Camallanus worms and how to treat?

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samram0829

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Apr 17, 2015
Messages
66
Location
Wonder Lake, Illinois
Hey ladies and gents!
For about a month I was treating my guppies with API melafix and pimafix for what I believed was a fungal infection I noticed here and there I'd find some dead fry (i thought it was from treatment) 4 of 5 females died at separate times during treament so I thought they had died of this "fungal" infection.
After the last living female appeared to be healthy again I put her in my male guppy tank and also purchased 2 new females (Saturday 6/20) so she wouldn't be stressed from the males. Last night I'm sitting in front of my tank just watching my fish when I notice these red worm like things hanging out of her (only survivor mentioned above) butt so I start looking up what they might be and shortly after I found my problem Camallanus worms! My questions are:
What is easily obtained that will treat these? I've read on multiple sites canine dewormer will work if this is true
How do I properly dose a 10 gallon and also a 20 gallon high?
I am planning on emptying both tanks of decorations, plants, and gravel and sterilizing it all in a bleach solution as I do not have a quarantine tank to move the fish to before starting treatment.
Can mystery snails contract these worms or can I remove them before starting treatment?
I've read a bit of conflicting info online about treatments being effective for some and those same treatments being a waste for others.
I'm sure I'll have other questions these are just what came to mind right away.
10 Gallon- Guppies, guppy fry, and 2 mystery snails.
20 Gallon High- Small tiger barbs.


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Linwood has a detailed account of treatment featuring the levamisole..

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Thanks for the replies! I'll be sure to check out the levamisole and order some ASAP! I don't want to lose anymore fish although I know I probably will :( I hope my snails make it through as they are my favorite.

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I will be ordering the levamisole on Friday when I have some cash unless I can possibly get some from a friend who works on a dairy farm. I was just reading some more info on these nasty little things and stumbled upon praziquantel or ivermectin maybe working to remove the worms? I was thinking of crushing one of my dogs heartworm pills as those contain both ivermectin and praziquantel and trying a small dose on the most infected fish in a 5g bucket? Anyone think this may work or should I not attempt this and wait til I can get some levamisole?

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The ivermectin is known to work I believe ,BUT I think the fish has to eat it!
This is often the problem.
The prazi is safe to try as it causes no troubles like many other meds,and is absorbed by the fish.
All sources still say the levamisole is the #1 cure for the worm!
Charles is #1 with help and directions also.
 
I did see that they'd have to eat ivermectin soaked food which shouldn't be a problem because all fish are still eating even the one who visibly has worms. This is terrible! I feel like I've done nothing but treat my fish for this or that since I started and this almost had me throw in the towel on this hobby.

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If they are eating well still I would go with it.
Good luck !
Camalanus is not easy ,but has been beat by many!
Kill it!!
 
I'll try to keep this updated when I start treatment either with the ivermectin/prazi definitely when I get the Levamisole! Thanks for the help advice and luck!

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I tried the fenbendazole and it seemed to have no effect...I used the levamisole and it worked great...you have to treat the whole tank(substrate and decorations) but you dont have to tear your tanks apart...you need to remove invertebrates before treating...my nerite didnt survive...but I had minimal fish losses i was treating 2 10g tanks...go with the levamisole.

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I tried the fenbendazole and it seemed to have no effect...I used the levamisole and it worked great...you have to treat the whole tank(substrate and decorations) but you dont have to tear your tanks apart...you need to remove invertebrates before treating...my nerite didnt survive...but I had minimal fish losses i was treating 2 10g tanks...go with the levamisole.

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Did you try the prazi out of interest? I've got a note somewhere they don't work well on these worms (different class).
 
Did you try the prazi out of interest? I've got a note somewhere they don't work well on these worms (different class).

I did not...I read prazi only stuns them but doesnt acutally kill them. The levamisole not only kills the adults but the larve stage as well...I just followed the instruction from charles and vacuumed the tank a lot to pick up the ones that were coming out. I did the second treatment 3 weeks later just in case any eggs hatched.

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I ended up not trying the prazi or ivermectin. I did however put in an order with charles for the levamisole. I do not want to remove my snails because I read somewhere that they could carry the nematodes hopefully they survive. I am going to bare bottom treat my tanks and soak everything in bleach because I will not be adding any substrate back to my tanks... at least not for a while.

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Is aquabid a trusted site? I found some levamisole on there and I can just buy it now instead of waiting for Charles to reply to my email (which he hasn't yet). I believe the sellers name on there is mvp? Anyone ever order levamisole from aquabid?

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Aqua bid is safe.
What a shame about Charles?
Try to confirm % and see if they have good reviews and instructions.
 
I have to wait at least 24 hours on aquabid before I can even purchase anything. So I'll be sure to check out feedback from buyers and what not as well as continue to wait until Charles gets back to me. My poor fish seems like everyday they get a bit worse at this rate I'm afraid none of my guppies will make it by the time I can get my hands on levamisole :(

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