# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Killifish >  Camallanus Worms Again!!!

## timebomb

Hi, fellas,

For a long time, I've been battling Camallanus Worms in my tanks. Frankly, I feel like giving up  :Crying:  

I discovered this afternoon that almost all the Simp magnificus in my cube tank have been infected also. I've cured many fish of the worms but it can be damn tiring doing it over and over again. The thing that puzzles me is I haven't been feeding tubifex or bloodworms to the Simp magnificus. They are fed with baby brine shrimp only. Inspite of that, they were infected which could only mean the worms somehow or other got into the tank, either through plants or their eggs were hibernating in the gravel. 

I thought about tearing down the tank and disinfecting it with bleach but it would be such a pity as the plants are growing well. If you have any good ideas or know something about how to kill off all the worms, I would appreciate it very much if you share your experiences with me.

Just the other day, I cured a Fundulopanchax gardneri of the worms. I transferred the fish into a hospital tank and dose it with Levamisole. I have to say the medicine works like a charm. In a matter of a few hours, I saw a few Camallanus worms at the bottom of the tank. Here's a picture:



I also took a picture of the worm, up close and personal.



The worm has become my greatest enemy. It's so tiring to see my fish get infected over and over again.  :Crying:  

Loh K L

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## PohSan

Dear Mr Loh,
May I know if Levamisole is available in local fish shop. Although I just started to keep killies, I would like to keep all the medication ready just in case of the same disaster hit me. 

Thank

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## turaco

Mr Loh,

I suggest you deworm all your tanks & repeat a few more times over the weeks before you can rid all the c. worms. If they are in your planted tank, it will be very difficult. Not sure if the plants can take such treatment. I've successfully rid the gardneri of c. worms & it never happen again. It's in a bare tank though. Good luck!

Sounds like SARS!  :Confused:  


Gan.

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## timebomb

Gan,

If mine had been bare tanks, it would be an easy matter to get rid of the Camallanus worms. But I have substrate in all my tanks and some are heavily planted. I can't dose the medication into such tanks as it would kill off all my plants.

Poh San,

Levamisole cannot be bought from the fish shops. Neither can you get it from a pharmacy. As far as I know, it's a controlled drug which means, in this case, you need a vet's prescription before you are allowed to buy it. I got the medication from someone who's in the forum but he asked me not to disclose his identity when he gave the medication to me. So I'm afraid I can't tell you who he is.

But should your fish get infected with Camallanus worms, you can always give me a call and I will give you some Levamisole. I can't give you any now because I have only a little left. 

Loh K L

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## mervin

Hi there Mr Loh,

was just wondering....what are the symptoms for these worms ?

Thanks.
Mervin

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## timebomb

> what are the symptoms for these worms ?


Mervin,

In the early stages, it's hard to tell but sometimes, infected fish have sunken bellies. In advanced stages, the worms can be clearly seen protuding from the anus of the fish. My eyesight is bad so usually by the time I discover the worms, it's always in the advanced stages of infection.  :Crying: 

I checked my fish manual and it doesn't say anything about the worms reproducing themselves by laying eggs. According to the book, the Camallanus usually come with Tubifex worms and after they are eaten by the fish, they will grow and release juvenile worms through the fish faeces. Other fish get infected when they eat the faeces or if they eat dead infected fish. 

Here's a picture of how a Camallanus looks like when it's sticking out from a fish anus.



Prevention is better than cure so if the worms scare you, don't feed Tubifex. But frankly, I have more problems with the worms than others because I keep my killies in tanks with substrate. In bare tanks, it's actually quite easy to eradicate the worms completely. Just bleach everything. Sia Meng and Lily Choo once encountered the Camallanus in their tanks too but now, they no longer have this problem.

Having said all that, I would encourage everyone to take up Ronnie's offer of free Grindal worm starter cultures. They are a good alternative to live Tubifex.

Loh K L

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## mervin

Thanks there Loh.

Those slimy fellas are really nasty !!!

I have a problem with one of my fishes......its anus seem to be proturding and it is red in colour.
Don't know if it is these worms or something else......

Fish seem to be very healthy....eating, flaring and swimming about.
So I'm not sure if it is really sick or not.

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## timebomb

> I have a problem with one of my fishes......its anus seem to be proturding and it is red in colour.
> Don't know if it is these worms or something else......


