Callamanus Worm Treatment please read if u have a worm problem.pix inc

antoncook

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Oct 18, 2009
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hi all

i have had problems with Callamanus Worms and after seporating infected fish into two hospital tanks have tried two seporate treatments..(after much research on the web)..this is the first treatment..and thus far has been the quickest and most effective..other treatment is a 5 week on going treatment..

NOTE...affected fish i have treated..
banjo catfish,varous loaches inc sucking loach and kuli,flying foxes,bristlenose plecs inc albino long fin,mollys,guppies,platties,various barbs,hatchet fish,corys... 'community fish'.



NOTE...if your fish isnt in the list...by allmeans try the treatment..BUT..keep a vigilant eye on the fish...ANY sign that something isnt right, put straight back into 'untreated' water..im NOT stating that it will work on ALL fish...but it worked on MY fish..(above)


NOTE...curiously my shrimp and snails were not affected atall by the worm, BUT one of each were treated to both treatments.shrimp survived both, snails didnt survive both..

ITEMS NEEDED...3x icecream tubs or the like (small fish up to 4 inches (banjo, bn) were fine in this..for bigger fish use bigger tubs...ie..angel fish being 'round bodied' would need taller tub... jug to measure water,thermometer,toothpics/matches.

MOST IMPORTANT...beaphar bird wormer..bought from ebay for about £3.50.but seen it for less.or go to your local pet shop....buy TWO...it contains levamisole which is what we need...

im not a scientist but this is what i did,i took notes an observed pretty much around the clock...i had an infected community 350 trigon tank...and two 3foot 'hospital tanks' one was a new water tank..with affected fish in...second was for fish after the first dose..whilst i was doin this i thoroughly cleaned the 350 tank..this included..filter and pipes/media..all slate and rocks..all bogwood..gravel...drained..and cleaned...and rinsed..EVERY THING...i used milton baby steralizing tablets...rinse TWICE..

here we go...

take icecream tub.and add 600mm of your water (that contains your fish) and add 6 fish (i had groups of 4-9 depending on size you can add more but its easyer to work with a set number)..add thermometer...add 17 drops of the bird wormer (no set dosage.no ratio just a guess by me..17 worked..with no side effects..dont forget i was watching these constantly)..take note of time..cover tub to stop fish from jumping out..check temp..and for any 'passed' worms..every 10 mins for the first 50 minutes...use tooth pick/match to take them out...try and keep water at normal temp..ie 25 ish..i placed another tupperware tub underneath and put boiling water in when needed..after 2 hours..remove fish and put into second 'cleane' tank..

what you are trying to do here is a kinda conveyer belt of fish...dirty fish...treated fish....clean fish...so all the water must ramain either dirty treated or clean...to help stop the spread of anything...DONT mix the water!!

the time difference between the fish 'passing' the worms ranged from 5 minutes to 45...NOTE..some are 3mm long and about half a mill thick so very hard to see....rule is...ANYthing that is passed remove..i placed mine on a peice of paper to take pics..

once your first 'batch' of fish have been treated and placed into 'clean' tank..empty the tub..use second tub,600mm water 17 dops..repeat all untill all you fish have been treated and placed into 'clean' tank...keep in there for a week..then repeat treatment (hence two bottles needed)..

NOTE...on my second treatment...NO worms were passed..none atall...the week is purley for possible worms missed to get another dose,and observation inbetween..after second dose my fish went back into my 350..and have no symtoms atall..

NOTE...i removed freshly passed worms and placed into two test tubes with tank water...to see if they were alive after passing...they wernt...so dont worry if you think you have missed one or two and they have been eaten by the fish....

NOTE...this is a wormer...dont use if u have cuts on your hands..dont put fingers on food or in mouth...wash hands every time..

PICTURES.... first one shows...tub full of hot water under tub with fish in to keep water warm..

second pic... shows fish in treatment tub

third pic...shows infected fish passing worm with poo

forth pic...shows my passed worm collection...minus 8 that went into test tubes..notice the worm inside the 10 mil mark for size!!!



please feel free to PM any questions....second treatment test will be put on forum once completed....



Please also if you use this..add comments,if it worked for you..and more importantly what fish you used it on...so we can add to list and build a kinda data base on it..



i hope this is of some help..

anton









 

Doodles

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Apr 8, 2009
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Thats very good, thankyou:yes:

How did you work out the dosages for the levamisole?
 

antoncook

Member
Oct 18, 2009
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1
essex
hi doodles..

i could not find any dosage on the web for this..well not for fish...

it wasnt any kind of scientific equasion..just a guess..based on i used the teat provided and put enuff drops in a test tube to get roughtly 2mm.not a brilliant way to do it but as my problem was costing me roughtly a fish a day i had to start somewhere.not the ideal way granted, but i had had enuff.that and not being able to find a quick over the counter cure i wanted, my second treatment is wormer plus that is in its 3rd week of dosage.

anton

oh also i forgot to add that its NOT levamisole,its a treatment that has 1% levamisole
 
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Doodles

Retired Staff
Apr 8, 2009
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No worries, I don't blame you and its a good article, thank you:D. Just for the future though, there is an article on Loaches Online which explains a lot about levamisole and includes dosages. Something that may be worth looking into is the vets, ive got a memory pop up from somewhere that you can get levi from a vets, but could be wrong.

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

antoncook

Member
Oct 18, 2009
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essex
that is a brilliant link!....nice one....(wish i had a couple of weeks ago lol)..
il also look into the vets...many thanks for the info..

ant
 

Doodles

Retired Staff
Apr 8, 2009
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No prob, and thanks again for the good step by step:D

Be cool to see how you get on with the fluby(wormer plus)
 

bre

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Apr 21, 2009
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Newcastle, Australia
Just to add a side note here....

Camallanus Worms are highly transferrable so if you have multiple tanks then all equipment (nets etc) should be treated as well to stop any further outbreaks. You really should also treat the tanks aswell as they can survive in the gravel.
 

antoncook

Member
Oct 18, 2009
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1
essex
YES totally agree!!

great care and caution should be applied when treating fish as a 'dip or bath' like i have.be sure to use one net for each particular part of treatment,to help stop the spread..

also re gravel....i changed mine from gravel to sand so didnt clean it to go back into tank..but as mentiond above thorougly clean it before returning it to tank...i deliberatly decided to 'bath' my fish so i could strip down tank and change it..

also prob not the best method..but is there any problem with using milton steralizing tablets to clean items in and tank,as long as its thoroughly washed out a couple of times afterwards? (i read that ppl have used it with no problem so i did aswell)

anton
 

Doodles

Retired Staff
Apr 8, 2009
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also prob not the best method..but is there any problem with using milton steralizing tablets to clean items in and tank,as long as its thoroughly washed out a couple of times afterwards? (i read that ppl have used it with no problem so i did aswell)
I would think its ok as long as thoroughly rinsed as you said.
 

Brengun

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Apr 22, 2009
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Not that I have ever had callamanus and never want to but in Australia we use Sykes BigL pig and poultry wormer, 1ml per 7ltrs. It is very safe and can even work as a pickmeup tonic to plecos. Its available at online veterinary stores here and some produce stores.
 

bristlenut

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Sep 21, 2010
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corowa n.s.w 2646
Not that I have ever had callamanus and never want to but in Australia we use Sykes BigL pig and poultry wormer, 1ml per 7ltrs. It is very safe and can even work as a pickmeup tonic to plecos. Its available at online veterinary stores here and some produce stores.
is that for a dip treatment or for main tank use.