Camallanus Worms Question

[Kelly5978]

Okay....I was using the metro food for the angelfish (white poo typically means hex). I just saw red coming out of the Bolivian ram. So, I KNOW you were right now. I ordered the levamisole food from angels plus. But, my angel is barely eating. Do I need to order the stuff you actually put in the tank? Or will just the food work? Man, I've heard these are soooo hard to get rid of. How fast will it kill the fish? Will it make them flick? Both rams are. I don't see red coming out of any other fish, but could the angel's symptoms (barely eats, thinning rapidly, clear poo) be the same problem. Funny enough, the blue and Bolivian ram came from the same store. We actually drove out of town to this store, because it was supposed to be sooo much better!!! I'm so pissed. These 2 fish gave my tank ich, and now these worms! I will follow the instructions, but can you give me any more info? How fast will it kill them? Should I use any other medication? The male blue is now very aggressive to everyone....including his mate! But, you said it would do me no good to remove these 2 fish right? Cause the tanks infected. Correct? How long of a treatment process is this? Will this medicine cause a mini-cycle? Geez....I just want to cry. I have spent a ridiculous amount of time, energy, money, and love on this tank! Please tell me I can beat this with minimal losses

 

[Kelly5978]

Oh....and you said I should STOP the medicated metro food? They were on day 3. What should I feed them until the levamisole gets here?

 

[bsantucci]

Just feed the normal food you know they'll eat. I recommend frozen shrimp so it's high protein to keep them strong.

Order the levamisole from this guy in can vouch for it. http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?medications&1378593606

You need to treat the tank. Once worms are visible they are dropping eggs. They are very curable using what I linked above. Follow the directions he has listed on the sale page to the letter. Your rams are probably fighting when you feed right? That's a symptom of the worm.

Forget the medicated food until you get the tank treated with the levamisole. It won't hurt your cycle or any plants or inverts. I have shrimp and snails and mine are fine as are my plants. This also boosts immune systems which is a nice side effect. Full treatment is three weeks cause you have to treat again three weeks after for any eggs that were laid and hatch.

Trust me just treat with this stuff it has no negative side effects. Turn off their lights for the three days you leave the medicine in the water too this helps them as it makes them light sensitive. Do 80% water changes also before and after as the directions say.

Let me know how this works out. I've had great success my Bolivian is perfect now. Colors coming out and she is just so much healthier looking and acting.

 

[Kelly5978]

Please make sure to read the last 2 posts....I really need your help on treating this. I just wanted to show you why I'm so scared....maybe it's not beautiful to everyone, but this is the best tank I've ever done! I absolutely love them. Please....I will follow instructions exactly! Sassy is the smaller black angel (used to be the same size)....who's all clamped up you've seen the blue rams.

 

[Kelly5978]

Ok. I'm going to the link now. Is there a good chance I will lose any fish? 80% water changes scare me, cause I have fish very sensitive to water changes...but if rather them a little unhappy vs dead. If everyone is eating except the one angel, should they make it until the stuff arrives? Really...THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

[Kelly5978]

Which is the most important? The levimasole food? Or the actual stuff for the water? I have to wait till Monday to buy one or the other. I can either upgrade my order on the powder for the tank, so I get it sooner, and order the food Monday. Or I can overnight the medicated food now, and just wait on regular shipping for the powder. A different angelfish is like "pulling his bottom fin up" and keeps kind of "swiping at his private area" with his long feelers. So, I'm quite sure he's infected now also. He's my biggest angel. I can't imagine losing him. What would you consider my most imminent need? Food or powder? Thanks. Super worried now.

 

[Kelly5978]

I'm confused. I have a 55g tank. The instructions are in liters, and the medicine is purchased in grams! How many grams do I need for 2 treatments?

 

[bsantucci]

Get the levamisole powder from the link I provided. The food won't cure the tank alone at this point. You can do the food later in between the levamisole treatments.

It will come in two packets of 5 grams each. Mix 1 packet with 10 ounces of water. That will treat 100 gallons or 1 ounce for each gallon. For reference 2 tablespoons is one once. So for 60 gallons you need 12 tablespoons or 6 ounces.

If they are eating they will make it. I only lost the one ram cause he didn't eat for 3 weeks.

Buy the levamisole from the seller MVP. I'd recommend getting 20 grams worth since you're doing to have to use more than one packet per treatment you'll have leftover powder but that's not a bad thing

 

[Kelly5978]

Okay. It's more than I thought if have to spend, but I don't want a bad batch. Have you ever heard of avitrol plus? It's supposedly levamisole plus praziquantel. Im asking because I'm a tad afraid that something ELSE is wrong with my angel. The 2 rams with visible worms are very nippy (especially at feeding time, just like you predicted....why is that?) But, they eat. My angel hides, is thinning, and won't eat. Her poo is white/clear, and stringy. She's had metro food for 4 days (prior to you telling me to start feeding them the med food) with no improvement. She spits back out most of her did, but she was at least putting it in her mouth and trying. Now...she doesn't even try! Are these also symptoms of camallanus? I ordered the avitrol and lev food, AND I'm ordering the levamisole from your source when I get paid tomorrow. I guess I'll trust your experience and use the powder lev. I just hope it helps my angel too. So, am I supposed to sit and wait for them to poop them out, and then....what? Catch them with a net? The levamisole just paralyses them, right? So I have to get them out before another fish eats it. I guess I'm wondering the easiest way to accomplish that. Also, all of the places I've found to sell levamisole (including your source) are saying 7-10 days before delivery. Are my fish going to live that long? I could overnight from eBay, but then I chance getting a bad batch. This sux!!!!

