55 Gallon Tank How long do camallanus worms live without a host?

I posted here a few times about a camallanus outbreak in my qt tank. It started around mid November and I lost fish until around December 9 or so, when I tried 8x the normal dose of levamisole + fenbendazole fish food, and repeated the fenbendazole over the next 3-4 weeks. I haven't seen the camallanus worms since about the time I dosed originally, the one barb who was affected hasn't shown worms since and has kept its weight up.
Anyway, I think I'm finally past the infection, but I'll be watching my fish for another 2-ish weeks to ensure they're gone. The silent victims of this whole thing are my snails, I had 12 nerites in the qt tank, and one cherry shrimp (a hitchhilker on a plant) and had to move them into another tank so they didn't die from fenbendazole. They've been in this invert only tank since December 9. How long do camallanus worms live without a fish host and how long should I wait further to ensure the worms are dead? I am planning tentatively to add them Jan 22.

 

They can't live without a host for very long. The only issue is that they're very good at finding hosts if they're alive.

I find levamisole extremely effective if you have another outbreak. It is gentle on nerites and kills the worms. It can take up to a week for the fish to pass all the worms inside of them. It's also fun because it affects the harmless worms that live on plants. If you've got floating plants, they rain down from the heavens, and the fish have a feeding frenzy.

In all seriousness, levamisole is a one-stop-shop, in my opinion. When I used it, it was the only thing I used. I only lost one fish because it took a while for the meds to get to me, so I had to euthanize her before I could even attempt to save her. Everyone else - shrimp, snails, and fry included- had zero troubles. Now I use it with all my QT'ed fish, whether they show signs of parasites or not, because it's so gentle but so effective.

 

They can't live without a host for very long. The only issue is that they're very good at finding hosts if they're alive.

I find levamisole extremely effective if you have another outbreak. It is gentle on nerites and kills the worms. It can take up to a week for the fish to pass all the worms inside of them. It's also fun because it affects the harmless worms that live on plants. If you've got floating plants, they rain down from the heavens, and the fish have a feeding frenzy.

In all seriousness, levamisole is a one-stop-shop, in my opinion. When I used it, it was the only thing I used. I only lost one fish because it took a while for the meds to get to me, so I had to euthanize her before I could even attempt to save her. Everyone else - shrimp, snails, and fry included- had zero troubles. Now I use it with all my QT'ed fish, whether they show signs of parasites or not, because it's so gentle but so effective.

The levamisole definitely didn't work, the worms would turn clear for a bit then in a few days they'd be dark red again, it was only when I drastically increased the dose and/or used another drug that anything worked. I just assumed they were resistant to levamisole since it's so widely used.
I want to ensure they're all dead before I put fish/snails into my 55, I don't want to go through deworming again.
EDIT: I dosed levamisole, lights off for 3 days, did water change w/ gravel vac after 3 days, no filter carbon. I did not see a single worm drop from any fish.

 

The levamisole definitely didn't work, the worms would turn clear for a bit then in a few days they'd be dark red again, it was only when I drastically increased the dose and/or used another drug that anything worked. I just assumed they were resistant to levamisole since it's so widely used.
I want to ensure they're all dead before I put fish/snails into my 55, I don't want to go through deworming again.
EDIT: I dosed levamisole, lights off for 3 days, did water change w/ gravel vac after 3 days, no filter carbon. I did not see a single worm drop from any fish.

Sorry, I missed the levamisole note in all the med names. If you still have some, though, I'd try it on the snails and keep them QT'ed for 3 more weeks (dose the levamisole and then dose again after 3 weeks. You can remove them 24 hours after the second dose, I believe, but I haven't had to read the instructions in a few months).

 

Sorry, I missed the levamisole note in all the med names. If you still have some, though, I'd try it on the snails and keep them QT'ed for 3 more weeks (dose the levamisole and then dose again after 3 weeks. You can remove them 24 hours after the second dose, I believe, but I haven't had to read the instructions in a few months).

The snails have been through 3 levamisole treatments thus far, 15 ppm, 75 ppm, and 120 ppm. Only the last one (about a gram in my 10 g qt tank) may have killed anything and all that dosage testing exhausted my supply. I fear that dosing levamisole won't do anything anyway.

 

They're probably all right. I can't imagine the worms surviving all that, if the snails were carrying any at all.