My fish have camalanus worms!!!

[Fishlover99]

I have guppies and some female betta's that I am currently treating in my 30 tall. This tank is set up just for the betta's they all came from the pet store. They all where in a naked 5 gallon tank. They where taring each other up badly. So I bought them. I own 34 betta fish. Plz do not try and school me about my betta's. They are happy healthy and their fins are all healed up from their fighting at the store. I do fallow a few YouTubers that have used the medication that I will be using. Not to much info on how to use it. I do not want to make up the whole pack, I do not need to treat 5,000 gallons. I have done one treatment so far. I did as if my tank was a 20gallon, not a [emoji817]% on how much. I used .6 grams of levamisole hydrochloride soluble drench powder anthelmintic. I am told this kills all worms in my fish. They have a few different types I'm going to guess. After the first round I did my WC, then waited 24 hours and decided to treat with general cure for 4 days. They have stopped taking the medicated food. Alot of them still have puffy chests, other are suffering from a sunken belly, and tell they do not feel well. I have fresh fry in this tank. They are not even 72 hours old, others are 12 hours old and I have 2 more girls that are going to pop. One is part of my breeding project. Can anyone tell if this stuff can will kill my fry and my unborn fry? I love my fish very much. I have too much love, time, energy, effort in to my tanks. I don't care about the money part. Yes I have alot invested. Over 4 grand. The fish are all I care about. Their temp is at 75 right now I do need to lower the temp for the meds, pH is at 7.5-8. Hard water I can't tell you how just it's hard. 0 ammonia, 0 nirtite, about 20 ppm for nitrates. This tank is stocked with real and fake plants it's really dense with them actually. I will post some pics of sunken belly's and bloated belly's. The one hiding in the hornswort has the sunken belly and isn't acting right. The others are prego yes, but their chests are bloated. They normally get assortment of frozen foods, pellets, flakes, I blanch kale, or give green beans, or a algae wafer once and while. Frozen brand is sanfrancisco bay brand, blood worms, fresh water Frenzy, brine shrimp, and emerald entree. The dry foods are all hikari brand.

 

[King Fisher]

Is the anus of the fish swollen and red or irritated? Any worms seen hanging out of the anus?

 

[Fishlover99]

Is the anus of the fish swollen and red or irritated? Any worms seen hanging out of the anus?

I have seen a couple hanging out. I have a few females with swollen bums, I had fry that looked like they had tumors on theirs. After first treatment that went away. The fry at the time where about a month in age if not a week older. I do have freshly dropped fry. Their mothers where extremely pregnant when I treated them the first time. It's hard for me to get good pics of them. For they do not sit still. I see less and and less of white stringy Pooh coming from them.

 

[mbkemp]

Your fry should be fine. Make sure and follow precisely the directions for gravel vacs and follow up dosing. Also keep an eye out for bacterial infections from worms stuck inside dead. If you caught it early and follow directions you should be ok

 

[Fishlover99]

I hope I have. I haven't started a second dose yet I was waiting to see what advise I was going to get and tips and what have you. When I saw them I only saw one poking out and I know it was spitting out eggs. I'm a freak when to comes to gravel sucks. I keep a thin layer of gravel my plants are mostly kept in pots. I have a high stock level. Which I hope to thin out after treatment. I can't knowing re-home infected fish. It's just not ethical. I also have a fish in my fish room that only eats live fry. I haven't fed him any of mine in fear I will infect him as well. I'm trying ghost shrimp I hope he eats soon, he. Is going on almost 2 weeks and I have given everything under the sun, I even tried not feeding for a few days hoping he would. Nothing. I have had betta's for years. Guppies are fairly new to me I do know that they are not like they where 20 years ago that's for sure.

 

[King Fisher]

I think you're on the right track with levamisole hcl. I think the dosage is 13 ppm minimum to kill off the worms.

 

[mbkemp]

It is generally 2 ppm. Some advise up to 13 ppm. I don’t have an opinion on which is right.

Absolutely correct about worms you see spraying eggs. Levimisole does not kill eggs so you will have to vacuum them up or kill them when they hatch

Most I have read recommend 2-3 rounds of treatment and then observe. In my experience if it caught early it is solvable, if not it is long and painful

 

[mbkemp]

https://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/levamisole-hydrochloride-1

 

[okapizebra]

I would recommend doing 3 treatments just to be safe. I recently battled this myself. Levamisole is good stuff. Within an hour after my first treatment, the worms were expelled by my fish. The second and third treatment will account for any eggs that have hatched. You only need the levamisole in the water for 3 days or so, then do a large water change to remove it. I did my second dose 1 week later, and the final dose two weeks after the second.

The link mbkemp posted is full of info to help you out. If you keep scrolling towards the bottom there's a summary section that breaks it down very simply. Those were the instructions I followed with success.

 

[Fishlover99]

I would recommend doing 3 treatments just to be safe. I recently battled this myself. Levamisole is good stuff. Within an hour after my first treatment, the worms were expelled by my fish. The second and third treatment will account for any eggs that have hatched. You only need the levamisole in the water for 3 days or so, then do a large water change to remove it. I did my second dose 1 week later, and the final dose two weeks after the second.

The link mbkemp posted is full of info to help you out. If you keep scrolling towards the bottom there's a summary section that breaks it down very simply. Those were the instructions I followed with success.

Thank you so much for all your info. I will be treating them again today. I moved plants from a grow tank to this 30 gallon. I have some unwanted guests. I do not understand how planaria got into my tanks. I am a light feeder and I do not keep shrimp. I feed my fish small ghost shrimp. None ever make to adulthood. My betta's are cleaning them up them up as much as they can. I have only seen one on my glass it was small and I sucked it right up. I have seen mixed feeling on these organisms, but will be happy to rid my tank of them.