Callamanus Worms Please Help

[Sprucegruve]

because I suggsted panacur, the majority here will say levamisole.

:rofl: i think you figured it out lol....jk

this panacur seems good i just dont know ow much someone would dose.

not sure if I should treat the other one but wil

It's a good idea to treat all tanks. It can be easily transferred to others. Sprucegruve described them perfectly...a plague. I've had it twice, and it made it to every tank I had at the time. The meds will kill the worms, but not the eggs, which is why you need 2-3 doses of it spread between about a 14 day period. They're a pain to get rid of, but if you follow the directions then you should be able to get rid of them. Best of luck!

yep this can spread very easily,i moved some plants from my 90 gallon and spread them to my 55 gallon last year.

but levamisole doesn't kill the worms,it paralyzes them,which is why they suggest 50%-80% water change after doseing,so you suck them up out of the sand.

you need to do a second dose just to be sure you get all the worms that are about to hatch

[DragonNeko]

levamisole doesn't kill the worms,it paralyzes them

Oops! Yes, it paralyzes them...sorry about that mistake! You'd think I wouldn't mix that up after going through it twice lol Thanks for correcting me

Another tip. If the worms don't come out of the fish at all after dosing (for instance a few days), then you may have to take the fish out into a container, get some tweezers, and VERY gently pull on the worm. I had to do that with my Apisto. It came out really easy for me, but for some reason she couldn't get it out...I think it was because she wasn't pooping so nothing was pushing the worm out. Using that method is a last resort, since pulling the worm might cause some damage, but if the worm doesn't come out then that's not good either.

Edited May 29, 2012 by DragonNeko

[ckmullin]

BillieandBrian5, I gave you the pm that includes the info you wanted.

one reason why i don't like levamisole, your asking them to give themselves up rather than dispatching them yourself.

Edited May 29, 2012 by ckmullin

[Fisher]

but levamisole doesn't kill the worms,it paralyzes them,which is why they suggest 50%-80% water change after doseing,so you suck them up out of the sand.

you need to do a second dose just to be sure you get all the worms that are about to hatch

+1

I had these pikers in my 25g a few months back. After reading Jayba's thread (and the links therein), and buying some lev from Spruceguve, I treated my tank as described above. Pulled out the decor/plants (and rinsed them); vacuumed the substrate each time. It was a pain in the keester, butt it worked ^_^and it reinforced the value of sound QT.

There are a several threads here on dewormers. I might have used something else if Levamisole wasn't so popular among AA membership, or hard to get.

[jcgd]

I had an outbreak and I couldn't treat the tank with any substrate. I thought I was free and clear for about 4 months before the worms were back. I'd bet my last dollar that any tank treated with substrate will have a new infestation within a year. Anyone made it a year yet? By the time I went bare bottom and took out the worms, the damage was done and the fish were hit with everything from pop eye to open sores/ wounds. Put down all my fish except my angels and plecos. The angels don't show until much later and the plecos always looked healthy.

[DragonNeko]

It's been close to a year for me. Think it was July or August last year that I got the worms the second time. I had substrate, gravel the first time and sand the second. I did very thorough gravel vacs, and floated all my plants. Only got the worms a second time cause they hitched a ride on a fish I got last summer. Don't think I had any fatalities the second time cause I caught it so fast.

[ckmullin]

This is a rash bold move but it WILL clear the substrate of worm/planaria etc. I did this method to a tank to remove planaria in a last ditch effort before completely disassembling my setup to treat. Remove all fish/snail/shrimp whatever is calls that tank home. Treat those in what jcdg said, a bare bottom tank...since those fish are now treated and fine turn to the problem tank.

Now for the infested tank. This method works best with no plants or little. If you have no plants in the tank, this will be Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy for you! Remove all the water...yip all. Add your proper Fenbendazole dose for your size tank which has been mixed with more water (the amount of water depends on tank size) and then pour into your aquarium. Fill the aquarium to get the substrate once again saturated. If you have plants, fill the tank enough so that the plants are covered.

Continue with panacur dosing as per standard.

This method worked well for me because since the tank is empty of water, the medicated water will have full access to penetrate into all areas of the substrate. I have done this with 100% success with 3" deep sand.

If you have a heavily planted tank, perhaps use this as a time to think of rescaping...remove all your prized plants and treat them in a bare bottom tank as similar with the fish to make sure no larva has hitched a ride.

Edited May 30, 2012 by ckmullin