Minnow

I posted the other day that my guppy was thin, pale, and hiding at the bottom. He has been weakening all day long, and I just took a closer look, and what I thought was poo is actually three thin, red worms! It matches up with all the descriptions and pictures of camallanus I have seen. Right now he is in a plastic container floating in the tank to stay warm. I don't want the rest of the tank to get infected. Is it already too late?

It's a good thing the angels and the dwarf gourami are still in the QT. I think
my guppy is already beyond helping (I think he will be dead by morning), but what can I do to keep my tetras safe?

agabr123

here's a thread on someone that was able to treat camallanus worms
http://www.guppies.com/forums/showth...ent-12696.html


here are instructions from another site (i think it's the same article actually)
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamellanusTreatment.pdf

1. Add 1.5 milliliter per 7.5 liter of 7.5% Levacide (levamisole hydrochloride) to each tanks to be treated. Mix the drug in a liter of water before pouring over the tank surface. If you obtain another strength of the drug (e.g. 1.5%, 3%) then just adjust dosage as required. For 1.5% add 1 ml in 1.5l of tank water.
2. After 24 hours perform 100% (as much as possible) water change whilst vacuuming the gravel. The water change is not required due to toxicity but to remove the possibility of any offspring in the gravel.
3. No further treatments should be necessary.

this is another site that lists a few other meds that can be used
http://www.fish-disease.net/diseases/camallanus.php

i've never had to treat camallanus worms so i have no idea if these will work, but it's worth a try

EDIT: I saw another thread that says that the levamisole works

jgon_

Get some Levasole ASAP!
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/

I hate hate hate this worm, but this drug has managed to clear my fish of them in a day. Amazing stuff.

Minnow

Thanks! My guppy is dead this morning. How long do I have to find this medicine until the rest of my fish are infected? Does it work on fish that already have the worm? And should I use it on all my tanks as a precaution?

agabr123

i'm sorry you lost your guppy

i would see if you can get it today, chances are your other fish are either infected or will become infected soon. was your guppy ever in any of your other tanks? how long have you had him? did you buy other fish from the same store around the same time?

jgon_

From the time I noticed worms in my first betta he was dead in a week. My rainbowfish lasted a few weeks before I could get the medicine and they are now worm free.

If you are seeing worms pop out, that means the worm had to travel all the way through you fish's digestive track, so its pretty late-stage. But if you had one fish infected, good chance ALL of your fish are infected to some degree. So it's best you treat your tank anyway.

Minnow

I got all of the fish in that tank in late September from PetCo. My dad's mollies were bought the same day. The other fish in his tank were bought a week or so before that, from the same store. Alpha is from a different PetCo, and the fish in quarantine are rescues and weren't bought from the store.

I'm staying home from school today to sterilize my equipment with bleach and do a huge water change. I'll see if I can get that medicine. If I buy from that link you put up, how soon will it get here? Which size should I buy?

Edit: Should I worry about my other tanks? I want to get through this with as few losses as possible, so I will treat my other tanks if I need to.

jgon_

I bought two 5 gram packets (each one treats 100 gallons) + shipping, came to $20. He sends priority so it arrived within the week.

And if you use the same equipment for your tanks (bucket, hose, nets etc...) then I'd treat them all.

Minnow

I have different vacuums and nets, but sometimes I get them mixed up. I found a local feed store that carries it, we're going out there to buy some. It's only 3 dollars per pill, and I'll be able to treat all my tanks Better safe than sorry!

agabr123

that's great, i'm glad you were able to find it! good luck treating them, and i'd definitely either boil or bleach everything that you have for all of your tanks. i try to keep everything separate but i get confused somtimes as well

jgon_

Good luck! Be sure you know the concentration of the pill so you can work out the proper dosage.

Minnow

I guess I should have thought of that before. I'm back home, and I have the pill, but I don't know the concentration. It says PM|560 on the pill, but that doesn't really tell me anything. I suppose I could call the store and ask?

Update: Well, the store didn't know. Now what do I do? I have the medicine, but I don't know the concentration, so I don't know how much to give. I read that it's okay to overdose some, but I want to make sure I give them enough.

Minnow

I found the concentration. Apparently the pill has .184 grams of activity. How much water will it treat? I don't think I have enough for all of my tanks.

Nevermind, I did the math. If 5 grams treats 100 gallons, then .184 grams treats approximately 37 gallons. I suppose I will just treat the 30g where the guppy was and save the remainder.

Minnow

I want to treat as many of my tanks as possible. I was wondering if I could get more out of the pill by draining some water out of the tanks? If I took out half the water from the 10gs and a third of the water from the 30g, I could treat all three of them. I won't be able to treat the other 30g, I'm hoping things will be alright in there. The feed store where we found the pills is quite a drive, and my parents aren't willing to go out there again.

If my plan works, the tanks would only be half or two thirds full for a day, since when I do the big water change, I will fill the tank again. Sound good?

agabr123

i don't see any problem with doing that, and if it helps keep your fish healthy then it's worth it

jgon_

From http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/Camallanu...sTreatment.pdf

"The pills weighed 3000 mg each. The activity of each was stated
at 185 mg per pill. This didn’t sound very logical, but I went on this assumption for dosage in my tanks.
One and a half pill per 4 gallons of water. You couldn’t see through the tank! Egad, What a mess."

Minnow

Later on it says that 5 grams treat 100 gallons. This is what I am basing my dosage off of. I decided to treat all of my tanks by moving fish around sooner than I planned. I switched the tetras in the 30gs and moved the angels and gourami out of quarantine. This way, I can treat the 30gs half full, and remove 3 gallons from Alpha's tank, and all the fish will get treatment.

Minnow

I'm sooo stupid! I did the math wrong, I multiplied by 1,000 instead of 100. The pill only treats 3.7 gallons, you're right! There's no way I can treat all the fish with it, and now I've switched the tetras, which guarantees that both 30gs are infected, along with the angels and gourami. I've really messed this up, haven't I? Now I need to go and get, oh, 9 more pills. My mom will be so mad!

Minnow

I ground up the pill and put it in the 30g where the glowlights and neons are. I figure it's better than nothing. My mom doesn't want to drive all the way out there, but she will if any of the fish start showing symptoms. I'm going to do big water changes tonight and vacuum the gravel really well, hopefully that will help.

Minnow

Okay. I got out to the store again today and bought 10 pills. If each pill treats 3.7 gallons, then I have enough for 37 gallons. I can take 15 gallons out of both of the 30gs and 3 gallons out of the 10g, and I will have enough meds to go around.

The problem is, on the 30gs, the intake tube doesn't go far enough for me to run the filters with only half the water. I will have to turn them off for a day until I can do a water change and fill the tanks up again. Will the medicine still work without a filter? Will the fish be okay with it? I don't have any airstones, so they would be without any bubbles or current whatsoever.

I would put the filter media in the tank with the fish so the bacteria won't die. Is there anything else I need to do?

agabr123

it will be okay without a filter for just a day as long as you do a water change tomorrow and leave the media in the tank to keep it wet

Minnow

Okay, thanks I'll be doing close to 100% water changes the next day, so no worries there.