Uh oh, that's another symptom of Camallanus worms. Take a closer look and see if you can spot anything protuding from the anus. Usually, it's easier to see the worms in females than in males.

What fish do you have, Mervin? Where did you get them? I know you didn't get them from me but you could have got the fish from someone whose tanks are infected. 

Loh K L

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## mervin

It is a Apistogramma which I bought about 2 weeks ago.
Didn't see it till it was in my tank.

So how do i go about this ??? Deworming medication ?

Have been treating the fish with HueyHung H6 for the past 4 days and hoping that will work.....

Lastly, are Camallanus worms the same as tape worms ???

thanks,
Mervin

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## timebomb

Mervin, you have to be sure it's a worm infection before you deworm the fish. The only way to be sure is to see the worms sticking out from their anus. I suppose they don't call the worm "Camallanus" for nothing. The last 4 letters of the name should tell you something.

As for whether they are the same with tape worms, I don't know the answer to that. I've been battling the Camallanus for so long I really don't care what worm it is as long as it's a dead worm  :Laughing: 

Loh K L

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## Debbbear

Hi folks,
I know I am late on this subject....  :Confused:  But there is a good article written by Charles Harrison on camallanus worms on his site at www.inkmkr.com/Fish/. 
I,too, lost fish from those creepy crawlers! When I came across that article I was tickled, with having farm animals we have wormer on hand for them,so it was handy to just use a big old cattle pill!  :Very Happy:

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## timebomb

> I know I am late on this subject....


Welcome back, Deb. It's good to see you around again :wink:

Does your big old cattle pill work for fish too? I read Charles' page about the Camallanus worms and it seems like they spread like wildfire through the tanks once they get into one tank. Hmm, I have to be more careful about using the same nets and transferring the plants from one tank to another from now on.

Loh K L

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## Debbbear

Loh K L, 
It is good to be back!! Changing internet servers was a mess. We changed to characterlink so the children can go on line without us parents always looking over their shoulders.Characterlink had to add this site to their okay list before it could be access.It passed much to my delight!
Yes,It was levasole. I treated all tanks,for sometimes I am not careful.  :Opps:  I haven't seen any worms for a good 7 months.
Now,I am wondering if it would be a good thing to worm all fish once a year,especially after the summer months when they have been fed wild caught insects?

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## mervin

thanks all for the information.

i will try to get my hands on some of this deworming medication.
even if it is not camallanus......it will still get rid of any other worms in it.

thanks again,
mervin

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## timebomb

Sorry to bring up an old topic but I had another encounter with the Camallanus worms again. I thought I had the worms eradicated but I took a close look at my australes the other day and found that almost all the females were infected. Some had one more than one worm sticking out from their vents. Here's a picture of one of the infected females.



Can you see the worm sticking out of her vent? For some strange reason which I cannot fathom, the females are always the ones that get infected first. I was really discouraged when I saw the worms. I thought it would be "the hospital tank" thing all over again. But I discussed the problem with my wife and she suggested I do not transfer the fish into a hospital tank. Why not dose the medication straight into the tank, she said? I've always been reluctant to apply medication directly into my planted tanks as I think it will kill the plants. There's also the other reason that medication works best in clean water without filtration. 

But I was so sick and tired of fighting the Camallanus, I decided to accept my wife's suggestion. I took out my Levamisole but the medication has melted into some sort of a paste. When I got it from a fellow forum user, it was in powder form. Here's how it looks now:



Although I thought it wouldn't be very effective in paste form, I took some and dissolved it in clean water. I then poured the solution into the tank. Incredibly, it was very effective. Within about an hour, the worms began to stick out more from the vents and in another hour or so, they were all gone. The plants were unaffected. 

My question is this - Does Levamisole kill the worms or does it only deworm the fish? 

