Camallanus Worms Help Help

So I have a 20 gallon aquarium with mostly mollies and guppies in it and they all have camallanus worms. I ordered Fenbendazole from amazon (which was quite expensize and I don't want to have to again) and I'm waiting for that to arrive. (I know it's not as good as levamisole but i'm in canada where levamisole is illegal. It's 3 packets with two grams in each packet.) I have a golden dojo loach that I'm very attached to in a 30 gallon tank that used to be my community tank. He was in contact with the other fish up until about a month ago when there was an ick outbreak so I moved everyone to the 20 gallon tank so I would use less medicine. I then found out because he's scaleless the medicine was harming him. But his ick had cleared up so I compleatly sterilized the 30 gallon and moved him back. He's been doing great since. I think the mollies had camallanus worms when they were living in the 30 gallon but I didn't really know what camallanus worms were until I moved them to my 20 gallon and it got more serious. I really don't think he's infected but one of the infected mollies had some fry in the 20 gallon a while ago and I sort of panicked and moved them in a baby box to the loach's tank so they wouldn't get infected. (The box has little holes in the bottom so they are sharing the same water. Also I tried to make it so no water from the 20 gallon entered the 30 gallon when I moved the babies in but I think a little might have.) I'm now reading that fry born to infected mothers can also be infected but I won't have enough medicine (when it arrives) to treat the 30 gallon and 20 gallon. I just need to know if the fry are infected and if they've infected the loach and all the water in the 30 gallon. Also if anyone has had experience treating a tank with fenbendazole if you could share your method that would be appreciated.

 

At this point you will have to assume that every tank that has shared water, fish, nets, equipment with the infected tank is also infected. That is one reason why many people use separate nets and other equipment for each tank they own and are very careful when bringing in new fish and moving fish between tanks.
As for treatment, follow the directions exactly as they are given with the product. Camellanus worms are tough to get rid of and it doesn't help that people are making them even more resistant to meds by not following the directions that they come with. If you do not have enough product to completely treat both tanks then do not split it between the two! You will have to order more for the other tank. Not doing a complete treatment risks allowing a few resistant worms to survive and then make treating the second time even harder! Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice for treating. What if when I treat my 20 gallon I move my loach into it? How long will the worms be left in the 30 gallon without a host?

 

Thanks for the advice for treating. What if when I treat my 20 gallon I move my loach into it? How long will the worms be left in the 30 gallon without a host?

Are there other fish besides the loach in the 30gal? If not then I would recommend that you move the loach into the 20gal and treat that and completely tear down the 30gal and dry and sterilize everything before setting it back up again. Camallanus worms are notoriously hard to get rid of and have a bad habit of popping back up when you think you killed them all.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm thinking of getting rid of my 20 gallon all together and just moving all the fish to the 30 gallon for treating. Now I just need to know if the best way to treat them is in the water or the food.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm thinking of getting rid of my 20 gallon all together and just moving all the fish to the 30 gallon for treating. Now I just need to know if the best way to treat them is in the water or the food.

Definitely best to just treat the water as long as you don't have any very sensitive species in the tank. The problem with medicated food is that most sick fish have little to no appetite and are less likely to eat something that is not familiar to them. That has been my experience with medicated food on the most part.

 

Ok thanks. What is your gram to gallon ratio?

 

Ok thanks. What is your gram to gallon ratio?

I do not remember as it has been quite a while since I had to deal with those worms. The product should come with dosing instructions. Follow those, as I imagine that concentration can vary by manufacturer. If there aren't any instructions then contact the seller.