Is this the right kind of POO!!!

[wozza]

hello,
my fish as far as i can tell are fine, they are active, eat well and are alert.
And they have whithish/pinkish poo, i dont know if this is a bad thing or a good thing.
so thats why im asking you guys.
in my 35 Uk gallon tank i have:
1 Amphiprion percula (common clown)
1 Pseudocheilinus hexataenia (six line wrass)
1 Pseudanthias squamipinnis(Lyretail Anthias) male

i feed them 2-4 times a day, and in each meal:
chopped squid
chopped muscle
brine shrimp
mysis shrimp
some other shrimp bigger than mysis dont know what kind (was in a marine food mix pack)
small pink crustations dont know what kind (was in a marine food mix pack)

The magority of this food is whiteish/pinkish so i dont know if this is what is makeing there poo that colour, i know at least in humans that the colour of our food doesnt determine the colour of our poo!!

here is a drawing of what it looks like.

[leebca]

The Anemonefish you have is an omnivore. That means it needs both meaty foods and vegetables. The foods you feed are not proper for that fish. You are feeding fish flesh but not the whole organism, so your fish are missing nutrients they usually get in the wild. You need to check out the other fishes to determine if they are carnivores, or omnivores then feed them according to this suggested regime:
Feeding Marine Fish and Fish Nutrition

The color of the fecal matter is usually similar to the food they ingest. However, the fecal matter usually is not a solid or stringy. It should present itself like a stream of tightly packed brine shrimp that break up in the water. Fish with differing diets may exhibit different textures of fecal matter. If it is stringy and you are feeding the proper foods, then you should consider de-worming according to:
Strange Excrement from Fish -or- How to be a Super Pooper Snooper

[wozza]

hmmm..interesting,
yeah i know my little clown is omnivour im just not sure what to try and feed him in the way of greens. all the green stuff at the fish store is expencive and i cant afford to buy him something he wont eat.
any ideas?
as for the other fish they are both carnivours so they should be happy with what im feeding them.

also for the de-worming can i do this in the main tank or do they need to be in a hospital tank to protect my inverts?

is this the de-worming procedure you ment?
Praziquantel. Praziquantel may be hard to find. But it is available on-line along with other medications at: National Fish Pharmaceuticals, FISH DISEASE . . It is also available on-line from PondRX PondRX - Do you feel the need for speed? - Home. . Unfortunately, the quantity of Praziquantel you need to order as a minimum order may be more than you’ll need in the next few years. It is administered at 23mg per pound of fish, in their normal food.

There is a commercially prepared anti-parasitic pellet food available. It is made by Jungle. The active ingredients in this food are levamisole (a stimulant for the fish immune system), Metrodinazole, and Praziquantel. This particular formula will kill a much broader spectrum of intestinal organisms. Also, the product Gel-Tek Ultra Cure PX can be used instead of Praziquantel. The aquarist is looking for a treatment that the fish will swallow (not a water treatment). For both of these products, just follow directions on the medication.

thanks muchly james

[leebca]

James,

You're missing a subtle point to my post. Your carnivores are not happy with what you're feeding them. You are feeding them too much flesh and not enough 'whole organisms.' A carnivore in the wild doesn't eat squid flesh, shrimp tails, scallop meat, etc. They eat the whole organism, such as the whole mysis, whole plankton, whole shrimp. See what I'm getting at? The mussel comes close and the whole mysis are 'right on' (if they are marine mysis). Also, the brine shrimp is not nutritious enough for your carnivores.

The greens can be a wide variety of things. You can feed flakes, pellets (both in limited quantities) or seaweed. Just be sure all the 'greens' truly are marine vegetables (not land or freshwater vegetables).

"Foods they won't eat." Remember, you're the boss. They need to eat what is good for them. You can buy small quantities of the seaweed and test it out, or get some pieces from the LFS or fellow marine aquarists. I've put thousands of dollars in my system, so the food expense is just a small part of the bill for healthy, good looking marine livestock.

Yes. That's the de-worming products.

[leebca]

Sorry. I'm getting careless.

Technically, tiny marine shrimp-like creatures are called "mysids." The freshwater variety are called "mysis." They come from their scientific names which are Mysidopsis bahia and Mysis relicta respectively.

One of the most common of all these creatures, found off the USA coasts and used in the USA as part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water quality test is the organism, Mysidopsis bahia. That is where the "mysid" with the "d" has entered into the spelling 'war.'

The species Mysis relicta evolved from the saltwater organism (it is presumed) and is the freshwater kind. They are referred to as "mysis."

This is just the beginning of the confusion. Large 'shrimp' species found in saltwater have been given the common name of "mysis shrimp" when their classification is not either Mysis nor Mysid. These names are interchangeably used by many of the prepared food suppliers.

Then along comes Piscine Energetics MYSIS SHRIMP (PE MYSIS). These are also Mysis relicta.

I don't watch my use of the words mysis or mysids closely. Sorry.

