AnimalKrazed
Aquarium Advice Activist
So, I'm back again. (-_-; )
I expect most people won't remember that I popped into the Unhealthy Fish section back in March to consult the wonderful members of this forum for advice on how to deal with Camallanus during the cycle period. I stopped updating the thread I made then for two reasons; 1. The red threads disappeared in all affected fish after a week of treatment and 50% water changes every couple of days, leaving me with the thought that they had been cured & 2. I had to leave my fish in the care of family as work took me away from the tank from late April to late August. I did stop by every other week or so to check in, do water changes, that sort of thing.
Some things went well, some things didn't (the guppies that brought the worms in the first place died off sometime in August for unknown reasons), as can usually be expected when leaving fish in the care of those who don't really take part in the hobby themselves. Anyways, as I was watching my fish yesterday after introducing a new fish to the tank I noticed my Dwarf Gourami looked a little bloated. Concerned, I looked at him closer with a flashlight in hand and...dun dun dun saw those little red threads hanging out of his vent. Given I have had previous experience with just this problem, I immediately went and grabbed my PraxiPro and started dosing the tank then had to leave for university commute.
Now, remember how I said I had just introduced a new fish to the tank? That new fish, an attractive looking Clown Pleco who has yet to be named, was left in the tank with several other fish who had already been exposed to the hanging threads of doom for long enough that I knew they were likely to be exposed for about 4-5hrs before I could get back home (which, btw would have been around 10:50pm). Thankfully, when I dosed the tank, the Clown was right in the current so they were medicated as soon as they were in the tank. However, since I don't want to leave anything up to chance, as soon as I got home, I located the Clown and kept an eye on them as I set up a temporary quarantine tank from a, then in-use, plastic storage container for him to stay in as fast as I could.
It took me about thirty-five to fifty minutes to go from in-use tote to an impromptu quarantine aquarium with plenty of driftwood to nibble on with de-chlorinating water and a working heater (meaning they got placed into quarantine at about 11:30-45). Took the Clown out of the tank as soon as a half hour had passed since putting in the de-chlorinator (something that happened around the twenty min mark) and checked up on him a couple times before I went to bed (meaning I fell asleep at 1am this morning).
The little guy is doing well last I looked in on them. Last confirmed sighting was this morning at about 9-10am when I lifted the driftwood to try and see how they were doing. Left them a couple of tiny algae wafers in case they decided to take a break from the driftwood but so far they haven't touched those (which I guess was to be expected, given there wasn't a large amount of driftwood in the tank at the store, though at least there was some).
My current plan of action is to keep my Clown out of the 10G for as long as there are signs of the parasite, while pre-emptively treating him with the PraxiPro to try and prevent the worms from taking root. I'm cleaning out the 10G, heavy duty style, as soon as I get home today, then refilling and redosing. I'll probably keep doing this every 2-3 days either for 2 weeks or until the parasites disappear (whichever happens first). If the worms haven't kicked the bucket by that point, I'll probably have to consider what to do since I cannot keep the tote as a permanent tank due to a lack of proper filtration and other reasons.
As I live in Canada, I am unable to get access to the Levi-meds that everyone seems to swear by when it comes to Camallanus (couldn't even find it on Kijiji and you can find almost anything you need/want on that site). Any other recommendations or additions to my current plan of action?
I'll add photos of the 10G in question and the tote-orary
brows tank later tonight.
I expect most people won't remember that I popped into the Unhealthy Fish section back in March to consult the wonderful members of this forum for advice on how to deal with Camallanus during the cycle period. I stopped updating the thread I made then for two reasons; 1. The red threads disappeared in all affected fish after a week of treatment and 50% water changes every couple of days, leaving me with the thought that they had been cured & 2. I had to leave my fish in the care of family as work took me away from the tank from late April to late August. I did stop by every other week or so to check in, do water changes, that sort of thing.
Some things went well, some things didn't (the guppies that brought the worms in the first place died off sometime in August for unknown reasons), as can usually be expected when leaving fish in the care of those who don't really take part in the hobby themselves. Anyways, as I was watching my fish yesterday after introducing a new fish to the tank I noticed my Dwarf Gourami looked a little bloated. Concerned, I looked at him closer with a flashlight in hand and...dun dun dun saw those little red threads hanging out of his vent. Given I have had previous experience with just this problem, I immediately went and grabbed my PraxiPro and started dosing the tank then had to leave for university commute.
Now, remember how I said I had just introduced a new fish to the tank? That new fish, an attractive looking Clown Pleco who has yet to be named, was left in the tank with several other fish who had already been exposed to the hanging threads of doom for long enough that I knew they were likely to be exposed for about 4-5hrs before I could get back home (which, btw would have been around 10:50pm). Thankfully, when I dosed the tank, the Clown was right in the current so they were medicated as soon as they were in the tank. However, since I don't want to leave anything up to chance, as soon as I got home, I located the Clown and kept an eye on them as I set up a temporary quarantine tank from a, then in-use, plastic storage container for him to stay in as fast as I could.
It took me about thirty-five to fifty minutes to go from in-use tote to an impromptu quarantine aquarium with plenty of driftwood to nibble on with de-chlorinating water and a working heater (meaning they got placed into quarantine at about 11:30-45). Took the Clown out of the tank as soon as a half hour had passed since putting in the de-chlorinator (something that happened around the twenty min mark) and checked up on him a couple times before I went to bed (meaning I fell asleep at 1am this morning).
The little guy is doing well last I looked in on them. Last confirmed sighting was this morning at about 9-10am when I lifted the driftwood to try and see how they were doing. Left them a couple of tiny algae wafers in case they decided to take a break from the driftwood but so far they haven't touched those (which I guess was to be expected, given there wasn't a large amount of driftwood in the tank at the store, though at least there was some).
My current plan of action is to keep my Clown out of the 10G for as long as there are signs of the parasite, while pre-emptively treating him with the PraxiPro to try and prevent the worms from taking root. I'm cleaning out the 10G, heavy duty style, as soon as I get home today, then refilling and redosing. I'll probably keep doing this every 2-3 days either for 2 weeks or until the parasites disappear (whichever happens first). If the worms haven't kicked the bucket by that point, I'll probably have to consider what to do since I cannot keep the tote as a permanent tank due to a lack of proper filtration and other reasons.
As I live in Canada, I am unable to get access to the Levi-meds that everyone seems to swear by when it comes to Camallanus (couldn't even find it on Kijiji and you can find almost anything you need/want on that site). Any other recommendations or additions to my current plan of action?
I'll add photos of the 10G in question and the tote-orary
brows tank later tonight.
