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Worming Fish?


Jimmy

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Hello,

Just wondering what form and dose rate people use for worming their fish? I was planning on using Praziquantel tablets, but want to make sure I get the right ones from my vet (i.e. how many mg/tablet). I am also wondering what other precautionary treatments people use on their cichlids in quarantine before they add them to established tanks with fish already in them. Any info and advice would be great.

Many Thanks

James.

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I bought two weeks ago;

Aqua Master

Fluke and Tapeworm Tablets

Each tablet contains Praziquantel 100mg

Purchased from Aquamail for around $50.

I think the dose was something like one tablet per 20 litres, with 100 tablets in bottle. You need enough tablets to do two doses as it is recommended to redoes after a week to catch anything mid-lifecycle.

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Levamisole is available from over the counter or via mail order from any farm animal medication suppliers. Do a google and you will see you can mailer order it. Also look for Nilverm. We got some levamisole from petalia on line. It's not a controlled substance.

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I use " Worm Enda Plus Bird Worming Syrup 30ml"...about $10 at most pet stores.

Active ingredients:

10mg/ml levamisole hydrochloride (equivalent to 8.48mg/ml levamisole base)

2mg/ml praziquantel

Dose 1.5ml per 10 litres

I take a bucket of water from the tank before dosing

After 24 hours remove fish(and place in bucket or more desirablely a Hospital tank) and plants and then siphon out all the water vacuming gravel at the same time to remove any eggs.

Replace plants then refill tank. I replace fish after another 24 hours observation in a hospital tank

Note! my largest tank is 100 litre.

I have removed fish and treated them in a hospital tank but they only get reinfected in the main tank.

You may still lose fish but it's the best treatment I've tried.

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Thanks for taking the time Rod.

There is over 900 litres of water in the system I’d like to treat, so your suggestions of removing all the water wouldn’t really be a goer.

You say you may still lose fish, is that because the medication kills them, or because the medication is not fully successful?

I assume the later.

How does this suggested dosage regime sound? Dose the tank as per your recommendations, 25% water change say after …3 days, wait a week and re-dose, then water change 3 days later be suitable do you think?

Hope I’m not hijacking your thread Jimmy.

Craig

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I accidentally dosed my main tank with what I calculated to be 5 times the recommended dose a few years ago. I had got worms in my bolivian butterflies (I saw the worms hangling out the back of them and dissected one which I took photos of and put on my web site). As soon as I worked out I had used too much I did an immediate 25% water change. (The water ended up white and cloudy). Personally I was more scared of doing large water changes then the wormicides as theoretically the way they work only effects the worms. In the end all the worms were eradicated never to be seen again (ever so far). I did not lose a single fish and no loss of plants (my tanks are highly planted).

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My experience is for treatment of Camallanus Worms in small fish....dwarf cichlids and killifish.

You say you may still lose fish, is that because the medication kills them, or because the medication is not fully successful?

More likely it will be what ozarowana said....worms die and go septic in stomach of host fish. It kills worms very well....but not the eggs

How does this suggested dosage regime sound? Dose the tank as per your recommendations, 25% water change say after …3 days, wait a week and re-dose, then water change 3 days later be suitable do you think?

Using this product requires 100% water change because it will send the water milky after 3/4 days...

I've had fish in treated water for longer than 24 hours but in my experience they develop internal bacterial infections months down the track...hole in the head and external lesions....perhaps the results of internal worms going septic or perhaps prolonged exposure poisons their system or maybe it was totally unrelated...I don't know :dntknw: ....but my best results were as explained.

I have seen a suggested water change of 50% after 24 hours and more regular water changes over the next couple of weeks till the water is clear...but it is untried territory for me :dntknw:

I think the most important thing is a thorough vaccum of substrate to remove eggs.....and careful observation after treatment....repeat proceedure if worms reappear

If you goggle levamisole + camallanus worms you will get a lot of different examples of suggested treatments ....perhaps there will be one that is more relavent to your large tank....BEST OF LUCK! :thumb

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Levamisole (poultry and pig wormer) isn't really the drug of choice, but is more readily available.

The drug of choice for intestinal worms is either fenbendazole or piperazine. Piperazine citrate is supposed to keep the worms alive, but the host animal passes them out.

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It's true that Piperazine citrate does not kill the worms. It interferes with the particular process in the central nervous system of only worms (Helminths) that paralyses them. It’s not really a poison to anything else, even in high doses.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

I read that some people treat their fish periodically (probably more in discus world? :dntknw: ).

Is it necessary? Also a question comes to my mind...

Will treating an established tank (with Levamisole) cause it to re cycle?

What are your experience pls?

Thanks.

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