Loh K L

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## Debbbear

Loh K L,
Sorry to hear thar you are having problems again.
Yes, I believe that the Levamisole kills the worm,but I wonder if your problem lies in the fact that you have a planted tank and the camallanus worm is a livebearer, which can be find in the fish feces that are in the gravel. So you may want to worm them again in a few weeks and then again a few weeks later to get rid of everything in your gravel. The Levamisole should not harm your plants.
Just my $.02.  :Smile:

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## RonWill

"One for All" deworming tablets
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/fi.../Dewormer2.JPG
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/fi...Dewormer2a.JPG
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/fi...Dewormer2b.JPG

Super Dewormer MQ4 & MQ5 (bought from P*tm*rt)
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/fi...Dewormer1a.JPG
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/fi...Dewormer1b.JPG

Gotten these a while back but hadn't the opportunity to try it out... yet (touchwood!), therefore can't comment on effectiveness.

BTW, Flubendazole shouldn't be used regularly, lest one creates a treatment-resistant strain...

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## timebomb

Ronnie,

I couldn't see a single picture. What with our gallery and all, I thought we had this problem solved  :Crying:  

Why use Angelfire when we have 2 GB of space? I think perhaps we should re-examine the solution I offered - Let every moderator have the password to killies.com server so you all can upload all you want.

Loh K L

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## RonWill

Kwek Leong, please excuse my moment of tardiness and well... plain laziness (since they were already uploaded to Angelfire).

Here are all the clickable images...
  
 :Exclamation:   :Exclamation:  Do note that the above is meant for creatures with fur, not scales  :Exclamation:   :Exclamation:  

 




> Why use Angelfire when we have 2 GB of space? I think perhaps we should re-examine the solution I offered


There's nothing wrong with the present arrangement but at the rate new albums were created and even more images uploaded, I was feeling somewhat self-conscious  :Opps:  

Neither is there an urgent call for mods to have passwords to hosting server. Let's leave things as is for now... "_If it ain't broke, don't fix it_" (I can also do with one less chip on my shoulders :wink: )

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## RonWill

> Having said all that, I would encourage everyone to take up Ronnie's offer of free Grindal worm starter cultures. They are a good alternative to live Tubifex


Dear all, I didn't take note of the thread's 'age'. Thought it was new and was reading through and noticed Kwek Leong's grindal reminder (dated Dec 22 2003  :Exclamation:  ).

It's bad timing if anyone wants any starters now for I am going through a bad patch with these. Aparently, the grindals don't take kindly to the warm weather we've been having and have the most crashes when kept in the 'utility closets' outside my home.

I'm desperately trying to revive what I can and would loath to lose all of them.

Will update when there's sufficient to go around again.

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## hobbit6003

Hi Kwek Leong,

The problem with camallanus, is that not only must you treat the infected fish, but also the whole tank as well. 

Some camallanus sp. are livebearing whilst others are egg laying, whose larvae would have to find an intermediate host to live in, before moving to your fish. The intermediate hosts are usually microorganisms known as copepods, which can be present in your planted tank.

Thus, by just treating them in a hospital will only serve to eradicate those worms in the fishes, but not those larvae in the main tank, who are waiting to re-infect your fish.

So far I've found a avian dewormer that contains both levamisole and praziquantel, bought it in a bird shop in Serangoon North. It is quite effective, and had used that to treat some of the hobbyists' apistos and asian red arowanas, successfully. The brand is called Avian Science.

So far, the dosage I've used lies between 5-10ppm, around that.

Cheers,

Kenny

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## timebomb

Thanks for the input, Kenny.

I didn't know there were more than one species of Camallanus worms  :Shocked:  . I'll be dropping by at Serangoon North to pick up the medication you recommended. I think I will dose every tank, whether or not there are Camallanus worms inside. 

Loh K L

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## promethean_spark

I bought levisimole drench and got a 60 gram packet for about 15$, pure levisimole. I used it when my angelfish showed calamanus. Cured them and it's been 4 months since I've seen a worm (and they've spawned since). It did seem to hurt hydrocotyle, watersprite and hornwort. It also seems to kill most of the visible microlife (water fleas, ect), and causes snails to go into shock and look dead for a few days, though they seem to recover.

I've read it's best to feed your fish some food treated with levisimole every month or two to clear out their system. I use freeze dried plankton because it'll absorb the elixir and will also hold it's shape. Some fish won't eat treated food though.

I don't use tubifex, so probably it came in some fish from the LFS. Seems a good idea to preventatively treat all newcomers for this since it can take a while to show up and may slip past quarantine.

