Treating Parasites

Ariel301 · 11-05-2009, 11:21 PM

I forget what the name of this worm is, but I've had issues with it before. The worms are visible as red threadlike things that will stick out of the anus of a fish off and on. It started with a C, I just can't remember what they are...does anyone know? My ancient sailfin molly finally died yesterday, and when I scooped her out of the tank she had a ton of these things showing! They were all squirming around and I could see their eyes--eww GROSS!

Which tells me that probably every fish in the tank is infected, even though they don't show any symptoms.

What is a good treatment? I have some medicated anti-parasitic foods, but my fish won't touch them. I have never been able to get them to eat the stuff, even if I starved them for two weeks first. Is there something else that would be safe to put in a planted tank to treat these? I don't have a hospital tank big enough to treat all the fish in at once, and I am sure that the main tank would just reinfect the fish anyway if I did not treat it.

SearunSimpson · 11-06-2009, 12:08 AM

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/callamanus-worm.html check it out- it should be able to help you.

plaakapong · 11-06-2009, 01:28 AM

I only read the first page of the thread on that link so this may be redundant, but i have used flubendazole and fenbedazole to successfully treat camallanus. Flubendazole is more soluable in water so it's needed to treat the water column but you can buy fenbendazole in the form of safe-guard canine wormer from most any pet store for treating food and feeding to infected fish. I did both. Here is an article by Charles Harrison. You can order flubendazole direct from him.
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/FlubendazoleArticle.pdf

Ariel301 · 11-06-2009, 01:55 AM

Great, I keep the fenbendazole on hand anyway for my livestock. Thanks!

Ariel301 · 11-06-2009, 07:04 PM

Well, I treated the fish last night with the dosage of wormer recommended. Everyone was fine at about 1 am when I went to bed. I woke up this morning and turned on the lights on the tank...and...Most of the fish are dead. Also, the water is a murky gray color; it looks like used dishwater! It was crystal clear last night. I haven't added anything else unusual to the tank.

The color of the water is making me think the fish didn't die simply because of the worms or secondary infection from them, or get blocked up with dead worms. There's obviously something bigger going on. It has to be something with the fenbendazole, as that's the only thing that went into the tank before this happened. It was the stuff recommended in those articles, meant for deworming goats. I don't think it was tainted with anything, because I've been using it on my goats without issues.
The losses are that old sailfin molly from a few days ago, a Bolivian Ram I've had for two years and that has followed me across three states, a big beautiful angelfish, and my last remaining australian rainbow. I've got two swordtails, an albino cory, a gourami, and another angel that look like they won't last through the day. So by tonight, my tank is going to be completely uninhabited.

Ariel301 · 11-06-2009, 07:39 PM

I checked the water...a bit of ammonia, but everything else is fine. The water is really greasy and slimy feeling...It's looking familiar. I've seen this before.

We've been having some issues with our water system lately. We're on a well system that pumps water into big tanks which then supply this neighborhood. The pump on it broke and we had no water for a week. The water in the pipes sat there stagnant for a week before the city (we live way out in the country) hauled some water out to fill up the tanks so we could have water while they fixed the problem. So they dumped a bunch of already questionable quality water (our city water is terrible) into a little bit of nasty unchlorinated stagnant water sitting out in the heat...I think we have a bit of a bacterial bloom going on. My husband noted that when he took a shower last night the water was 'dirty' looking coming out of the faucet.

plaakapong · 11-06-2009, 10:34 PM

That's not good Ariel! sorry for your losses. Did you treat with flubendazole, or fenbendazole? They are different. I have followed Charles's instructions and had no problems. I treat all my new fish with flubendazole in quarantine. Even the fluben. can be difficult to dissolve, the fenben. near impossible!
If you have a test kit I would run a full series of tests on my tap water and if it's ok do a series of water changes. If there's a problem with your tap water you may have to buy some RO water or?? Maybe your LFS can help you?How long has this tank been cycled? There should be no ammonia, although if there were dead fish in the tank for awhile that could be the cause. Good luck getting this sorted.

