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Apprearance of pregant Cichlid??

23 14:37:01

Question
Ron, I have a cichlid that looks unusally different today in it's "pivate" area..is healthy, has been eating, and this evening, looks like something unusual is coming out of it. There has been some white streaking of some sort coming out. Scales, color, etc, all looks fine. I have never had a fish lay eggs. There are a total of 6 cichlids in our 75 gallon tank as well. The fish has been swimming back and forth a lot and now, I have noticed a couple of the others following. They are not fighing though...any thoughts? Thanks for responding!!!

Answer
Hi Tonya,
 Hmmm... if it is a long white stringy feces, that is a bad sign.. It indicates that the fish has internal parasites.

 Eggs don't look like that.  Eggs look like tiny chicken-egg shaped blobs which are often close to transparent or sometimes a little orangish.  They are never stringy.

 If your fish does have stringy feces, you need to treat for Hexamita and do lots of water changes.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>