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## RonWill

> I think I will dose every tank, whether or not there are Camallanus worms inside


Kwek Leong, when you treated the entire tank, instead of the individual fish in a hospital tank, how did the plants, snails, shrimp and bio reacted?

Will appreciate dosage details and your observations, as I'll be treating the ZII tank.

I took alot of 'upskirt' pics of the anus but most of them were either blurry or the worm has retracted. Only one decent pic of the worm.
 (worm was very vague so I out-lined it in red)
More pics *here*.

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## timebomb

Whew, thank goodness it was your female that caught the worms. If it had been the male, I would suspect the worms came from my tank.

I'm afraid I can't tell you the dosages as you know how sloppy I am when it comes to dosing anything. All I can say is I took one teaspoonful of levamisole and diluted it in a jar of water. About half an hour after I poured in the solution into the tank, I saw the worms dangling out from the fishes anuses. But there was one particular fish whose worm was pretty stubborn so I added another dose of levamisole. 

No harm came to the plants. But a few days after the levamisole treatment, all my mosses turned brown. I discovered that my CO2 tank was empty and I thought that was the cause. But it's been about 2 weeks since I got another tank going and the mosses are still brown. It could be due to a higher bioload though as I added many more fish to the tank recently.

Ronnie, now that the Camallanus has made an appearance in your tanks, I have to warn you that you will be plagued with this problem for a long time. If I were you, I will dose every tank whether or not there are worms inside.

Loh K L

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## zmzfam

Kwek Leong,

I may be wrong but doesn't the fish with the worms looks like a male?

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## RonWill

> ...now that the Camallanus has made an appearance in your tanks, I have to warn you that you will be plagued with this problem for a long time. If I were you, I will dose every tank whether or not there are worms inside


Kwek Leong, I updated the ZIIs thread with this post, in which I said, "_Since the male has settled in very nicely, I decided to shoot more pics hoping to see the much-revelled colors. Instead, I saw a sore-butt_".

It's the male dangling 'his thing' (pun intended) but through no fault of yours. However, it speaks volumes on my sloppy quarantine proceedures.

If nothing went south in your tanks after treatment, I'll guesstimate dosing for the ZIIs' tank first lest I run out of Levamisole hydrochloride. Once I can source and acquire adequate amounts of it, I'll zap the rest of the tanks... just to get a good night's sleep.

Not knowing the percentage strength of the medication, I've checked with Kenny on approximate dosing and will update as necessary.

Just to be sure I get it correct. What's the strength of the second dosage like when you said, "_But there was one particular fish whose worm was pretty stubborn so I added another dose of levamisole_". Judging from what you've been through, these Camallanus are a pain in the your butt too!  :Laughing:   :Laughing:  and believe we both want to get past this episode.

While I'm at it, I'll probably test the medication on tubifex and tiny white worms to see if it kills them too (my heavy-handed feeding has led to a 'bed' of swaying tubifex on the substrate  :Opps:  ) but foresee massive waterchanges just so things don't foul up.

PS: Would anyone be willing to join me and split shipping if I'm able to acquire Levamisole hydrochloride?

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## timebomb

> "_Since the male has settled in very nicely, I decided to shoot more pics hoping to see the much-revelled colors. Instead, I saw a sore-butt_".


Oh no!! Is it really the male that got it? Sheesh, I'm sorry, Ronnie. I'm quite sure that when I caught it from the tank, it looked perfectly healthy. The remaining ZIIs in my tank are not showing any signs of infection so I really can't understand why the male I gave you has a sore butt.

Anyway, I've used the levamisole many times and so far, the only time the medication killed the fish was when I didn't dissolved it in a jar of water first. There were a few occasions I dissolved one teaspoon of levamisole in a jar and dose it into a small tank, that is, about 10 litres of water and the fish were cured without any casualties. I can say with some confidence that it's quite unlikely you will overdose and kill any fish. If you're unsure, I would suggest you dose a bit first and watch the fish closely. If it works, the worms will all start dangling out from their anuses and in an hour or 2, they will all fall out. If nothing happens, dose again. Keep dosing until the worms are all out. It's no use using a hospital tank. I did that many times but the fish got infected again when I moved them back to the tanks. 




> PS: Would anyone be willing to join me and split shipping if I'm able to acquire Levamisole hydrochloride?


