Callamanus WORMS... updated 2/5/2013

[msawdey]

ordered from charles. He responded within two days and mailed the next day. Should get it tomorrow... I will follow up on this thread

[kellysmith]

Originally Posted by Diana

Prazi pro is for internal parasites, I am looking now to see if it is specific for Camillanus.
... seems it is not.

Levamisole will work.

http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamellanusTreatment.pdf

Fenbendazole will work.

"Camillanus is easily recognized as a small thread-like worm protruding from the anus of the fish. Control of this nematode in non-food fish is with fenbendazole, a common antihelminthic. Fenbendazole can be mixed with fish food (using gelatin as a binder) at a rate of 0.25% for treatment. It should be fed for three days, and repeated in three weeks."

I had this problem two years ago, and again a year ago. Ordered from Charles on inkmkr.com and had a great experience. Killed those nasty little buggers once and for all. I cannot stress enough how essential Levamisole is in treating these bastards (including the worms in their other various lifecycles). Make sure that you follow the directions for dosing correctly and don't skimp out on the gravel siphon and repeat treatments. My understanding from my previous research is that the larvae stage of the worm is not killed by the drug, but rather paralyzed and sent to the bottom of the tank.

[jcgd]

Exactly. So you don't kill them with the Levamisole. Instead you have to manually remove the worms/ larvae/ eggs so it's very difficult with substrate in the tank. Better off moving the fish to a bare bottom, treating them there a few times and removing the worms/ larvae or even better, move the fish again. I had to throw out the substrate to get rid of mine. If you don't, you will often relapse after a good long time. It took about eight months for me to get re-infested after the first treatment. Second time I treated the tank, then moved the fish (after the medication would be effective) to a bare bottom. I then treated again and then moved them back to the now freshly cleaned original tank. Problem solved.

[lifeoffroad03]

Originally Posted by lipadj46

The most effective treatment will be levimasole:

http://www.jefferspet.com/product.as...2-pi&camid=liv

you need a good mg scale though. Food with fenben. will work in a proper food preparation, just soaking pellets is going to reduce the effectiveness by a wide margin. Angelsplus has flake foods that have either lev. or fenben. already in it.

Agreed and you gotta get the real deal. I got a strait bag if powder from some place that supplies farms for deworming goats. No joke it was fine in 2 days and never came back. Coat me a pretty penny but I saved all my fish. They all had them from one new fish that didn't show them while in QT.

[lifeoffroad03]

Originally Posted by jcgd

Exactly. So you don't kill them with the Levamisole. Instead you have to manually remove the worms/ larvae/ eggs so it's very difficult with substrate in the tank. Better off moving the fish to a bare bottom, treating them there a few times and removing the worms/ larvae or even better, move the fish again. I had to throw out the substrate to get rid of mine. If you don't, you will often relapse after a good long time. It took about eight months for me to get re-infested after the first treatment. Second time I treated the tank, then moved the fish (after the medication would be effective) to a bare bottom. I then treated again and then moved them back to the now freshly cleaned original tank. Problem solved.

I totally disagree with this. I'm sorry if you actually had to do this but if you get pure levamisole I put in just the front part of a teaspoon for 55 gallons and they were gone in two days never to return. I tried all kinds of these other treatments. Even lost fish due to crazy treatments that didn't do jack.

I did a good vacuum then treated a week later as directed and I've never had an issue again. With any worm for that matter.

[kellysmith]

Originally Posted by lifeoffroad03

I totally disagree with this. I'm sorry if you actually had to do this but if you get pure levamisole I put in just the front part of a teaspoon for 55 gallons and they were gone in two days never to return. I tried all kinds of these other treatments. Even lost fish due to crazy treatments that didn't do jack.

I did a good vacuum then treated a week later as directed and I've never had an issue again. With any worm for that matter.

It sounds a bit overboard to me as well, though I can definitely understand the frustration of a relapse. They recommend that you do three treatments about a week apart if I'm not mistaken. And definitely siphon the gravel. After that, you should be ok. Whether or not all that extra work is worth not having a mini heart attack every time a fish looks at you the wrong way .. I don't know haha. It was a stressful couple of months for me.

[msawdey]

Originally Posted by kellysmith

It sounds a bit overboard to me as well, though I can definitely understand the frustration of a relapse. They recommend that you do three treatments about a week apart if I'm not mistaken. And definitely siphon the gravel. After that, you should be ok. Whether or not all that extra work is worth not having a mini heart attack every time a fish looks at you the wrong way .. I don't know haha. It was a stressful couple of months for me.

that does sound a bit odd from what Charles directions were. Basically, he said one treatment should do the trick, but sent to 2 just in case and said to do them 2 weeks apart. It should be here today so I will dose tonight. As far as lifecycles of most parasites, if the medication kills the adult stage, there are a limited of number of "bugs" that will not be killed by the same medication. But from all my research, it looks like it would work as long as i do a good vacuum. (I have a PhD in Public health so i know a bit about parasites)

I just wanted this thread to be there for those who get it in the future. Everything I am reading is saying that they are becoming more common and the availability of medications that actually work are limited. I rely on this forum for everything tank related and hope that this thread will help people out in the future.

