ruby is the only one that lurks at the top, he used to be the Alpha until I introduced the red collar. The ruby was a huge bully, and he still occasionally chases the other tank makes. The red collar is more of a referee and I never seen him exhibit aggressive behavior to his tank makes, they swim freely around him except the Ruby. When the ruby chases another tank mate and if they swim to the red collar the ruby immediately stops and exhibits submissive behavior.

Now the ruby just hangs around the top from time to time, hes lost a good amount of color too. Everything else with feeding and pooping is normal with him


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