Seeking Advice For Treating Camallanus Worm

[fishowner209]

Hello everyone,

First off, I have a 55 gallon tank with a couple large angels, a large albino bristlenose pleco, various cory carts, and a few platys and swordtails (I have some week old swordtail fry in a floating breeder as well). I noticed one of the swordtails had camallanus about two days ago, then I noticed it with one of the large angels this morning. The angel came from my brother's tank, and I highly suspect that's where It came from (In fact I'm almost sure of it). All fish in the tank are very active, and outside of noticing the small worm, they don't exhibit any abnormal behavior. All fish are breeding normally, and things seem fine. Anyways, I'll be treating the tank and wanted to know if my plan of action was viable, or if it would be overkill.

I purchased 25 grams of levamisole HCl, and it should be here in a few days time. It's in powder form obviously. I was also considering purchasing some Fenbendazole flake food on ebay to help knock this issue out. Would it be better to just wait and try the Levamisole on it's own before going with the food? With the research I've done of the two, it sounds like Levamisole is more effective in removing the parasite and apparently paralyzing it, and Fenbendazole is more effective in actually killing them.

I figured having one form of medication in the water, as well as pushing another medication through their digestive system would really help solve the issue, but again, I don't want to over do it. Thanks for any advice!

 

[bizaliz3]

I took care of mine with only levamisole. You need to make sure to do two additional treatments a couple weeks apart. Make sure to keep the tank dark for each full treatment. I covered mine with blankets. YOu also need to do lots and lots of vacuuming in between treatments. Because the meds don't kill eggs or larvae. So you want to try and get all of them sucked up before they get eaten and grow into more adult worms. But the 2nd and 3rd rounds of treatment also help that.

I found this to be the most helpful link.

https://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/levamisole-hydrochloride-1

 

[fishowner209]

I took care of mine with only levamisole. You need to make sure to do two additional treatments a couple weeks apart. Make sure to keep the tank dark for each full treatment. I covered mine with blankets. YOu also need to do lots and lots of vacuuming in between treatments. Because the meds don't kill eggs or larvae. So you want to try and get all of them sucked up before they get eaten and grow into more adult worms. But the 2nd and 3rd rounds of treatment also help that.

I found this to be the most helpful link.

https://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/levamisole-hydrochloride-1

Thanks for the response (I'll check out the link when I get home from work and have some time). I didn't see anything about covering the tank before you mentioned it, so that's good to know. I'm assuming it has something to do with making the worms more apt to poke their heads out and become exposed to the meds? Also, when you start the treatment and cover the tank, how long do you leave the tank covered and lights off for? Regardless, I also read that when treating them you should leave the medicated water for about 3 days, then do a water change, repeating this process about three weeks later. You mentioned a couple weeks, so I'll probably go that route. Three weeks seems like a long time between doses. I'd rather follow your example with three treatments, and two weeks between

With all of the corys I have, I'm concerned about them nosing around and eating up any worms that are expelled and keeping this a never ending cycle. They're extremely active and I've got quite a few of them.

One final question if you can help, what did you use to measure out the dosage? It's coming in powder form, and it mentions .5 grams for each 10 gallons, so I'm looking at a little over 2.5 grams I need to portion out. I don't own a digital gram scale. Thanks!

 

[bizaliz3]

I actually purchased some measuring spoons that get as small as 1/64 tsp. And that link I posted has conversions from grams to teaspoons. But I had to order the spoons online and you may not have the time for that.

And yes, a lot of sites and threads and all the research do not say anything about keeping things dark. But I read it in a few places so I did it. I left the tank covered for 48 hours. I don't know exactly why they say to do it, but I covered all my bases. (I had to treat 16 tanks at once, it was awful)

They way the cycle ends I believe is this: Any eggs and larvae that survive treatment #1 should hopefully not have enough time to get large enough in their host to lay more eggs. And then the 3rd treatment for extra security. That's my theory I guess.

The hardest part about treating these worms is the HUGE amount of conflicting info online about how to do it, what size dose, how long between treatments. Its different everywhere you look. I haven't seen a worm in my of my tanks for 7 months. So I think it is safe to assume I was successful using the link I chose to use. I know they can stay undetected for quite a while, but I doubt they can go for 7 months without been seen.

Good luck!!!!

 

[fishowner209]

Do I need to be worried about my corys eating the worms that are expelled from my fish? I obviously can't watch them all day, and again, my corys are very active and will surely suck up these worms. Thanks again!

 

[bizaliz3]

Do I need to be worried about my corys eating the worms that are expelled from my fish? I obviously can't watch them all day, and again, my corys are very active and will surely suck up these worms. Thanks again!

I don't really know how to answer that. All I can say is I had to treat 16 tanks simultaneously. It was pure misery. And most of these tanks had cories and plecos in them. I had the same concerns you are having. But all I can say is that 3 rounds of treatment 2 weeks apart and a daily gravel vac took care of them. Imagine doing that times 16! lol

 

[fishowner209]

Thanks again for your reply. Yeah, I can imagine how awful that must have been on that scale. So you only vacuumed the tanks once a day? If it worked for you, I'm sure I'll be fine then. The meds will arrive today!

 

[bizaliz3]

Thanks again for your reply. Yeah, I can imagine how awful that must have been on that scale. So you only vacuumed the tanks once a day? If it worked for you, I'm sure I'll be fine then. The meds will arrive today!

If I only had one or two tanks, I may have done quick gravel vacs twice a day...but since I had so many to treat, I just couldn't do more than once a day. And it seems to have worked out. I haven't seen a worm in any of my tanks in 7 months. So I have to believe it is behind me now! I didn't get it in all my tanks either. Only 2. But I treated the other tanks to be safe since I use the same equipment on all of them.

Best of luck!!!

 

[fishowner209]

It’s been about 12 hours since I added the meds and I’ve seen no change (except for the fact that they’re all near the bottom and look like they’re sleeping, but the tank has been covered, so that make sense). It’s a 55 gallon tank, and I dissolved about a half teaspoon of levamisole in water and added that to my tank. I didn’t have any better means of measuring it out, so I hope that’s enough. A half teaspoon is about 3 grams of salt, and the consistency here is similar. Does anyone have any advice as far as this goes? Did I add enough?

I did do a water change and gravel vac, and removed my carbon filter before adding. Finally, how long do you keep the tank covered for? Obviously I’ll need to feed them, so can I turn the lights back on after a certain amount of time has passed?

 

[fishowner209]

One of my male swordtails is showing a couple worms now. Still, I hope I dosed enough. I just fed them to hopefully get their digestive tract working and start forcing them out. They hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning. My two big angels who are usually at the forefront of eating time both just sat on one side of my tank and didn’t make a move for any food. Very unlike them, and if I had to guess which fish in this tank had camalanus, they would be at the top of the list.

 

[Whitewolf]

1/4 Teaspoon per 100 gallons lights off for 24 hours

 

[fishowner209]

1/4 Teaspoon per 100 gallons lights off for 24 hours

Well, I surely put more than that then. It’s been about 24 hours now, so I’ll check again in the morning. Strangely enough, still no worms outside of a male sword, and I know for sure one of my angels has them. We’ll see in about 10 hours I suppose!