11-05-2009, 11:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
Ariel301 Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Kingman, Arizona Posts: 376	Treating Parasites I forget what the name of this worm is, but I've had issues with it before. The worms are visible as red threadlike things that will stick out of the anus of a fish off and on. It started with a C, I just can't remember what they are...does anyone know? My ancient sailfin molly finally died yesterday, and when I scooped her out of the tank she had a ton of these things showing! They were all squirming around and I could see their eyes--eww GROSS! Which tells me that probably every fish in the tank is infected, even though they don't show any symptoms. What is a good treatment? I have some medicated anti-parasitic foods, but my fish won't touch them. I have never been able to get them to eat the stuff, even if I starved them for two weeks first. Is there something else that would be safe to put in a planted tank to treat these? I don't have a hospital tank big enough to treat all the fish in at once, and I am sure that the main tank would just reinfect the fish anyway if I did not treat it.

11-06-2009, 12:08 AM	#2 (permalink)
SearunSimpson Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Tsawwassen, BC, Canada Posts: 960	http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/callamanus-worm.html check it out- it should be able to help you. __________________ "You think you have tomorrow, but when tomorrow comes it's not tomorrow; it's now- and that's all you have" - Marc Johnson Ehei-Pimpfen 276 yo!

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11-06-2009, 01:28 AM	#3 (permalink)
plaakapong Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Bellingham, Wa. Posts: 214	I only read the first page of the thread on that link so this may be redundant, but i have used flubendazole and fenbedazole to successfully treat camallanus. Flubendazole is more soluable in water so it's needed to treat the water column but you can buy fenbendazole in the form of safe-guard canine wormer from most any pet store for treating food and feeding to infected fish. I did both. Here is an article by Charles Harrison. You can order flubendazole direct from him. http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/FlubendazoleArticle.pdf

11-06-2009, 01:55 AM	#4 (permalink)
Ariel301 Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Kingman, Arizona Posts: 376	Great, I keep the fenbendazole on hand anyway for my livestock. Thanks!

11-06-2009, 07:04 PM	#5 (permalink)
Ariel301 Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Kingman, Arizona Posts: 376	Well, I treated the fish last night with the dosage of wormer recommended. Everyone was fine at about 1 am when I went to bed. I woke up this morning and turned on the lights on the tank...and...Most of the fish are dead. Also, the water is a murky gray color; it looks like used dishwater! It was crystal clear last night. I haven't added anything else unusual to the tank. The color of the water is making me think the fish didn't die simply because of the worms or secondary infection from them, or get blocked up with dead worms. There's obviously something bigger going on. It has to be something with the fenbendazole, as that's the only thing that went into the tank before this happened. It was the stuff recommended in those articles, meant for deworming goats. I don't think it was tainted with anything, because I've been using it on my goats without issues. The losses are that old sailfin molly from a few days ago, a Bolivian Ram I've had for two years and that has followed me across three states, a big beautiful angelfish, and my last remaining australian rainbow. I've got two swordtails, an albino cory, a gourami, and another angel that look like they won't last through the day. So by tonight, my tank is going to be completely uninhabited.

11-06-2009, 07:39 PM	#6 (permalink)
Ariel301 Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Kingman, Arizona Posts: 376	I checked the water...a bit of ammonia, but everything else is fine. The water is really greasy and slimy feeling...It's looking familiar. I've seen this before. We've been having some issues with our water system lately. We're on a well system that pumps water into big tanks which then supply this neighborhood. The pump on it broke and we had no water for a week. The water in the pipes sat there stagnant for a week before the city (we live way out in the country) hauled some water out to fill up the tanks so we could have water while they fixed the problem. So they dumped a bunch of already questionable quality water (our city water is terrible) into a little bit of nasty unchlorinated stagnant water sitting out in the heat...I think we have a bit of a bacterial bloom going on. My husband noted that when he took a shower last night the water was 'dirty' looking coming out of the faucet.

11-06-2009, 10:34 PM	#7 (permalink)
plaakapong Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Bellingham, Wa. Posts: 214	That's not good Ariel! sorry for your losses. Did you treat with flubendazole, or fenbendazole? They are different. I have followed Charles's instructions and had no problems. I treat all my new fish with flubendazole in quarantine. Even the fluben. can be difficult to dissolve, the fenben. near impossible! If you have a test kit I would run a full series of tests on my tap water and if it's ok do a series of water changes. If there's a problem with your tap water you may have to buy some RO water or?? Maybe your LFS can help you?How long has this tank been cycled? There should be no ammonia, although if there were dead fish in the tank for awhile that could be the cause. Good luck getting this sorted.

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