[wozza]

OH MAN....!!
I went in to town today to buy some more food for my fish, i got.
Frozen food on the pack it said "for marine fish"
in it there was for differnt kinds of food.
brine shrimp i chucked down the toilet
mysis shrimp (didnt state if it was from fresh or salt water but im guessing salt as its for salt water fish)
gamma shrimp (is this even a actuall shrimp, or just a made up name?)
greens (didnt say what kind of greens but again im just guessing its from the sea as it says for marine fish)

what do you think?
will my carnavours be happy if the two shrimp i got today are indeed from salt water? or would they need more viaraty (shockly bad spelling i know)

also i live on the coast there is loads of green seaweed in the rock pools would it be ok to feed the clown that, or would it need sea weed from the same place it came from?

this whole getting the correct food thing isnt as easy as it sounds because the bloody companys dont state were the foods come from.....AAAHHHGGGG!!!
makes me made!!!

thanks for putting up with my utter incompatance

james

[leebca]

You're not incompetent my friend! It's easy to be led astray from the mis-information out there, much of which is spread by those with products to sell. I'm just very happy that you care.

The two shrimps, if whole and from saltwater will be great. I'd prefer if you can find one more to add to that list -- a frozen plankton. With these three forming the foundation of your feedings, you can occasionally feed (less than 20% of the feedings) the flesh you previously served, including other prepared foods for marine omnivores. You can even feed a carnivore/omnivore pellet sized right for their mouth once or twice every 21 feedings. This leaves getting veggies into the omnivores.

Wild seaweed may be okay. It's conditional. First, it has to be one they like or can 'warm up' to. Second it has to be from non-polluted waters. I think you'd be better off with nori (from an oriental food store) containing no additives, or packaged seaweeds for marine fishes. There is always a risk of introducing diseases and/or unwanted organisms into your aquarium when you feed wild caught/harvested foods.

The food companies don't want an informed public. You should go on the Internet too. For your information, Drs. Foster & Smith are having a food sale for the next few days. They offer some good choices but you still have to read the ingredients!

Hang in there, James!

[wozza]

Drs. Foster & Smith are based in the USA so i cant get stuff from them.
But i do have some goodish news, the greens that came in the packet i got from town yesterday, well my little clown is eating it.
It made me so happy to see him eating it (i actually scared myself that i could get that happy just watching a fish eating seaweed hahaha...)

but anyways i just phoned up TMC the people who make the foods and asked them were the foods come from in the "Marine Quartet" (brand name) that i purchsed they said "it will be mysis shrimp so its saltwater" i then said what you siad about fresh and salt water mysis and mysid he went to talk to some one else and said "they come from salt water / brackish water."
what do you think to this?

[leebca]

That's good news about the fish eating! He's probably been wondering where his veggies were all this time.

If the person you spoke with said they were from saltwater or brackish water, then they probably are. Look around for some other sources and in the meantime, use up what you've got. It's good to vary the manufacturers, even if they each are providing the same organism.

Big Al's has a Canadian online service, but I'm not familiar with the foods they may offer. They will at least most likely offer a variety of (dried) seaweeds.

Look for prepared foods with a high percentage of spirulina in it. That can be fed every third or fourth feeding in addition to the macro algae/seaweed.

[wozza]

Cool Cool...well im glad things for my little fish are looking up...bles um!
im going in to town again 2marow so ill have a look and see what they have to offer.

on the site below there is a chart of foods is what i can get from my LFS
TMC: Aquarium Foods, Gamma

thanks james

[leebca]

The San Francisco Bay Brand (SFBB) and Omega brand frozen foods are good. You should find a lot to choose from IF your LFS carries the full line of products.

[wozza]

cool thats good news, well the LFS i deal with the most uses TMC a lot so whet ever i want i can get them to order in for me.

just had a look at the (SFBB) and checked out the marine section if i feed my two carnivours on the Marine Cuisine that contains:
Formulated especially for marine carnivores. High in essential fatty acids, pigments, vitamins. Contains brine shrimp, krill, clam, spirulina.

and my feed clown
Marine Cuisine three out of four feeding and (TMC: Aquarium Products - Fresh Seaweed Aquarium Food) one out of four feedings

would you say thats is a good feeding routine?

thanks, james

[leebca]

That's an okay feeding regime. Remember that when the prepackaged food contains the flesh you were feeding before, it isn't an improvement (even though it contains additives and supplements). You still want the prepackaged foods to contain as much of the whole sea food as possible.

If you go to this post and print out the attached table, it will give you some ideas on how to mix and match:
Feeding Marine Fish and Fish Nutrition

The Marine Cuisine is a good list, unfortunately the truth of the matter is that most of that frozen food is brine shrimp (the first on the list) which is like taking up space without providing good nutrition. Then, the whole krill, muscle and clam are good parts, but not in high quantity. They are cheapening the product by using a lot of brine shrimp. Not only do you have to read the label carefully, but you have to ask yourself, what are the first ingredients (since they are usually the most of what's in the product)?

[wozza]

well i went to my LFS today and got some green seaweed (Porphyra yezoensis) my clown is eating it, that made me most happy as it cost me £6 in US cash thats about $12 for 12g, but a least i know it the correct stuff.

Whilst i was there i also asked them to order me in some Krill and saltwater mysis, so along with the marine cuisine that sould keep my carnivors fish happy!

cheers, james