Hi everyone, just a follow up on my experiments.
for those who missed my previous threads i somehow contracted camelanus worms in my tanks after a move and the little buggers were resistant to most treatments that i used on the including the levimisole bath and praziquatril baths.
after getting pretty desperate i decided to try and get them to ingest a cocktail of meds to knock the little buggers where they live and it worked!!!
so heres what i did.
things you will need,
4 x praziquantril tablets
3 x flagyl tabs
2 x drontal chewable all wormers for dogs over 10kg
1 x antibiotic tab, i used augmentin
100g of their normal food
1/2 multi vitamin tab
about 10-15 medical spirlina tabs(obtained from health food store)
gelatine.
NOTE: IF FEEDING USUALLY CONSISTS OF VEGGIES OR WAFERS(PLECO LOVERS) REPLACE THE FAV FOOD PART WITH 50G OF QUALITY CRUMBLE AND 50G EXTRA SPIRLINA TABS FROM HEATH FOOD STORE
ok first i crushed the tablets, including spirlina, up in a mortar a pestle, make sure it is sooo fine other wise the fish will pick it out.
then pulverise your food, if it is flake a "magic bullet" works very well, pellet or crumble a mortar a pestle worked best for me. what ever you can find so long as again it is really fine powder when your done.
then mix it up dry and crush with your hands one and a half of the drontal wormers.(hold onto the other half)
mix up the gelatine really thick, i used 3 heaped tsp gelatine to 7-8 tsp water and i found it was easier to just nuke it.
let the gelatine cool a bit so you dont spoil the meds and when it is luke warms mix in some of your powder. you may have to make a bit more of the gelatine so long as you end up with a smooth paste(slightly runnier if you are feeding fish other than pleco's)
then quickly before it cools too much spread it onto some grease proof paper then put another piece on top and roll as thin as you can with a pin or bottle or something.(pleco mix roll slightly thicker)
let it sit as is for 5 mins then remove top layer. then another 5 mins and peel your flake off and let sit on drying rack of some sort.
after the stuff has fully dried, usually 24-48 hours simply crumble up to size of your fish's mouth.(for pleco mix break into little slabs as if it were thin wafers)
feeding:
ok once all that is done its time to feed, now i actually "fasted" my fish so as to make them a little more hungry
to "mega-dose" your fish feed them crushed up the remaining drontal, they should eat it straight if there hungry, then feed them your flake
feed generously but not wastefully 2-3 times a day for 2-3 weeks. if you run out of food you will have to make more. it is VITAL that you keep feeding the fish for at LEAST 2 weeks because this is an oral treatment. for starters the worm can live as eggs throughout your tank for that long and also can re-infest from inside the gut itself. the 3 week treatment makes sure you get the buggers at all stages.
being a dry oral food i now intend to use it maybe slightly modified to feed all new additions
it is also worth noting that you should treat all equipment including nets and old silk plants if you have had an infestation. the eggs can attach and live out of water.
this can be done by getting a 10l bucket of water, adding 2 praziquantril tabs, half a cap of bleech and 1/4 cup of salt and just soak them in it
hope this helps someone out there
for those who missed my previous threads i somehow contracted camelanus worms in my tanks after a move and the little buggers were resistant to most treatments that i used on the including the levimisole bath and praziquatril baths.
after getting pretty desperate i decided to try and get them to ingest a cocktail of meds to knock the little buggers where they live and it worked!!!
so heres what i did.
things you will need,
4 x praziquantril tablets
3 x flagyl tabs
2 x drontal chewable all wormers for dogs over 10kg
1 x antibiotic tab, i used augmentin
100g of their normal food
1/2 multi vitamin tab
about 10-15 medical spirlina tabs(obtained from health food store)
gelatine.
NOTE: IF FEEDING USUALLY CONSISTS OF VEGGIES OR WAFERS(PLECO LOVERS) REPLACE THE FAV FOOD PART WITH 50G OF QUALITY CRUMBLE AND 50G EXTRA SPIRLINA TABS FROM HEATH FOOD STORE
ok first i crushed the tablets, including spirlina, up in a mortar a pestle, make sure it is sooo fine other wise the fish will pick it out.
then pulverise your food, if it is flake a "magic bullet" works very well, pellet or crumble a mortar a pestle worked best for me. what ever you can find so long as again it is really fine powder when your done.
then mix it up dry and crush with your hands one and a half of the drontal wormers.(hold onto the other half)
mix up the gelatine really thick, i used 3 heaped tsp gelatine to 7-8 tsp water and i found it was easier to just nuke it.
let the gelatine cool a bit so you dont spoil the meds and when it is luke warms mix in some of your powder. you may have to make a bit more of the gelatine so long as you end up with a smooth paste(slightly runnier if you are feeding fish other than pleco's)
then quickly before it cools too much spread it onto some grease proof paper then put another piece on top and roll as thin as you can with a pin or bottle or something.(pleco mix roll slightly thicker)
let it sit as is for 5 mins then remove top layer. then another 5 mins and peel your flake off and let sit on drying rack of some sort.
after the stuff has fully dried, usually 24-48 hours simply crumble up to size of your fish's mouth.(for pleco mix break into little slabs as if it were thin wafers)
feeding:
ok once all that is done its time to feed, now i actually "fasted" my fish so as to make them a little more hungry
to "mega-dose" your fish feed them crushed up the remaining drontal, they should eat it straight if there hungry, then feed them your flake
feed generously but not wastefully 2-3 times a day for 2-3 weeks. if you run out of food you will have to make more. it is VITAL that you keep feeding the fish for at LEAST 2 weeks because this is an oral treatment. for starters the worm can live as eggs throughout your tank for that long and also can re-infest from inside the gut itself. the 3 week treatment makes sure you get the buggers at all stages.
being a dry oral food i now intend to use it maybe slightly modified to feed all new additions
it is also worth noting that you should treat all equipment including nets and old silk plants if you have had an infestation. the eggs can attach and live out of water.
this can be done by getting a 10l bucket of water, adding 2 praziquantril tabs, half a cap of bleech and 1/4 cup of salt and just soak them in it
hope this helps someone out there