jgon_

Ugh. My fears have come true. The worms that killed my first betta month or so go have popped up in my main tank. I see one of my rainbows looking a bit thin with those dreaded pink threads hanging out of her bum.

I'm looking to start treatment ASAP. I read through the stickied thread but am looking for any input possible. I tried getting Levamisole through the Marine Disease Lab on campus but no luck.

Anyone have any luck with Panacur (Fenbendazole)?

Lucy

That about says it all, doesn't it?
I'm really sorry you have to deal with it. Maybe there's something in this link that will help you:
My experience with Camallanus worms

jgon_

I read through the thread but it just kind of dies off with no updates and the methods used didn't seem to do much.

Alessa

because the person in the thread was in canada and could not get the medicine there, but I know the medicine they mention is available in the US...

I just wish I could find the name... gotta check the thread again.

jgon_

Actually, could a mod go ahead and delete this thread? I was just kind of in freak-out mode last night and this doesn't really warrent its own thread. Thanks.

Fishies-for-me

From my own experience I have not found levimiosole easy to find. I did however cure a guppy of these darn worms with jungle labs medicated anti parasite food. Only prob is that it tastes bad to the fish and you have a hard time getting them to eat it. Guppies are pigs and will eat anything. I did not follow instructions either I fed it as a straight diet for a month instead of 3 days meds and 4 days regular food. When I did thay the would not eat the meds ...just held out for regular food.

cerianthus

I read that Levamisole avail as sheep dewormer under Levasole. Fenbendazole and Flubendazole, probably from Vet. Levamisole and Flubendazole can be absorbed from water as effectively against round worms such as Camallanus.

pinkfloydpuffer

Last I heard Allie had some Levisamol coming to her. Her poor angels are real troopers.

jgon_

yeah...Levamisole is proving diffucult to find. Being in a somewhat urban/suburban/college town area...not many feed or agriculturual stores. The ones I have tried do not have it and the ones I found online are back ordered or unavailable.

jgon_

***IMPORTANT****

After much struggles trying to find Levasole I have found out Levasole (brand name for Levamisole HCl) is OFF THE MARKET. It is in trial for treatment for Stage III Colon Cancer in humans and is not being produced commercially anymore. Levamisole phosphate injectable is available, but its pretty pricey.

However, I have been able to find a source of Levasole through a killfish breeder at http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/


Heres to hoping no one else has to deal with this infection...

jgon_

Guess I'll use this thread as my own log.

Just got the meds today and treated my tanks. Hopefully I should see results within a few days.
*crosses fingers*

pinkfloydpuffer

Good luck jgon... that stuff is nasty

jgon_

I used it on my puff's tank as well so hopefully this will deworm him thoroughly too.

pinkfloydpuffer

I think it should

jgon_

*UPDATE*
I went home saturday and came back today and here's the report.

The rainbowfish are WORM FREE! Amazing, and they are gobbling up food like there's no tomorrow. Hopefully I can fatten them up again. Unfortunatly, they weren't crazy about the peas I gave them so they got some flakes too.

BAD NEWS THOUGH:
Came home to find my puffer just slowly cruising the bottom with a gray belly. His body is also really concave so it looks like he expelled whatever worms that were in there.
I did an emergency 75% water change.
He's looking much better now; swimming all about and not looking as grey. He didn't accept any food so I threw some snails in the tank for when he's ready.

I knew puffers are sensitive to meds, but Levasole has been used on ottos and loaches who are just as sensitive, if not more. And Levasole is very nematode-specific in its toxicity, so there shouldn't have been a problem. Nevertheless, in the future, I would recomend using only a half-dose with a puffer.

pinkfloydpuffer

Yay, I'm so glad the worms are gone!

Thanks for letting us know about that, it's good to know.

edmlfc

I have a fahaka puffer with these worms. I just started her treatment yesterday. I was able to find levamisole hydrochloride, I mixed it in a cup of water and added 1/4 cup to the tank every 30 minutes. So far she has seemed to handle it well. It has now been 24 hours. Do I understand right that you saw improvement in one day? Do you have more than one tank? I've decided to treat all my tanks, since I don't know for sure if they are infected.
I was also trying to find information about saltwater. I also have a saltwater tank and I'm worried that this will pass to them. I was told this worm can go dormant on dry equipment and that I should boil all of my nets and anything else I use on my tanks. Have you heard this?

pinkfloydpuffer

Hey edmflc, it's good to see you here.

jgon_

Hi, edmflc!

I wasn't positive my puff had these worms in paticular but it seemed like a safe measure to take to deworm him. I have other thanks that are affected, and have most likely cross contaminated my puffer's tank too. The dormant stage on dry equipment seems plausible since I'm guessing how this worm jumped tanks on me.

The improvement was definetly within or after the first day (I wasn't home at the time). My rainbowfish who clearly had worms sticking out of her butt had no live worms visible. I fed her some peas and she's been pooping out dead worms all day. Amazing how many of those were in there, she's about half her size now and she had already wasted from the worms, so she's REALLY thin now. The poor fish is definetly in a fragile state but she is eating so hopefully she can bulk up soon.
I plan on doing a 80-100% water change tomorrow (no time today) and will retreat again in about two weeks.
All of the tank inhabitants seem to be acting normal, even the ottos, so its a safe medication. My betta is as feisty as ever, so betta-safe too.

