Internal Parasite: Fish & Cycled Tank Treatment?

[JessSH]

Hi. I'm pretty sure Siren, one of my girls, has an internal parasite. It's not listed as a symptom on the treatment page, but white poop is a sign of a parasite right, rather than bacterial? If so, I think I caught it early & I know how to treat her so I'm not worried about that. My concern is she is in a cycled 10 gal with Amazon. A's been doing great, no problem so far, but should I go ahead & treat her too just in case? And what about the tank? The Fish Disease & Treatment page said I could drain 3/4 of the tank, but I want to make sure I get this thing out the first time. The very last thing I want to do right now is clean & re-cycle the thing (I'm trying to recover from that awful flu), but I'm thinking it's better to be safe than sorry.

Is there something I can do to be 100% sure that I can get it out without completely draining or is that my best option? I've never had to clean all my tank equipment & decor (other than the initial clean), what's the best way to do that? Plus, is there an easy, short way to clean a tank? When I got a tank from a friend, I spent over a week obsessively cleaning it even though I was positive her fish died because of her lack of knowledge rather than illness. The first 2 times I did a bleach/water mix, rinsing well, drying in the sun. Then after than I did that again with plain water only probably at least 6-7 times to make sure the bleach was completely gone. I doubt I'll be able to do that for another week at least. I'd appreciate any advice/opinions!

[callistra]

It can be a sign of either bacterial or parasites either, but it is one or the other.

By white do you mean looks like normal betta poop but white? Or more clear/mucasy white?

How is she acting? Photos and/or a video would be helpful.

More info might help determine which would be more likely: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

[JessSH]

Oops, sorry! I know better. No photo of poop & she looks totally normal except she's a little thinner than she has been.

Housing
What size is your tank? Divided 10 gal
What temperature is your tank? 78
Does your tank have a filter? yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? One female betta

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Omega One
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 pellets twice a day, fast Sat

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: Not sure, 20? (I think, can’t get to my log to check)
pH: 7.6
Hardness: N/A
Alkalinity: N/A

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? She’s gotten skinnier. Today I noticed her poop is mostly white with a slight light brown tinge sometimes. It looks normal other than the color. I haven’t noticed that before today.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? She’s always been a very curious, energetic, hilarious little ham & loves to jump if I don’t feed her quickly enough (they get 1 pellet at a time to prevent overfeeding). Now she’s not swimming as much, hasn’t jumped at all & is slower eating her food rather than pigging out. I noticed she’s also spitting the pellets out sometimes, but she always chases them down & will eat them. I’ve tried other food just in case & she stills spits them out, but won't chase them down so I don't think she's being picky about the Omega One.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? I noticed she seemed to be getting thinner a couple weeks ago & have kept an eye on it. Behavior change has been within the past 4 or 5 days, but I’ve been really sick with the flu & couldn’t do anything until now.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Not yet
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? Close to a year maybe? Definitely not fully grown, but she’s grown quite a bit since I got her last July.

[callistra]

Does sound like most likely internal parasites because of the weight loss, though there's no guarantee.

I would treat this by feeding a medicated pellet.

Look for metronidazole and focus by Seachem (two different meds). You can use Omega One, but I would get a good soaking pellet (which basically means lots of wheat). You can also optionally get Garlic Guard or Vitachem to help boost the immune system and also garlic guard has natural deworming properties as well. Take one level scoop each of the metro and focus into a little cup/dish of some kind, along with some liquid of choice - garlic guard, vitachem or just conditioned water. Mix it up and get it to dissolve as best you can. Then take the pellets and soak them in the mixture for 10 minutes. You then feed two twice a day for a minimum of 3 weeks and at least 1 full week past when you see no more symptoms.. up to 4 weeks may be needed. The mixture also needs to be done at minimum once weekly. The mixture can be covered, refrigerated, then pulled out, brought to room temp and reused for evening pellets but it must be tossed after that and redone the next morning. Personally, I would mix it up fresh twice daily.

This will clear up most forms of internal parasites and bacterial infections.