Camallanus!!

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As of now my plans are to soak my fish food in the fenbendazole again. It seems last night's feeding accomplished nothing. I still see a little red worm-like thing sticking out of my angelfish. That is really the only sign that I even have camallanus. Could it possibly be something else?? Both him and one of my swordtails has been bloated for a few days now. I don't know what else it could be.

I don't know how long I should give the fenbendazole... but probably if I see no improvements I will order the levamisole flakes tonight or tomorrow.
 
Can you post a pic? Just from your description I'm pretty confident that is what it is, my guppy took a couple days to pass the one that I could see but after that came out, other ones that were in there did too, it was like the initial worm was blocking the rest from coming out :/ you could order the flakes anyways... Wouldn't hurt to have em in case it strikes again, let's hope it don't! I have all the supplies just in case it does tho!
 
You should fast before feedings tho so that the fish are hungry at snap up the food immediately and eat more... That's what the directions say on the flake.
 
My fish gobbled it all up, fasting or no fasting. Pretty sure they will eat anything! lol. I also added a bit of garlic to the wonderful smelling concoction I created last night, so I'm thinking it masked the taste of the fenbendazole enough for them to eat it all up.

Here is the best pic I could get. It's hard to see, but it's at least in focus! lol. My angelfish does NOT stop moving. You can see the little tiny little worm sticking out of him.
 

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And it's hard to tell from the pic, but my angelfish is about the size of a quarter not including fins.
 
okapizebra said:
My fish gobbled it all up, fasting or no fasting. Pretty sure they will eat anything! lol. I also added a bit of garlic to the wonderful smelling concoction I created last night, so I'm thinking it masked the taste of the fenbendazole enough for them to eat it all up.

Here is the best pic I could get. It's hard to see, but it's at least in focus! lol. My angelfish does NOT stop moving. You can see the little tiny little worm sticking out of him.

100% sure it's Callamanus :/ garlic was a good thing to add that's what the flake contains too. I feed NLS Thera A daily it contains garlic too which is suppose to ward off parasites and such :) give the first med another day or so if there r no changes I'd try plan B!
 
I was hoping I was wrong in my diagnosis! I have NLS flakes with garlic as well. I soaked those in the fenbendazole last night. I feed other foods as well, though. I will! Good plan.
 
I have to agree with Jessica here- it really does sound like cam worm. You are probably fine just going with the leva-med food route AS LONG as everyone keeping eating. You may want to have some of the leva on hand though to treat the tank in case someone does stop eating. That would be my only concern. Keep us posted, Ms. Zebra! :)
 
So far, everyone is behaving normally. They are all still pigs! This is the only thing that makes me want to think there's nothing wrong with them. This is also why I assume I have caught this issue early. I have their food soaking in the fenbendazole currently. It sure doesn't dissolve in water well, which makes me think it's not very strongly concentrated in the flakes and it probably won't work... but fingers crossed! I am going to order the levamisole flakes tonight either way.

Thanks for everyone's help and advice!
 
It does take a few feedings for it to kick in.

As was said, be diligent in your water changes and gravel cleaning. You can also use Jungle Anti-Parasite fizz tabs. Once the worms are expelled they are weak. Using the fizz tabs helps make them weaker and kill them off. It also helps against eggs that might be in other fish.

Just remember to use them at half the dose instead of a full dose. The fish already stressed, the meds make it worse. It's easier on them to use half doses for longer periods.

I've used this method a few times, the fen and tabs together, and have always beaten that nasty worm. And learned to QT new fish for longer than a few weeks.
 
Thanks for your advice!! May I ask you how exactly you used the fenbendazole? I've just been taking about 1/8th of a teaspoon and attempting to dissolve it in about a half a cup of water, putting in a little garlic, and soaking my food in there for 30-60mins. My fish don't seem to be stressed at all. I just fed them, and they gobbled down every bite! I was under the impression though that the fenbendazole actually killed the worms, larva, and the eggs, is this incorrect?
 
Thanks for your advice!! May I ask you how exactly you used the fenbendazole? I've just been taking about 1/8th of a teaspoon and attempting to dissolve it in about a half a cup of water, putting in a little garlic, and soaking my food in there for 30-60mins. My fish don't seem to be stressed at all. I just fed them, and they gobbled down every bite! I was under the impression though that the fenbendazole actually killed the worms, larva, and the eggs, is this incorrect?

I soak blood worms in it with a little bit of garlic juice. As the blood worms thaw, they make enough water for the fen to get soaked into the food. It sounds to me like you're having no problem getting them to eat it, so that's a good sign. When they're too far gone, they won't even eat.

All fen and leva do is weaken the worm. It's usually still alive when it falls out of the fish. The food is to treat internally, the tabs are for external. The worm and it's various stages are hard to kill off. You'll want to do as much as you can to get rid of it. I thought I had the first time it infected one of my tanks. So the second battle I tried the fen and the tabs, killed that nasty worm, never had an outbreak in that tank again.
 
okapizebra said:
So far, everyone is behaving normally. They are all still pigs! This is the only thing that makes me want to think there's nothing wrong with them. This is also why I assume I have caught this issue early. I have their food soaking in the fenbendazole currently. It sure doesn't dissolve in water well, which makes me think it's not very strongly concentrated in the flakes and it probably won't work... but fingers crossed! I am going to order the levamisole flakes tonight either way.

Thanks for everyone's help and advice!

The worms didn't affect my guppy in the slightest! Acted normal, ate normal, just had worms coming out of her butt lol! Wait till you use the flake... Makes em poop in minutes lol. You will be happy you got it! And Steve from Angels ships sooooo incredibly fast!
 
I ordered the levamisole flakes. I ordered them from someone on aquabid, actually. Even if I do see improvement from the fenbendazole, I'll have these on backup. I like how they are already made, and I don't have to mix and soak my food.
 
okapizebra said:
I ordered the levamisole flakes. I ordered them from someone on aquabid, actually. Even if I do see improvement from the fenbendazole, I'll have these on backup. I like how they are already made, and I don't have to mix and soak my food.

Awesome! It is very convenient for sure :) keep u updated on your progress :)
 
I will :) Thanks for everyone's help!!

Current plan is to continue the fenbendazole until my flakes get here. How many days of using a med is too many? When I get my flakes in the mail, should I give everyone a day of fasting to get the previous chemical out of their system first?
 
Dragonfish should have suggestions for the length of time suggested for treating cam worms with fenben via food. Off the top of my head, I do not know the halflife or suggested withdrawal time for fenben in fish. Steve at Angelsplus may be able to offer more information on how soon you can start the leva after the last feben dose. :)
 
My order shipped, so it'll be soon that I have the leva flakes. I fasted the fish tonight, and probably will until the flakes get here. Do you think this is a good plan?
 
okapizebra said:
My order shipped, so it'll be soon that I have the leva flakes. I fasted the fish tonight, and probably will until the flakes get here. Do you think this is a good plan?

Yay!!! I think it's a great plan!!
 
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