A couple of questions!

[F.H]

Hi all,

I currently have 2 clownfish in my QT, and I've just finished the 4th transfer using the tank transfer method.

I just have a couple questions regarding the health of my fish before I throw them into my display:

1) One of my clowns has ONE "dot" which is white, on one of his pelvic fins. Now this "dot" has been there for about 3 days, and hasn't expanded/multiplied or changed in any way.

Is it possible for ich to show up as only ONE dot? and remain that way for up to 3 days? I have a feeling this isn't ich, but rather something else, possibly an injury?

Would ich behave in this manner at all? I'm thinking if it was ich, it would have multiplied by now, or fallen off, or changed in any way. The other clownfish shows 0 signs of ich/white dots on him.

Any ideas? am I just being paranoid?

Thing is, I THINK it might just be a "hole" because when I look at the pelvic fin from the other side as well, there seems to be a white dot on the same spot, but it's weird to think that he found a way to make a "hole" in his fin, rather than a tear.

My second, unrelated question:

2) The other clownfish has weird stool patterns. Sometimes he has really long, stringy white poop, similar to that of an internal parasite. Picture attached:

http://i.imgur.com/FbmPswN.png

Now this poop looks very similar to what an internal parasite looks like, but both of my fish have gone through a prazipro treatment twice.

The clownfish will show this poop one day, and then the next day he'll have somewhat "normal" poop, which would not be long white and stringy like pictured.

Is it normal for a fish to show this type of stool one day, and then seemingly normal stool the next day? It seems like he'll go a week without showing stringy poop, and then one random day he'll show it for a day or two and then go back to normal poop. Do fish get different poop from stress? or diarrhea? haha. Any ideas?

I want to throw my fish in the display in a couple days, as they seem healthy and happy, but I'm just worried about these two issues right now, which makes me doubt if they are 100% ready.

Any input is much appreciated, thanks.

[Craigdillman]

The white poop is probably an internal paracite usally not serious but will effect he health of the fish, prazi-pro works awesome and is super safe pick some up (only need a small bottle for your qt) most use it profolacticly

As for the white spot I'm not sure il let someone else chime in,

[hillegom]

I agree ^
Transfer them again when the time comes and one last prazipro treatment.
When you did the last prazi treatments, were they one after the other in the tank transfer method?

[Craigdillman]

I've done both during the tank transfers or after both work but probably after will work best for you I find it works pretty quick

[F.H]

Yeah, well I initially got the fish, started prazipro on the second day, did 2 treatments of prazi back to back so, 2 weeks.

Then I just observed them for 2 weeks, as they didn't show any signs of ich/disease, and I was about to put them in my display when I decided to do the tank transfer treatment prophylactically for peace of mind before putting them in my display.

The tank transfer is pretty much done now, and I should be putting them into my display tomorrow, but I figured I should ask about these two things before I do.

It's just curious, because in the past when a fish has gotten stringy poop like that, it continues to have it until I treat it and fix it... but this time it goes for days with normal poop, and then one day might have poop similar to the one pictured, and then go back to normal poop.

Shouldn't the 2 doses of prazi have been enough? should I medicate their food with metro instead?

[George]

The recommended protocol for prazipro (pp) is doing 2 rounds, wait 5-7 days in between. The reason for the wait is for the eggs to hatch because pp apparently doesn't kill eggs. Also some advanced users are starting to recommend 3 rounds of PP. Again 5-7 days wait in between. There are also talks of PP is good for external fluke but not internal. I am following that development.
I doubt that the single dot was marine ich. I never see ich showing up as just one dot.
Good luck!

[F.H]

Thanks, George.

Likely, the more that I thought about it, the more I'm leaning towards the fact that the single dot probably isn't ich. It's been there for 4 days now, and I can see the dot from BOTH sides of the fin, which is odd? I'm leaning towards the fact that it might just be a hole or a tear on the fin.

I have heard about the waiting for eggs to hatch, and I suppose that's where my fault lies. I have also heard the same, that prazi is only good for the external flukes/parasites and for internal it's better to dose food with prazi (which can be very tricky) or dosing food with Metro?

or should I treat prazi in the water, and dose food with metro as well for another week?

My only issue is that he hasn't shown any signs of stringy poop for the past ~2.5-3 days so it is normal for a fish with internal parasites to "fight" them and show normal poop? I was just under the impression that the fish will continue to show stringy poop until he has been rid of the parasite. This is the only thing that's holding me back from administering prazipro right away.

Thanks for all the inputs so far, much appreciated.

[Craigdillman]

I think stringy poop can come and go i know when my clowns were in QT they had it off and on till i did the prazi pro to the water treatment, after like 3 days into the treatment it was all cleared up