Red feces.

[Joshua14]

I've been battling gill flukes for quite some time in a 55 only stocked with zebra Danios. I'm going to start a dose of prazipro tonight.

While on a break from work today I noticed one of them had very thick and blood red feces hanging from it. 

I was wondering if this could be Camallanus? If so I don't understand how the tank could have been infected.

Edited December 18, 2020 by Joshua14
I managed to get a photo. This isn't even comparable to what I saw earlier. At this point I believe I am dealing with a internal worm. Maybe the stress from this caused flukes in the first place?

[Irene]

Could be. Do you have a picture of it? Greg Sage from Select Aquatics sells levamisole, which is very effective against it. Don't forget to get the measuring spoon to make dosing a piece of cake. 

Levamisole

WWW.SELECTAQUATICS.COM

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Levamisole medication

 

[Joshua14]

Thanks @Irene. I'm gonna attempt to get a picture tonight if I can get a zebra danio to stay still. 

I have had red worms before and got rid of them. I'm more or less curious how it would be possible for the fish to contract them without any possible way of coming into contact with them.

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by Joshua14

[Irene]

Hmm, not sure. I've just heard it's very contagious and sometimes the symptoms don't pop up for a while. Some sites said it could from infected live foods. 🤷‍♀️

[Joshua14]

That's something to look into. Thanks again. I do feed baby brine but that's it for live foods. Seems unlikely that it would come from that, don't you think? 

But anything is possible I suppose.🤷

[Daniel]

15 hours ago, Joshua14 said:

I do feed baby brine but that's it for live foods. Seems unlikely that it would come from that, don't you think?

Yes, what your fish eat definitely influences the color of their feces. Nothing about your photo would give me cause for concern (I realize that wasn't a photo of what caused you to be concerned). If their behavior is normal then watching them carefully but doing nothing is probably your best bet.

[ChefConfit]

What dry foods do you feed? Every color enhancing flake I've used has resulted in red poop because of the red flakes, I'd imagine any other red food like extreme krill flakes would also have the same effect. 

[Hobbit]

When my loaches eat a red cherry shrimp their poop is bright red. 😬 And my baby gouramis occasionally have red poop from eating bbs. Here’s a (somewhat terrible) picture of one of the gourami’s red poops. It’s sitting on glass so there’s a reflection. Does yours look anything like this?

Edited December 19, 2020 by Hobbit

[Joshua14]

Thank you everyone. Unfortunately my work schedule is insane during the holidays. I've looked very carefully for red feces as much as I can. I haven't seen anything. I don't believe I've fed anything that could cause their feces to look as red as what I witnessed. So I'm being hopeful in that regard.

As far as the flukes go I've started a treatment of prazipro and in 24 hours they look so much better than they have in a few weeks.