My puffer's belly was nice and white this morning. Lost so much sleep thinking about him last night since he didn't look at all well. Sadly, he's still refusing food, even with the help of garlic. So even though his belly is concave, its white and he's buzzing around quite fast as usual. Just need him to eat, argh!!!!

EDIT: I'm not sure how to adivse on dosing. I ordered my Levasole from here and used his dosing instructions.
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/
One thing I've read thats pretty consistant is leave the meds in the water for min. 36 hours, then preform a very large water change.

edmlfc

Thanks,
I'm trying to get as much information as I can about these crazy worms. I just posted an update on the puffer forum. It looks like they are dying! And she's eating like a pig! I just want to know how other's have handled it and if they stayed gone.

edmlfc

jgon, that's the same place I ordered mine. I got the 5g packets, one 5g packet treats 100g of water. Charles Harrison, who wrote the article I found also sells the meds, the same place we got it from. He has been so helpful, answering all my questions through email and I've been sending update pictures to see if this is right. So far all is good. I truely hope we both have great success in this matter. I did hear that the worms/larve can go dormant for an unknown amount of time and as soon as it hit's water it will become live and infect the tank. You will need to boil all nets and anything that you put in the tank. Especially if you use them from tank to tank. Now would be a good time to do it. This is what I plan also. After the first treatment boil everything, nets python, scrubbers, everything. Then wait until the second treatment is over and boil again. I want to make sure this is over! I don't want to go through this again. Hope this helps you also. Here are some pictures of my Annabelle:
Picture updates.

I caught Annabelle to get a picture of the progress. She was "MAD" but I got the picture.

Taken Feb. 9, 2009



Taken Feb. 10, 2009



Taken Feb. 17, 2009.



Taken Feb. 23, 2009



I know I'm probally asking for a mircle here but it looks like they have really thinned out.

Just a little closer inspection, I think they are turning white. From what I have read that's a good sign! That means they are dying!



48 Hour update, She ate like a pig and was begging for more! I soaked her food in vitamins and added beta glucan to it also. Beta glucan is suppose to boost the immune system so that she can fight off all the nasties.

jgon_

Great photo-documentation!
So following treatment has your puffer readily been accepting food?
My puffe is looking nice and healthy since the scare I had the other day, but he has not eaten anything which worries me.

pinkfloydpuffer

Yay Annabelle! She's been through alot, poor girl.
Now we just need the Captain to start eating

edmlfc

She has never stopped eating. Even with the treatment, she refused food for one night but the next morning she was begging again.

There was a time about a month back when she didn't eat for about 3 weeks. I started to get really worried about her. I purchased some finquel, knocked her out and tube fed her. I only had to do it once, after the first tube feeding she slowly started to eat on her own. Within a week she was my little piglet again. Puffer's can go a very long time without food. I wouldn't worry until you start knocking on the 3 week mark. It may be that he's had so many worms it's giving him a tummy ache. Is he alone in the tank? You could try adding epsom salt to help him go potty. You need to get those worms out of him or he may end up with a secondary infection. Epsom salt works really well, I don't know if you have ever used it before but it's totally safe. I added a 1/2 dose to Annabelle's tank today to help her on her way. I haven't see her go potty yet so I might add another 1/2 dose tonight. But she could have gone when I wasn't looking.

jgon_

My puff's (F8) belly looks pretty caved in and he hasn't eaten since Friday. I just added some live blackworms to his tank, but he has so far refused to acknowledge them. Hopefully some of them will be gone by later on tonight.

Also just did a 90% water change on my main tank and gave them worms as well. After two days of peas and lots of pooing, they were hungry. Everyone looks mighty full right now which is great!

jgon_

update


He's eating! He was thin when I woke up and I kind of sighed. Suddenly he starts picking off every snail on the glass and nom nom'ed any worms that were still on the bottom!

edmlfc

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!: ;banaman



I'm sooooooooo happy for him!

edmlfc

Let me re-phrase that boil everything note.

Get a large pot, bring the water to a boil, dip your equipment in the boiling water. Turn it over and dip the other side as well. For a pyton, dip the intake in the boiling water, then dip the faucet adapter in the boiling water, attach the python to the faucet start to syphon water out of the pot of boiling water. Get the syphon started then pull it out, let the boiling water travel through the hose, repeat twice.

I wanted to update because I goofed. I wasn't sure how long to boil everything, it was only a minute and the plastic had started to get soft, one item melted. Of course I couldn't hold anything because it was too hot. I don't want you to make the same mistake I did.
Hope this helps you. I'm not planning to use any nets or other equipment until I'm sure this worm thing is truely over. I just wanted to get everything sterilized for emergency use. The only thing I plan to use again is the python but it was pretty easy to clean using my method above.

jgon_

Sounds good! Though I'm still a little hesitent as heating up any plastic can leech all sorts of nasties out.

pinkfloydpuffer

Yay! I'm so glad he ate!