krib's strange behavior

[bronko]

Hello guys, im from Bulgaria and i have problem with my kribs in main aquarium 175 l.
I have 3 pairs, 2 of them looks like are mates, they swim together, have cocunut shellf's and vibratin each other. Fishes are 8 mounth old with amazing coloring, but dont have fry yet.
I put one pair in 55l aquarium 2 days ago, everythin was good, but today i see male stay near to the top of the water, he didnt eat and his poop is white and long. It doesnt look like he is ill.
I have same problem in main aquarium with one of the males, he also stay near to the top and didnt eat. I try to feed him with bloodworms but he didnt eat.
Sorry for my bad english.

[_oceanix_9]

Your English is actually pretty good, don't worry about it. If the male isn't eating and is just hanging out near the top, that's usually a sign of internal parasites, plus the white stringy poop is a dead giveaway.

[coltin]

Hi bronko, welcome to the forum.

Can you tell me a bit more about your 55 litre tank? How long has it been set up for and how often do you do water changes? Have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH? If so, what are the results? If not, it's a good idea to test the water to make sure everything is okay.

Also, would you be able to post a picture and a short 20 second video of the fish? If the pictures are too big, try setting your camera to a lower resolution and taking some more. This should make the images smaller and they should fit on the site. Check the pictures on your computer and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, then post them here. Just remember to turn the camera's resolution back up after you've taken the pics.

If the video is too big for the site, you can post it on YouTube and copy and paste the link here. We can take a look at it on YouTube. If you're using a mobile phone to take the video, try holding it horizontally so the video takes up the whole screen.

There are a few reasons why your fish might be doing stringy white poop. One reason is an internal bacterial infection, which can cause the fish to stop eating, swell up and do stringy white poop. This is usually fatal and can't be cured.

Another reason is an internal protozoan infection, which can cause the fish to lose weight and do stringy white poop. If you catch it early, you can treat it with Metronidazole.

There's also a medication called API Geneflake Cure that contains Praziquantel and Metronidazole. It's worth noting that Metronidazole has been listed as a carcinogen by API and the Californian government, so handle it with care and wash your hands after treating the fish.

Intestinal worms like tapeworms and threadworms can also cause stringy white poop. These can be treated with Praziquantel or Levamisole. When you're treating the fish, make sure to remove any carbon from the filters and increase the aeration and surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the water.

You'll need to treat the fish once a week for 3-4 weeks, and do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after each treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too. It's also a good idea to treat all the fish tanks in the house at the same time.

Just remember not to use the two medications together. If you want to treat both, use Praziquantel on day one, do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 2 and 3, then treat with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 and 7. Then you can start the Praziquantel treatment again on day 8.

[bronko]

Thank you for the replies. I started the 55l aquarium on 11.02.2019. I have 2 inner filters - one with 600l/h and one with 300l/h, both filled with sera siporaks. After transferring the kribs pair, I treated with methylen blue 5ml/50l. Every week, I do 20-30% water changes. I never tested water parameters, but I clean the gravel every 2 weeks. My tap water is harder, that's all I know. But until now, I didn't have any problems.

[coltin]

Methylene Blue can be quite harsh on filter bacteria, so it's not something you want to use unless absolutely necessary, like in cases of bacterial or fungal infections. Given you haven't added any since February, your filters should be fine by now.

When it comes to cleaning your filters, make sure you're doing it right. You want to wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water, not under tap water. This way, you're not exposing your beneficial bacteria to chlorine or chloramine, which can harm them.

As for your water changes, I'd recommend doing bigger ones - 75% once a week - and always cleaning the gravel when you do. This will help reduce nutrients like ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and dilute disease organisms in the water. Think of it like this: fish live in a soup of microscopic organisms, including bacteria, fungus, viruses, protozoans, worms, flukes, and all sorts of other things. By doing regular big water changes and gravel cleaning, you're diluting these organisms and making the environment safer and healthier for your fish.

When you do a small water change, like 25%, you're leaving behind 75% of the bad stuff in the water. If you do a 50% change, you're leaving behind 50%. But if you do a 75% change, you're only leaving behind 25%. It makes a big difference. Fish are living in their own waste, and their tank and filter are full of fish poop. By cleaning the filters, gravel, and doing regular big water changes, you're removing a lot of that poop and making the environment cleaner and healthier for your fish.

[bronko]

Thank you for all the information you gave me. I will do 75% water change now. I leave the water 24 or 48 hours before putting it in the aquarium. For the filter cleaning, I just rinse the sponge in a bucket with aquarium water.