[Edub]

Fenben did not work at all for me. Levasole (spelling?) worked like a magic charm.

[ShortFin]

Originally Posted by lipadj46

The most effective treatment will be levimasole:

http://www.jefferspet.com/product.as...2-pi&camid=liv

you need a good mg scale though. Food with fenben. will work in a proper food preparation, just soaking pellets is going to reduce the effectiveness by a wide margin. Angelsplus has flake foods that have either lev. or fenben. already in it.

You can get some here too for $14.95. Please note the quantity difference: 52 grams vs 7.5 grams.

http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/me...amisole-powder

[jcgd]

You guys are right, I'm not saying you have to get rid of the substrate, or go bare bottom, but treatment is easy with bare bottom and hard with substrate. It depends on the degree of the outbreak as well. I hardly had an inch of substrate visible with the amount of hardscape and plants so I would've had to do some serious work to vacuum everywhere. A relatively bare tank may be fine with a good vacuum.

Like I said, a relapse can take a long time so it's nice to be sure. You don't want a relapse to find out you've sold or moved some fish in the mean time.

I don't know how one would do a decent vacuum unless you are sparsely planted.

[wkndracer]

Originally Posted by ShortFin

You can get some here too for $14.95. Please note the quantity difference: 52 grams vs 7.5 grams.

http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/me...amisole-powder

Really look at what you are buying folks when you shop!
The Prohibit product is vendor listed as containing 46.8 grams of levamisole hydrochloride activity so while the package weight is 52 grams the devil is in the details.

The pigeon dosage listed in the link is for consumption not drench. Charles lists a drench dosage based on weight and chemical reactivity selling a pure chemical without filler or inerts being added in the packaging. The math conversion wasn't hard for me so the savings using Prohibit made sense to me based on the number of tanks I have to treat every year.

Know what you are dumping in your tank.
Know you tanks actual water volume when dosing via solution.

[msawdey]

Originally Posted by wkndracer

Really look at what you are buying folks when you shop!
The Prohibit product is vendor listed as containing 46.8 grams of levamisole hydrochloride activity so while the package weight is 52 grams the devil is in the details.

The pigeon dosage listed in the link is for consumption not drench. Charles lists a drench dosage based on weight and chemical reactivity selling a pure chemical without filler or inerts being added in the packaging. The math conversion wasn't hard for me so the savings using Prohibit made sense to me based on the number of tanks I have to treat every year.

Know what you are dumping in your tank.
Know you tanks actual water volume when dosing via solution.

What racer is saying here is my biggest fear with using a medication meant for another animal in my tanks. Those medications are produced for goats and birds that are EXTREMELY different from fish or a water column. Remember we are putting a chemical into their ENTIRE environment. It is like dosing your bedroom with a medicated aerosol.

On that note.... I dosed last night with the medication from Charles. Within almost 15 mins, I began to notice the worms being shed from one of my large males. The other male began shedding them a few hours later. The fish were not eating and an email from Charles regarding this made complete sense. As the medication takes effect, the 'knots' of the worm (where they attached) begin to pull away from the intestine. The fish probably have a feeling of complete satiation. With Charles instructions, I dosed the proper amount and will leave it in for 3 days with UV filter off, and any charcoal removed from filters (even though i don't have any). This includes Purigen.

Before dosing, i changed 3/4 of tank water and will do so again after 3 days. I then dose again using the same instructions after 3 weeks to kill off any of the remaining worms that may have hatched in the mean time as the medication may not completely kill of eggs

[ShortFin]

Originally Posted by wkndracer

Really look at what you are buying folks when you shop!
The Prohibit product is vendor listed as containing 46.8 grams of levamisole hydrochloride activity so while the package weight is 52 grams the devil is in the details.

The pigeon dosage listed in the link is for consumption not drench. Charles lists a drench dosage based on weight and chemical reactivity selling a pure chemical without filler or inerts being added in the packaging. The math conversion wasn't hard for me so the savings using Prohibit made sense to me based on the number of tanks I have to treat every year.

Know what you are dumping in your tank.
Know you tanks actual water volume when dosing via solution.

I don't see anything wrong with Vermisol.

Here is a posting on SimplyDiscus about using Vermisol. Check out post# 5 and #11.
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...-check-my-math

Also on Charle's pdf. Check what Ken wrote to Charles 9/26/96 on using the 7.5% solution.

[wkndracer]

Ask Sewingalot about mistaking Fenbendazole for Flubendazole.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...postcount=1341

and there are a few others that have confused ratios when making conversions among other things when reading web advice. Less fillers and inerts in a compound I'm adding to one of my tanks is something I consider a good thing.

I'll say it again and again,
Know what you are dumping in your tank.
Know you tanks actual water volume when dosing via solution.

[Warlock]

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/products.html

meds for EVERYTHING!!!!

the doses are simple and easy to understand.. pure forms

http://www.angelsplus.com/StoreSupplies.htm