Is my lyretail going to die?

[CyberGuy]

Today I noticed that my female lyretail has a strange long white string protruding out of her anus.

She has not been eating for 3 days and before that she was able to eat frozen mysis o.k. for 3 days. I have her for about 1 week already.

Is this some kind of disease? Is she going to die soon?

She stills swim well but often hides in little nooks. There are no aggressive fish in the tank. All I have are 4 lyretail anthias (1 purple male and 3 females).

[CyberGuy]

The people at the fish forum told me to post here because they think that my fish has a case of worm infection. What do I need to do to treat it?

[bchristie]

That is correct, trailing fecal cast is often most likely a symptom of an internal parasite infection. One of the most common side effects of a severe gastroinstestinal parasite load is the fish becoming anorectic. Don't panic just becasue it hasn't eaten for a couple days if it is still swimming with a normal posture and responsive. If possible try and move the specimen to a quarantine tank, and obtain a parasite medication that contains praziquantel and treat as per the manufacturer's directions. If the specimen shows any erratic swimming behaviour or lethargy during or after treatment, you may also want to consider an antibiotic treatment to combat any secondary bacterial infections.

[frugalreef]

Barrett Christie, nice!!!! not to many people know about prazi.