Kenny Poh said he's looking to acquire some levamisole too. Maybe you should contact him. I've only a bit left so I can't give what I have to you as chances are the damn worm will make an appearance in my tanks again.

Loh K L

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## hobbit6003

Ronnie,

I've written to the overseas company which have the levamisole HCL powder drench, to enquire if they do sell to overseas clients. From their website, this don't seem to be the case.

Kwek Leong,

Remember the Avian Science brand of levamisole I recommended you, and you said it was ineffective?

Well, for that brand, I've gotten mixed successes, some of the apistos gotten cured, while others were not. The best success I've gotten so far, is in powder form of levamisole, which was supposed to be mixed into poultry feed and given to the poultry. The success rate is 100%, if prognosis is good.

Sad to say, after using them on a few of the hobbyists' camallanus infested fishes, I've ran out of the powder. I bought it through a friend whom I've also lost contact with.  :Opps:  

Cheers,

Kenny

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## ruyle

Kenny,
I'm surprised the combo of levamisole/praziquantel wasn't as efficacious
as levamisole by itself. Was the med still in good shelf life? Or was the
concentrations of each med less than the levamisole by itself? Curious.
I'm thinking the levamisole for poultry would perhaps be of higher concentration due to higher blood volume (chickens vs parakeets) but of
course I could be all wet  :Opps:  

Regards,

Bill
farang9

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## hobbit6003

Hi Bill,

I'm surprised myself too!

I couldn't remember what's the concentration of the levmisole HCL, but it was written on the bottle, and I dosed to make up about 8-10ppm in the tank.

I'm suspecting that the bottle may have past its expiry date, which wasn't stated.

Kwek Leong got it from the same source as mine, and he reported little no success with that too.

Therefore, I'm turning to internet shops that sells those powder drench for pigs and cattles. Ronnie found one source, but they don't seem to freight them overseas. I've just written to them to enquire if they do. They're based in USA.

Cheers,

Kenny

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## RonWill

> Therefore, I'm turning to internet shops that sells those powder drench for pigs and cattles. Ronnie found one source, but they don't seem to freight them overseas.


Kenny, let me work on that and perhaps liaise with our US-based forumers regarding purchase and freight.

Anyway... instead of treating the ZIIs today, I almost killed them!  :Opps:  

Diluted one teaspoon of gummy Levmisole to a litre of water and dosed that to their tank. Noticed the ZIIs (and only them) gasping at the surface.

At this time, they were easy to catch and transferred the 4 to the phototank and tried to take a pic of the blasted worm. The thing was so freaking small, I had to use the magnifier to get a proper look... and that's when things took a turn...

Got over-zealous and hit the ZIIs with a 2nd dose... and they went belly-up.  :Shocked:   :Shocked:  In a frenzy, I returned them to fresh lightly-medicated water and ran moderate aeration.

... but I realize why the male had problems ridding the worm... he had twins  :Shocked:   :Shocked:  





I'm telling you this, at the risk of looking pretty foolish, that all medications and antibiotics must be treated with respect.

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## hobbit6003

Ron,

That is why it is impt to know the concentration of the medication used, so that an appropriate dosage can be worked out.

I almost choked on my biscuit when you told me that, and I litrally lost ny voice over my exclamation!  :Very Happy:  

Yeah, if they don't freight over, going through a proxy is our best bet.

Cheers,

Kenny

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## timebomb

> Anyway... instead of treating the ZIIs today, I almost killed them!


Hmm, that's strange. I supposed the tank you mentioned is the one along the corridor wall, right, Ronnie? That tank is quite big and I'm surprised one or two teaspoons of levamisole can have that effect on the fish. I remember I dose one teaspoon to a 20 cm X 20 cm plastic tray with an infected Guppy and not only was the fish cured, she went on to drop many babies.

By the way, I also once used a pair of tweezers to pull the worm out from a female Rivulus which sort of fainted from an overdose of levamisole. She recovered from the rough treatment although someone told me the worms has hooks which will tear out the fish insides if they were pulled out by force.

Here's a pic of that Rivulus with the worm sticking out from her vent:



Loh K L

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## hobbit6003

Kwek Leong,

The problem is that different species of fishes would probably have a different threshold, as far as toxicity is concerned. 

