Greenish stringy poop

[yheartsp]

hi guys

i have had my clownfish for one month now. last 2 days i noticed she had green stringy poop. and she clamps her fin and tilts her body for like one second, once in a while. but otherwise fine. does she have worms in her intestines? but it's weird because her poop has always been normal and dark brown since i got her. what should i do?

i used to feed her a mix of pellets , flakes, cyclopeeze, brine shrimp.
but now she's getting picky and only accepts pellets, cyclopeeze and brine shrimp. would spit out mysis everytime.

[leebca]

Pellets and flakes contain wheat, wheat products, and land products. This isn't a good food for this fish. Switch its diet.

If the fecal matter isn't grainy (like sand), then it could have an intestinal infection or parasite(s). You'll want to read this: Strange Excrement from Fish -or- How to be a Super Pooper Snooper

Don't know what fish meds you may have there in your part of the world, however.

[yheartsp]

hey lee

i found a way to get my clownfish to eat meaty food =D
i blended shrimp meat, fish meat, squid, brine shrimp, and mysis shrimp together and fed her.. she finally ate without spitting =D as for the poop, it's still greenish colour. i wouldn't say it's stringy like those whitish worm infected poop we usually see. but it's thinner than those usual poop. i'll see if it changes after the change in diet. and yea, my place doesn't have food containing praziquantel and sorts \

ps. i found this extract somewhere but it applies for humans, is it in any way related to fishes as well? What is the cause of green poop?

(Question submitted by ap, CrAzYMiC98 and several others)
I have consulted with a doctor, a physiologist and a microbiologist on this question, and the following summarizes their answers:
Healthy people can have green poop if they eat a diet rich in leafy green vegetables, or if they consume large quantities of food coloring (in ice cream, cake frosting etc.).
Green poop can also be caused by excess iron in the diet, from dietary supplements, for example. If the body does not absorb all the iron consumed, the iron may stain the poop green, the color of iron (II) salts. Ordinarily, the green color may be masked by the normal brown poop color, but if digestion is thrown off by illness so that bilirubin is less concentrated in the intestine, the green color may become apparent. This can happen when a person is afflicted with diarrhea.
Green poop in sick babies may come from iron in baby formula not being properly absorbed, or by green pigments in bile salts (again, green from iron).

[leebca]

Although it may be true for people and animals that the color going in is related to the color coming out, it isn't so much in the case of marine fish. If you look at the color of the food you have fed in the past and currently, it isn't that green. Still, it isn't the color so much that poses our concern, its the consistency. It should be like the fish was expelling sand from its vent. It should not be held together at all or appear to be of any particular shape.

[yheartsp]

update : i asked my LFS about the fish's poo, he said it might be his intestines failing hiim due to cyanide poisoning.. all the fishes here are caught that way , no tank bred. i'm so afraid there's nothing i can do to help my fish

from extract :
Fish are approximately one thousand times more sensitive to cyanide than are humans. Dose levels as low as 0.03 mg/L HCN can be ultimately fatal to sensitive species, while 0.2 mg/L is lethal to most species. Many of the fish exposed to cyanide die immediately, especially the younger and smaller fish.

Fish that survive the initial poisoning sometimes don't show signs of their exposure until days, weeks, or even months later when they die from shock or MASSIVE DIGESTIVE DAMAGE.
i did so much to save her from ich.. i can't let her die from cyanide!!

btw lee, i'm planning to order the jungle anti parasite ,anti bacteria food and maracyn 2 from US and ship here to treat my fish, is there any online stores that ship outside USA?
omg, it's 90usd to ship from USA, for dr froster's and smith, just shipping fee !

[leebca]

I don't know what stores ship overseas. I think you might also want to check those stores based in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Check out to see if Big Al's, or Marine Depot ship overseas. I imagine the shipping costs would be very high.

[yheartsp]

alright thanks !
do you think it might be cyanide poisoning causing digestive problems? because it doesn't seem to be worms..

[leebca]

Cyanide poisoning has never had that kind of effect to the best of my knowledge. Mostly the poison destroys organs through a chemical process which disrupts normal metabolic chemical reactions. I've never heard of it nor seen it affect the fish's digestive track.

If the fish was caught using cyanide, then its life will be shortened considerably regardless of what else might ail it. If cyanide fishes are all that are offered to you through the hobby, then I would suggest finding a different hobby.

[yheartsp]

hey lee could you list some of the possible reasons why my clown fish would tilt her body once in a while , otherwise healthy? i still cannot figure out why

btw lee, i'm feeding my fishes blended meaty food consisting of ( mysis shrimp , shrimp meat, fish meat, squid meat, and brine shrimp ) . 2 times a day. that would lack some vege right. so can i feed formula 2 pellets in the evening OR mix some seaweed into the blend? i'm afraid that their current diet is causing constipation

[leebca]

Constipation would lead to bloating and no visible signs of fecal matter.

Intestinal parasites, intestinal damage, internal organ infection, tumor, or organ damage are in the group of possibles.

Pellets are not a good food. They contain wheat and land products which the fish doesn't digest. Read the ingredient label closely. Choose foods from the sea, not land.