Baby swordtails stringy poo !

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jacksdad
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Something I've noticed over the last few days. Some of the baby Swordtails have really long, brown strings of poo :cry:
They are all acting normally, and feeding as much as the others, I think they may be constipated. one of the youngsters has a trail of 'string' that's 3 times as long as its entire body, not pale or anything that might be classed as abnormal, hence my idea that they are having problems with what I'm feeding them: what do young swords need to eat? I give them a mix of flake, algae pellets, catfish pellets and frozen bloodworm, cyclops daphnia and mozzy larvae, they will eat anything I put in the tank!
Should I leave feeding for a day or two, or try fresh veg or garlic? :-/
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Gingerlove05
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They will eat a lot as babies (they need the energy to grow :D) and if they’re passing waste they’re not constipated :)
I have had quite a few fry and adult platy and swordtails with long poop, as long as it looks normal (the same colour as the food they eat basically) they should be fine :)
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jacksdad
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That's a relief, no pun intended!
The strings are normal as far as poo strings go I think, normal colour etc. and the fish are acting normally, as you say, babies just eat, sleep and poo :)
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jacksdad
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Today I saw the pregnant sword had a huge white poo string :(
Pure white like a 3 inch long fine thread, first time I've seen a white one! She's active and eating as much as she can grab, perfectly active, so whats the best thing to do next? I added a dose of Paraguard this afternoon, but not sure if its a parasite problem: thought it would help the fish if it is a parasite, better to treat them before anything gets worse.
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plankton
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I'd just feed garlic as a precaution rather than use meds. ;)
It does give them white poo as a rule though.....as it's white.
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Ric
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jacksdad wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2019 19:55 pm Today I saw the pregnant sword had a huge white poo string :(
Pure white like a 3 inch long fine thread, first time I've seen a white one! She's active and eating as much as she can grab, perfectly active, so whats the best thing to do next? I added a dose of Paraguard this afternoon, but not sure if its a parasite problem: thought it would help the fish if it is a parasite, better to treat them before anything gets worse.
Sometimes I noticed with female swords and also platties that their poo turned white shortly before they were about to give birth. Is it possible she is due to deliver her fry?
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jacksdad
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She is ready to have more babies, she's huge again! She still appears to be fit and well, and eating as much as possible, I'll keep a lookout for more babies then :)
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jacksdad
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Well she's had more babies! Last night, don't know how many, she's half the size of yesterday but still big: I'm sure she's been giving birth every few weeks as the fry are at several stages of growth.
I have spotted 2 brand new babies, they are tiny and clear/no colouring. I've got some that are the same just bigger, then light orange ones, then lots of the first batch, which are about an inch long now. :)
She's also chasing the male right now...think she's annoyed with him!
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Jon_D
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Lucky lad, getting sopme baby fry. I think any which are dropped in my tank, especially by my 2 rather large lady Corys , just get served as fresh food for the rest.
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jacksdad
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My tanks are heavily planted, I like the 'full' look, the Platy fry hide in a large clump of Java Moss, and in one big dense plant: what variety please?

I find a small number of newborn fry every couple of weeks or so, I've got about 30 or 40 now, the first batch are ready to go if anybody wants some, Oldham OL9 :)

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