Metabolism of medication is usually process by the liver, the detox centre. So, it depends alot on how fast the drug is absorbed and processed by organs like liver, that determines the fish's tolerance and susceptibility to the drug. Er...I shall not discuss pharmacokinetics here, as I've forgotten quite a fair bit already, need a textbk in front of me. :P 

Thus, the recommended dosage is usually within a safe range for most species of fishes. Out of this range, some fish may succumb.

Cheers,

Kenny

[/b]

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## ruyle

Kenny wrote:




> Yeah, if they don't freight over, going through a proxy is our best bet.


Kenny, let me know what you guys come up with and I will send it over
by USPS priority mail. The danger of not sending it over quicker is that
most meds don't like temps over 86F for prolonged periods.

Bill
farang9

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## hobbit6003

Hi Bill,

Thanks for your kind offer! Let me try and tie up with Ronnie first, and will let you know soonest possible!

Thanks!

Cheers,

Kenny

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## timebomb

> Thus, the recommended dosage is usually within a safe range for most species of fishes. Out of this range, some fish may succumb.


Thanks for the good advice, Kenny. But actually, I already know that. It's just that I'm sloppy. I'm the type who when the doctor says "take 3 tablets every day, one after every meal" will gobble 3 tablets in the morning at one go  :Laughing: 

Loh K L

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## RonWill

> I supposed the tank you mentioned is the one along the corridor wall, right, Ronnie? That tank is quite big and I'm surprised one or two teaspoons of levamisole can have that effect on the fish.


Yeah, it's one of the tanks along the wall, what I affectionately call "OceanFree 18incher" (24"L x 12"W x 18"H)...


I dosed tank with the solution (one teaspoon to 1 litre of water) and shortly after, saw the ZIIs at the surface. The others didn't even look one bit stress by the medication. In fact, I took some nice pics of the Europe-sourced ANNs, but that observation reflects what was said about the varying threshold of different fishes and IDK if guppies have higher tolerance or not.

Since I wanted to add the "_Come-in-the-anus_" worms to the gallery, the 4 ZIIs were placed in the phototank, with already medicated water from the main tank... plus _a bit_ more med  :Opps:  




> By the way, I also once used a pair of tweezers to pull the worm out from a female Rivulus which sort of fainted from an overdose of levamisole. She recovered from the rough treatment although someone told me the worms has hooks which will tear out the fish insides if they were pulled out by force


 Kwek Leong, the ZIIs looked like your 'fainted' Riv (exactly what I meant by bellying-up) and tempted as I was to grab a tweezer, I wasn't prepared for splewed intestines!

RIVs are tough mothers and hopefully, the ZIIs will pull through  :Crying:  [didn't expect them to be *that* delicate!] <sigh>

Bill, thanks for the help! A couple of guys have expressed interest (or worry, whichever applicable) and I'll consolidate the order in one shipment. Meanwhile, let me go grab an asprin... my butt hurts.

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## justjoin

Hi all

I would like to know if anyone know how big can this C. worm grow?

How long will it take for the eggs(if any) to hatch/become worm if let said they are in the subtrate?

Because in 4-6 weeks ago, i found 1 such worm in my 20cm by 20cm xmas moss only container. To my surprise, it was around or at least 5-6cm in lenght.

Prior to reading this thread, i do not know what is it & how in ended up in xmas moss holding tray. The Xmas moss was havested from my previous planted 1.5ft tank in which i do fed the fishes(mainly H.rasbora) with tubifex worms.... 

I had used the moss to created a xmas moss wall in my new 2ft tank & reused partial of the subtarte too.

So far so good, did not see any of C. worm crawling in my new 2ft tank which i setted up 3 months ago, mainly all cardinal tetras.

thks
adrian

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## RonWill

Adrian,
I googled for closeup images of the _Camallanus_ worm and although I didn't find any, I reckon these will never reach 5cm in my killies... the poor fish will probably be dead by then, with worm sticking out from both the anus and mouth!

If what you saw looked like the following pic, it's one I couldn't figure out either but I know that the brine solution from my BBS hatchery will kill them.


The C. worm normally don't crawl on gravel but sticking out from where the sun don't shine (refer to earlier pics). I can't remember the incubation period of the C. worm's eggs but it won't hurt if you did a search either. Good luck.

