# Odd but important question



## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

I have 6 penguin tetras in my ten gal(overstocked, I know I am getting them a new tank.) So, they live with my betta and eat flakes and brine shrimp. I noticed poop all over the place and my betta is not this messy. the poop was in a stringy sort of shape red and grey in color. I was wondering if this is tetra poop or betta poop? Thanks! 

P.S. I know the poop question is awkward but it is better to be safe than sorry!


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Don't worry. Poop questions are very important questions. It's a great way to tell the health of an animal that can't speak. I'm constantly examining my fish's poops. lol

What color food are you feeding them? Fish poop is usually the same color as their food. However, the stringy part worries me. It could be a sign of internal parasites.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

I do have to agree with the above post. Stringy white poop can be an indicating sign of internal parasites.

Have you noticed any abnormal symptoms towards the fish?
Do they look bloated?
What is your feeding schedule and how much do you feed?
Do you notice this regularly?


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Their food is a reddish grayish and greenish. I am away in Washington right now so I don't know know they are doing. I feed them once every day a little pinch. They are not bloated and this is not normal. U see, this stringy stuff is hard to explain. It is stringy but still solid, not dissolving or anything. They are all normal, exitcted to eat, active etc. I would love to get pics up but how?


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

I am back from Washington. they seem okay, but 1 tetra died, not sure why. I also did a 50 percent water change today and the water was gross! it had poop all over the rocks so I also changed a filter pad and soaked the decor in boiling water. the poop isn't white it is rather grayish. if this is parasites, are there any recommended meds I should get? I was thinking Maraceyn(sp?) 1 or 2?


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## ladayen (Jun 21, 2011)

aqua001 said:


> I am back from Washington. they seem okay, but 1 tetra died, not sure why. I also did a 50 percent water change today and the water was gross! it had poop all over the rocks so I also changed a filter pad and soaked the decor in boiling water. the poop isn't white it is rather grayish. if this is parasites, are there any recommended meds I should get? I was thinking Maraceyn(sp?) 1 or 2?


 
Ugh.. you've probably just put your tank into a mini cycle if not a full blown start over again. Keep a close on on water parameters for the next week(or more if something is off). A sanitized tank is lethal to fish. You need to keep a certain amount of "junk" to maintain a healthy eco system. If decorations are dirty just use an algae scrub brush to get it off, and just rinse a dirty filter pad in dirty tank water in a bucket to get some of excess crud off. Only replace the pads when they are litterally falling apart or get so clogged that no amount of swishing and swooshing in the bucket gets it reasonably clear.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

I wasted that many filter pads!!!!!!!!! Arggggggg, soooooooooo mad! I didn't remove all the junk, just the stuff I could find at the surface.(Which was a lot of gross stuff lol.) If I really did remove too much poop and such, is this why the water won't clear up?


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## ladayen (Jun 21, 2011)

What do you mean clear up.. is it kinda like a white cloud?

What I do with gravel vac on a non planted tank is do one side every 2 weeks so the entire bottom is only gravel vacced once a month. Some do one side every week but dont do the whole bottom at once either way or you risk sucking up too much bacteria and causing a mini cycle. I am talking about digging around in the substrate here btw, feel free to do a sweep/spot vac over the entire surface every week.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

well, it's almost like tiny bubbles are all over the place so its really fuzzy looking. Aqua has been rather lethargic so I'm suspecting internal parasites? Instead of swimming around like usual, he sits at the bottom more and hides.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

I bet you're overfeeding, but the red poop can come from the brine shrimp. no worries about the color.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

I feed them freeze-dried brine shrimp once a week. Does anyone think it's some sort of parasite aqua has? Also, ladayen, It looks sorta foggy, I now wonder if it's a bunch of parasites? None of the fish look infected so I'm not sure.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Another possibility to as why your tank is experiencing this issue could be due to the aquarium nitrogen cycle. There are multiple stages of this cycle. One of which being called the bacterial bloom, which happens first. This most likely will cause cloudy water and will eliminate itself within 3-5 days with no special treatment, but water changes can be done to help with the cloudiness. This occurrence most likely happened primarily Because you changed the main source of beneficial bacteria, taking out the cartridge would have let the bacteria diminish gawky and cause a new cycle


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Its been cloudy for weeks so I doubt it's part of the cycle. I realized this when I wasn't paying attention to the water level and accidentally changed 75 percent instead of 50.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Possibly decaying organic matter/material. Or a result of overfeeding


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

So, when do you think all of the cloudiness will end? Never?LOL Once it does end, do you think aqua will be less miserable?


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

Changing a large percentage of the water will not cause too much harm. I change 90 gallons or 50% of my 180g tank weekly!

The issue could be a bacteria bloom, the substrate you are using or something you have added to the tank.
Bacteria blooms or free floating algae can last for weeks...


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Okay. so you guys are pretty sure it's not parasites? I'm still skeptical. I just really hope the ugly cloudiness ends soon. some of you may have read my post 'what should I get' So do you think there is anything from amazon I could get to clear up the water or, like Mo said, it doesn't require anything?


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

It would really help if you could provide a picture of the tank to help diagnose it a bit better.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Oh, okay. Do i just take the pic, put it on my desktop (I'm using a laptop) and drag it in the text box? Sorry if I'm boring you out, I'm just sorta clueless.

Edit: the pic in my avatar was before the water got cloudy. Maybe that can be a comparison.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Bacterial blooms are a result of the quarium cycle. They usually eliminate themselves with no treatment and there is virtually no other treatment to end the bacterial bloom. You can minimize the cloudiness by don't an extensive amount of water changes though....... Which is probably what you need anyways


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

To load a picture, take it, download it to your desktop. In the message box click, go advanced...
you will see a little smiley face, next to that is a paperclip...click on the paperclip, browse to the photo in the box that will pop up, DO NOT close the box until the photo is uploaded..

If it is indeed a bacteria bloom, then as mentioned there is not much you can do about it.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Heres a pic if I manage to get it on.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Yay! I got it on lol


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

This before or after?


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

The tank doesn't look the slightest bit cloudy to me at all. How long ago was this picture taken. Before the clouding appeared, presumably. Right?


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

That was like a week after a took the pic on my avatar. By then, it was after my too big water change and was starting to get cloudy. Does the top even look slightly cloudy? I think it sorta does. Heres another one: I think this one shows the cloudiness better. This was taken just a few minutes ago.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

It doesn't look cloudy to me at all.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

It doesn't? Its ALOT cloudier than before but I guess if you guys all say it's fine, I guess I'll just sit back and watchlol.


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Looks like a slight reflection to me more so than a water quality issue. But I would wait for tazmans approval as they are much more experienced than I am


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

If that is the after shot, which it looks like it is as the plants in the Original Posters avatar are different, then I see absolutely nothing wrong with that water at all.

By cloudy I would expect not being able to see in the tank at all....if there is a slight cloudiness then run the filters with filter floss and that should remove a lot of "free floating" debris in the tank...if you do anything with the filter, keep whatever you remove, in tank water NOT tap water, it will kill the bacteria.

Performing water changes will likely clear it up overtime, or it might just disappear on its own. I would really not worry about it unless it starts to effect your fish and then we need to look at other possible causes.


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## aqua001 (Jan 13, 2012)

Yeah, I bought new decor because the tank looks sorta plain. 1 fish died after the water got cloudy. The other fish seem lethargic now but I don't know what could be causing that.


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