Still in the grips of Camallanus worms

[Apistogramm-Sam]

Okay so I have treated my Apistos with Levamisole three times now and my female gibbiceps is still infected with worms. Every time I treat them the worms seem to go away for a few weeks, then return again. The female is the only one who shows visible signs of being infected. I change all the water that I can after each treatment. I'm starting to worry that I'll never get rid of the worms or have my gibbiceps breed again :frown: Is there anything else I can do to get rid of the infection?

 

[Mike Wise]

Could you be re-introducing the parasite in some way?

 

[fishgeek]

i have recently seen a product called gel tek that you may wish to try

if you are certain that it is camallanus then this product has flubendazol in which is a different neamtodicide from the same family as levamisol

the real benefit though is that it also contains metronidazol and praziquantel, well those are the claims i have seen
i believe it is american and is available from aquatic retailers

the other option that i have been thinking of trying is actually trying panacur(fenbendazol) , it is another from the same family and comes as chewable dog wormers , i was actually toying with just crumbling some of the wormer to see if fish would eat it, benefits here are that fenbendazol is now touted as the most effective antiprotozoal for dogs and cats with giardia - prehaps some effect against the other aquatic protozoa ?

andrew
asto mike's point
camallanus is supposed to have a complex life cycle require intermediate hosts of the inveterbrate order ie daphnia copepods etc etc , if you are not using a live food source of your own that may have been contaminated with nets, change water etc then shouldnt be a problem

there was however a more recent study that suggests that camallanus in times of need can develop a direct lifecycle ie form fish to fish with no intermediate host , this can only be maintained for a short period

keep up the treatments
sterilise to your best abilities all associated equipment
and keep looking for any other reason for breakdown

 

[Apistogramm-Sam]

The shop that I work at has some of the gel tek meds. Unfortunately, it is totally ignored by all the fish we have tried to feed it to. Even the fish in our display tank which hit anything and everything don't take to it. The only live food I feed is baby brine, which shouldn't be able to play intermediate host. I guess I'll keep dosing the tank until they hopefully are taken care of. Thanks for the input

Sam

 

[fishgeek]

can you use the product in water?
are there any instruction and prices that you can refer me to or prehasp the manufacturer's site

thanks andrew

 

[Apistogramm-Sam]

The product came from valleyvet.com It is in powdered form and is meant to be mixed with water for swine. I have been going on the instruction from another hobbyist that 5 grams treats 100 gallons (~379 liters).

 

[Rolo]

Hi,

you should dig up/into (?) the ground, when you give the Levamisol/Concurat into the water. Camallanus larvae are in the ground, not only in water. So, if you just give the Levamisol into the water, there will be areas in the ground, which you don't reach with the medicine and where the Cammallanus larvae will survive and re-infect the fishes.

..and Levamisol or Concurat L-10% is best against Camallanus. Do not use Flubendazol, this is for other parasites.

regards,
Rolo

 

[fishgeek]

rolo why do you say not to use flubendazol?

andrew

 

[Rolo]

rolo why do you say not to use flubendazol?

andrew

I didn't said, you shouldn't use Flubendazol at all. You even can use it against Camallanus, as far as I know. But in many cases, Camallanus became resistent for Flubenol/Flubendazol.
The best med. agent against Camallanus is Levamisol. It takes more effect and it's harmless for the fishes.
So, if you have a re-infection in spite of using Levamisol, it's because you didn't kill all larvae in the ground due to insufficient water circulation there.

Concurat L-10% (agent: Levamisol) is based on Glucose. Therefore you can get an outbreak of bacterias and caused by that: oxygene insufficience.
So, if you use Concurat instead of Levamisol, reduce bacterial amount first by changing water and cleaning the filter. During therapy you need good aeration. But it works as goos as pure Levamisol.

regards,
Rolo

 

[Xanathos]

Do a double treatment. Use levamisole once and another time 10 days after.
This way you should get rid of most worms in the tank. Fish are getting them back when "eating" on the sand and gravel..

Good luck

Phil