Callamanus And Ick

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 22 gallons/~75L
How long has the tank been running? 8 weeks
Does it have a filter? Yes, Aqueon Quietflow 20 w/ extra filter media and API biochem stars.
Does it have a heater? Yes, preset Aqueon 100W heater. Going to buy adjustable heater today.
What is the water temperature? 76-78 degrees Fahrenheit.
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 10 Amano Shrimp, 8 Neon Tetras, 3 Male Guppies, 2 Bamboo Shrimp, 2 Male Endler Live-bearers, 2 Nerite Snails, 2 Male Platies

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? At least once a week
How much of the water do you change? 25-30%
What do you use to treat your water? Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Vacuum the substrate and change water.

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Partially, I had a minI cycle when adding some of the fish because I added too many at once. Corrected within a week but might have been the cause of ick.
What do you use to test the water? API Liquid Test kit for Ammonia and Nitrate, API Test Strips for PH and Nitrite.
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm
pH: 6.5-7

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 2 times a day
How much do you feed your fish? Enough for them to eat in 30 seconds or so
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Aqueon Tropical Flakes, HikarI Freeze-dried bloodworms, tubifex, and brine shrimp
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Freeze dried bloodworms, tubifex, and brine shrimp 2-3 times a week

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 4 weeks
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? I noticed ick on Thursday April 18th. I diagnosed Callamanus worms in one of my guppies then too, but he had been struggling with something for a while that I thought was just due to the minI cycle.
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? White dots on fins of one of the endlers and on some of the fins of the tetras and all over one of my platies. Little red spindly legs/worms protruding from swollen anus of my guppy when he is more still; swollen stomach and decreased appetite.
Have you started any treatment for the illness? I started dosing with Artemiss Microbe-Lift once a day for the ick. Have not dosed today yet.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? The platy with a lot of the white spots is hiding more. The guppy with worms is being lethargic, not swimming around the tank a lot. His colors have paled and he has a swollen anus with a slightly swollen stomach.

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now) I added floating plants a little over a week ago and I noticed a pest snail as well. I do not have a quarantine tank, however I am seriously considering getting one in the near future after these unfortunate occurrences. I added 4-5 fish at a time each week after cycling my tank, and did not quarantine. The last time I added critters though I added 8, which caused my tank to go into a minI cycle. My guppy has been struggling with what I now believe to be Callamanus for 2 weeks. I would LOVE your advice on how to tackle these simultaneous issues with my invertebrates in mind! Thanks so much in advance!

 

Can you put the shrimp and snails anywhere else?

 

I could maybe transport them to a friend of mine's tank or see if my LFS can house them for a bit. If not I'm just going to have to go ahead and treat with them in it and count my losses.

 

Safest thing would be Epsom or aquarium salt

 

Safest thing would be Epsom or aquarium salt

To treat both callamanus and ick?

 

It might help the callamanus a bit, but it'll definitely solve the ick. Levimasole will definitely take care of the worms...but it'll almost guarantee the death of all your inverts

 

It might help the callamanus a bit, but it'll definitely solve the ick. Levimasole will definitely take care of the worms...but it'll almost guarantee the death of all your inverts

Okay! So would you treat them both at the same time, or one before the other. If the latter, which would you treat first?

 

Well the callamanus is worse than ick is so I think it'd be best to get that first. Then take care of the ick
Whitewolf do you agree?

 

Absolutely, if one has camallanus then they are likely to all be affected. Need to use levimasole since praziquantel dosent work any longer due to tolernance

 

Absolutely, if one has camallanus then they are likely to all be affected. Need to use levimasole since praziquantel dosent work any longer due to tolernance

nikm128 Okay, great. Thanks so much for the help, really appreciate it.

 

Guppies and other fish are also prone to flukes, which can also be killed by levimasole So it kills worms (trematodes) that attack the outside skin, the gills, and internally.

 

I used Levamisole in a tank with snails and bamboo shrimp. None of them died.

 

I used Levamisole in a tank with snails and bamboo shrimp. None of them died.

That's impressive seeing as it's not invert safe. Love the vote of confidence though!

 

That's impressive seeing as it's not invert safe. Love the vote of confidence though!

Where have you read that it isn't invert safe? I have seen people on shrimp forums advocating using it to treat illnesses in shrimp.

Here is a link to an article from Loaches Online that says it does not harm inverts.

 

Is it possible we're talking about different forms of the same med? Whitewolf says it's not invert safe and I had to remove my snails to use it https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/sick-discus-please-help.394039/ First page, post 8,9, and 10.
And just to be sure we're looking at the same thing:

 

I've used it with mud snails and ghost shrimp as well, and both survived.

 

Yup, it's the same thing. Levamisole is the name of the drug, not a brand. I have never read a reliable source that has said it is not safe for inverts, and in personal experience it did not harm mine.

 

Almost everything I’ve seen has said levamisole is safe for invertebrates, but you all definitely know more than me. I don’t have an option right now to isolate my shrimp and snails, so luckily I bought all hardy and cheap critters my first time around!

 

Almost everything I’ve seen has said levamisole is safe for invertebrates, but you all definitely know more than me. I don’t have an option right now to isolate my shrimp and snails, so luckily I bought all hardy and cheap critters my first time around!

They should be fine. Out of curiosity, where are you getting your Levamisole from?

 

They should be fine. Out of curiosity, where are you getting your Levamisole from?

Subaquaria. I read that I shouldn’t trust their dosing guidelines. Should I just go by the sticky dosing guidelines on here?

 

Subaquaria. I read that I shouldn’t trust their dosing guidelines. Should I just go by the sticky dosing guidelines on here?

Yes, you are way ahead of me! That is exactly what I was going to say.