 

[bsantucci]

Idk about avitrol plus. The problem with not using pure levamisole is that you don't know how much you're getting into the water. I'd stick with the real stuff. The seller MVP I recommended shipped on a saturday for me even and I got it on Tuesday after labor day, so 2 business days really. I'd imagine you'd have the same response from them.

I assume they are nippy cause they are super hunger and malnourished from the worms sapping the nutrients. It's possible the angels have it too based on the clear poo, but the female worms may not be mature yet, (they only are visible once mature and laying eggs).

It's my understanding the worms are paralyzed, however they should soon die. They need the host to feed from so they'll die w/o the fish. The practice is to do a extremely thorough vacuuming with the water change after the 3 day treatment. This will get dead worms and a lot of eggs out. The treatment 3 weeks later is to kill any eggs that were missed and hatched.

I would stick to ordering from MVP. I can vouch for them and in my opinion after getting burned I'd rather know I'm getting the right stuff.

 

[Kelly5978]

Okay. I'm ordering it too. How do I request early delivery? I'd pay for it. I only have my iPhone 5 to navigate, so sometimes I don't see all the options.

 

[Kelly5978]

Wait, do you think I should QT the angel? And try something different? This fish was healthy LAST week. Now it's shrunken, all clamped up, swaying more than swimming, and not eating! Maybe she has something else? The rams are vicious and fighting. The angel is dying. Literally in front of my eyes. Heartbreaking! I don't know what I'll do if my big black beauty follow in her footsteps. It'd be awful to lose angels by treating them incorrectly.

 

[bsantucci]

Okay. I'm ordering it too. How do I request early delivery? I'd pay for it. I only have my iPhone 5 to navigate, so sometimes I don't see all the options.

I don't know that you can. You can email the seller and ask them, but they shipped USPS first class for me which is 1-3 days ETA.

 

[bsantucci]

Wait, do you think I should QT the angel? And try something different? This fish was healthy LAST week. Now it's shrunken, all clamped up, swaying more than swimming, and not eating! Maybe she has something else? The rams are vicious and fighting. The angel is dying. Literally in front of my eyes. Heartbreaking! I don't know what I'll do if my big black beauty follow in her footsteps. It'd be awful to lose angels by treating them incorrectly.

I wouldn't. It's very possible the angel is infected too. The levamisole will help it depending on what is wrong. If it's a nematode the medicine should work on it too. See how it is after the levamisole treatment. It's also an immune booster so the angel should benefit.

 

[Kelly5978]

Thank you so much...really. Okay. Placing order for 20g. It's levamisole hydrochloride correct? You hadn't mentioned the hydrochloride.....so wanted to be certain before forking over $30 plus shipping!

 

[bsantucci]

Yep that's it just never wanted to spell it all out lol. It's water soluble in that form. Also yeah based in your tank size you need that but you will have left overs. It holds in the fridge for six months though.

 

[Kelly5978]

Man...that site still has me waiting to register. I can even start the waiting process, cause I can't order! Guess I'll hope to get a good batch from eBay???? This sux

 

[bsantucci]

Man...that site still has me waiting to register. I can even start the waiting process, cause I can't order! Guess I'll hope to get a good batch from eBay???? This sux

Just wait, they probably weren't monitoring sunday. I made the same mistake, didn't wait and ordered from ebay in haste and came up empty. I'd hate to see it happen to you too.

 

[Kelly5978]

I was approved on aquabid, and purchased from MVP...20 grams of levamisole. I received an email with contact info. I emailed, including confirmation number. I still haven't paid. A second angelfish is hiding. He's my favorite. He has a grey patch on both sides of his head, right below the dorsal fin. I'm guessing this is a secondary bacterial infection. What do you think? I KNOW the tank has camallanus worms, but I would hate to wait on this med, just to find out something else is wrong. Do I just wait for an email response from MVP? I'm so upset! I wish I had the med now. I do have some metro, kanaplex, and a few other meds. Should I use anything?

 

[bsantucci]

I was approved on aquabid, and purchased from MVP...20 grams of levamisole. I received an email with contact info. I emailed, including confirmation number. I still haven't paid. A second angelfish is hiding. He's my favorite. He has a grey patch on both sides of his head, right below the dorsal fin. I'm guessing this is a secondary bacterial infection. What do you think? I KNOW the tank has camallanus worms, but I would hate to wait on this med, just to find out something else is wrong. Do I just wait for an email response from MVP? I'm so upset! I wish I had the med now. I do have some metro, kanaplex, and a few other meds. Should I use anything?

Google Saddleback columnaris and see if it looks like that. If so I'd quarantine that one for sure.

Regarding the aquabid auction.... I just paid with PayPal instantly and got an email the next day with my tracking. I'm sure it will be the same for you too.