Comments on: 11.2. White Poop

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 01:50:18 +0000

In reply to Jennif.

In reply to Jennifer …… It is a gel food and is really easy to make. And feed it to all your inhabitants.

By: Jennif

Jennif — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 23:28:07 +0000

I should have added more to my comment. I am newer to the hobby and making food from scratch with all the other medications just seems overwhelming-in the sense I do not want to mess it up. I have guppies, shrimp, snails, molly, and a danio. The female guppies are dying off one by one. They get a sunken stomach, gills get a little flared, then die. But no red strings. I just don’t know if I’m capable to make the medicated food.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 23:24:37 +0000

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 23:05:25 +0000

I have read this article. But I am still confused on how to actually make the food. Is the laxative in a liquid or solid form? Which one to buy from the store? Is this safe for all fish?

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 05:40:54 +0000

In reply to Beth Lamson. In reply to Beth .... No good ideas at all. You are doing everything right and still losing fish. The yellow pus says it is bacterial. You might want to try several antibiotics like Maracyn 2 in the food together. Note that both Cornell University and the University of Florida offer services that do necropsies on fish.

By: Beth Lamson

Beth Lamson — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 03:01:01 +0000

Hi David, I’m a huge fan and have read through your entire site multiple times since discovering it a few years ago & it has upped my game significantly. I recommend tankstartguide.com to every “fish person” I meet.
I’ve been seriously into freshwater aquariums for 30+ years, & have set up & maintained hundreds of tanks, mostly planted freshwater. I’ve been a hobby breeder of dozens of species since childhood. I have my own aquarium maintenance business, work at a pet store, etc., etc.
I’ve had a problem for the past year or two with reoccurring camalanus worms. I first started treating with febendazole in food, as per your medicated food recipe. Even after multiple treatments there was no apparent change. After months of that not working I treated w levamisole in food as per your recipe & treatment regiment. When that didn’t work after several treatments, I tried dosing the water w levamisole, which also hasn’t worked. Some of the worms do appear to get paralyzed and fall out, but they always reappear after a couple weeks or less, despite siphoning the substrate religiously after/during treatment. Typically I lose a few fish with every treatment, possibly due to worms dying inside the fish.
I’ve lost several hundreds of $ worth of fish in the last week and am getting pretty desperate. They (mostly angels & plecos) seem a bit “off”, hanging in a corner &/or surface, and within 24 hours are dead, many of them having sudden, severe bloat. I’ve cut open a few of the bellies of the deceased that had an unusual amount of a yellowish fluid built up in some organ, but I don’t know much about fish physiology or necropsies.
I’ve treated alternately w Prazipro, U.V. Sterilization, Epsom salts, antibiotics, API General Cure, & of course levamisole & febendazole. Do you have any insight or ideas for what I could try? Most (not all) of the other fish species are fine, & the plants are flourishing. I’m at a loss though and my most prized/expensive fish are dropping like flies.
0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 20ish ppm nitrate. Ph 8. I’m running a well-established FX6 w sponge filters & tons of surface movement & aeration. Tap water is hard but that hasn’t been an issue in the past.
TIA. You are awesome.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 23:31:30 +0000

In reply to Ana Adams. in reply to Ana .... In the absence of clear symptoms it could be any one of many pathogens or even a genetic problem. Just give it time and it might resolve itself.

By: Ana Adams

Ana Adams — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 22:48:17 +0000

My small koi has a sinking issue, he can’t maintain buoyancy, he has been moved from my outdoor pond into a 10gallon hospital tank. He’s been treated for bacteria and fungal issues. I’ve given him salt baths. He’s stronger now and likes to do loop de loops on his tank when I come by but eventually he ends up back on his side at the bottom. He’s not bloated, if anything looks thin but he’s still small only three inches long. He poops white sometimes but it’s not stringy and it seems to look like casing with white granules in it. I’m at a loss with how to help him and don’t know whether his condition is recoverable or if I need to think about euthanizing him