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## timebomb

Adrian,

Here's a pic of a Camallanus worm.

.

It looks slightly different from a Tubifex worm but it's impossible to tell them apart when they are in a bunch. What I know though, the Camallanus won't cling into a ball like what the Tubifex does. 

Loh K L

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## TyroneGenade

I don't know if I have arrived at this thread to late or not but I can assure you Julian there is HOPE!

Try one of two treatments:
Flubendazole, about tip of teaspoon per gallon I think...
or
Add garlic to the fish food. It is very NB that the garlic be fresh. I suggest you prepare yourself a frozen fish food mix with shrimp or what not and work some garlic (finely mashed or just an extract) into the food and feed till the worms vanish.

Even wild Nothos will take the garlic/beef heart mix.

Good luck

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## yasciti

Hi 

I was going to post this in a new thread but since it's about treating camallanus worms I'm just posting here.

I've read that both Fenbendazole http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/154/

& levamisole are good for cure this horrible infestation. I've also read that fenbendazole works better when added to food, so I got both. 
Now I'm not very good at working out at working out doses so I'm hoping that you guys can help me.

The 1st med is a liquid form. It has Levamisole HCL 37.5 mg/ml & also Praziquantel 18,8 mg/ml. 

The next med is Panacur BS, it has Fenbendazole 5% m/v (not sure what the m/v means). Also liquid form.

Could you guys help me determine a ml med/L water dosage for these meds please.

Thanks
Dino

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## TyroneGenade

From the article, you have to add 3 mL (cc) to 100 mL. You then add the blood worm, soak for 1 hour and feed. I use a similar protocol to feed my experimental fish various compounds. I soak the blood worm in about a few mL of compound and then set the bloodworm in agar. This I feed and then only feed as much as the fish will eat in a few minutes. This works well.

The concentration "m/v" means that there is, for instance, 5 g of Fenbendazole per 100 mL of water (i.e. 5&#37 :Wink: .

I would use the first option as it is 2 compounds. It is unlikely the worms will have resistance to both. Feed them the bloodworm for at least a week.

I would not dose above 5 mg/L for these compounds, so for a 100 L tank, I would add 500 mg (0.5 g). This would be 10 mL of a 5% solution.

I think go the food route would be better.

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## yasciti

Hi Tyrone

I should have known to ask you :Laughing:  

I've already started with the fenbendazole in the foods. But it just reduced the worm numbers for a bit. I've done this for 4 days so far.  :Exasperated: 
Now after a few days break I'm going to feed some food that has been soaked in undiluted meds for a day, to see if this helps. 

If this still doesn't work then I'm going to try the other 2 in 1 med. Hopefully that helps.

Thanks for your help
Dino

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## windcharm

Does C.worm infects and kills shrimps and small fishes like tetra? Can be fish out using the "fishing method" like catching for planaria?

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## Interestor

> Does C.worm infects and kills shrimps and small fishes like tetra? Can be fish out using the "fishing method" like catching for planaria?


death rate will be 100% if manual picking out the worms.

issue is the eggs spread in the tanks  :Confused: 


CHeers..

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## windcharm

Just to share. Due to some aglae issue, I started to dose seachem excel and I got a surprise finding...FYI, I am dosing it in my CRS tank and they seem to be fine too.

After dosing seachem excel for a few days (about 1 cap each day), a few of these worms actually wriggle out from the soil and floating around in the water as if they are trying to get out of the water. I will use a pincer or net to catch these "creepy crawlers" and feed it to my "venus fly traps". Lol

Hope this helps.

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## harrynkl

Sorry to dig up old thread, but now i facing this problem, can i know where to get the solution to get rid of these

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## RonWill

The solution is a few threads above your posts. Unfortunately, the drugs mentioned are well controlled but it'd help if you have a vet friend.

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## harrynkl

is there any other place to place order

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## stormhawk

The drugs mentioned, can be found in dewormers meant for mammals, in particular cats and dogs. I've seen the same drugs in dewormers for birds. You can use these products and try but I will not take responsibility if they kill your fish. Aside from other drugs in the treatments I mentioned, getting the dosage right for fish tanks will need some calculations.

Praziquantel may be found commercially in some medications for fishes. You can try those major LFS which stock a lot of medications, depending on where you live. I think they come in tablet form locally.

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