# Camallanus infection, need advice



## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

My angels are infected with Camallanus. I have started treating with an antiparasitic food containing Levamisole. Any other recommendations?

Thanks in advance!


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## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

Well with my infection I eventually resorted to canine dewormer, it got rid of the Camallanus but also took out a good portion of my stock but I wasn't careful in the final stage . Good luck it might take a while to treat and find something that works for you.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

I'm sorry to hear about this. I had to treat for worms (not Callallanus worms) and I used straight up Levamisole (you wrote up the dosage calculator for me!) and it worked great. Not sure if a medicated food would be as effective as treating the entire water column. I don't know the life cycle of the Camallanus worm. Did you read where feeding kaced medicated food would work?
Levamisole is hard to come by and if you decide you need a bottle let me know, as I can get it for you.

PS. What were the symptoms? I wouldn't even know what to look for.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

aunt kymmie said:


> I'm sorry to hear about this. I had to treat for worms (not Callallanus worms) and I used straight up Levamisole (you wrote up the dosage calculator for me!) and it worked great. Not sure if a medicated food would be as effective as treating the entire water column. I don't know the life cycle of the Camallanus worm. Did you read where feeding kaced medicated food would work?
> Levamisole is hard to come by and if you decide you need a bottle let me know, as I can get it for you.


PM'd you before I saw this - thanks!


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

DKRST said:


> PM'd you before I saw this - thanks!


PM answered! ;-)


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

aunt kymmie said:


> I'm sorry to hear about this. I had to treat for worms (not Callallanus worms) and I used straight up Levamisole (you wrote up the dosage calculator for me!) and it worked great. Not sure if a medicated food would be as effective as treating the entire water column. I don't know the life cycle of the Camallanus worm. Did you read where feeding laced medicated food would work?
> Levamisole is hard to come by and if you decide you need a bottle let me know, as I can get it for you.
> 
> PS. What were the symptoms? I wouldn't even know what to look for.


Ok, enough PM'ing, back to posting so others can benefit also! Very obvious symptom was worms extending out the anal opening/vent. Yeech! I missed the early signs (mucous stools). There was not a picture under the "FW Diseases" post, but the description was spot-on and I googled a picture to confirm. I'll probably lose one angel, it stopped eating already and looks stressed. It also has the most obvious worms. I'm hoping I can save the other four. Corys don't seem afflicted. Strange thing is, the fish have been in the tank for over 2 months with no previous signs of illness. I haven't added any fish either.

Kymmie, a question on your treatment. Did you have to vacuum the tank substrate? If so, how many times did you dose and repeat the vacuum cycle? I haven't read up on the Camallanus life cycle yet. That's next on my list. I'm adding the Levamasole to my QT routine from now on.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

Ok, here is the recommended treatment routine:
Medication options for _Camallanus_ worms in fish are fenbendazole, levamisole, and praziquantel. The levamisole paralyze the worms and they are pushed out of the gut into the aquarium (pink or white worms detach and drop from the anus). Within 24 hours of medicating, substrate must be thoroughly vacuumed to remove the worms. *Three treatments are required, each one week apart*.

Antihelminthic (worm) medications are toxic to snails and shrimps so these animals should be removed before use. This parasitic infection is apparently pretty common and does not always show obvious signs.

Once the meds arrive, I guess I'll need to go buy a good gravel vac!


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

I treated two two times, a week apart, and yes, I vacuumed every single inch of my substrate. I was treating for a different worm than you and my treatment protocol was one dose less. I didn't combine meds, only used the Levamisole, as that was what I was told to do. This was my discus tank and I wasn't messing around or taking chances. As much as I sometimes feel like throwing the entire medicine cabinet at them sometimes, I restrain myself from doing so.

I hope you don't lose your angel, maybe she can hang on until the meds arrive. I'd think the meds should arrive by Monday, providing the package doesn't hit ungodly weather (fingers crossed) on the way. All those storms are crazy, I'm glad I don't live on that side of our country.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

Kymmie - Thanks very much for going to the trouble to get the med mailed today, I know it took extra effort!

I did have a question about your substrate vacuuming. Was your Discus tank planted? If so, how did you work around your plants? I have a bunch of well-rooted swords and I'd really prefer to not uproot them unnecessarily. If you take a look at my tank, you'll see what I'm working with. Wouldn't the parasite get trapped in the vegetation as well as the substrate?

I just looked at your discus tank (very beautiful tank). How did you work around the plants?


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

For you, it was no effort! My Discus tank is planted and the way I vacuumed the plants (no way was I uprooting them). I used a turkey baster to shoot water at the plants, it really gets things loose. I could break loose anything "stuck" among the leaves with this method. 
I have sand substrate so any debris just sits on top, so vacuuming the sand (hovering above it) pretty much picks up everything.

I just looked at your tank. VERY nice. Were it me I'd vacuum just over the top of the substrate, and then after I did the entire surface I'd do the standard "shove" the gravel vac into the substrate.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

Got the med today in the mail, fast delivery! Dosing 1/8 tsp for the 55g tank. Hope it works. I'll detail later how I goofed up on some other med I tried to use. My goof was a great example of "read the freaking label" before assuming things...
FYI, doing a thorough vac with ecocomplete was a minor pain, it's really lightweight.

Thanks Kym! Will post update later.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Did the Angel you were worried about it hold on until the meds arrived? 
At least you know the dosing calculator you have is correct. ;-)
Definitely keep us updated!!


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

So far, one dead angel, and no success. The Levamisole HCL does not seem to be working. It does increase the fish appetites, to the point they'll actually eat the anti-parasite food. I'm trying another round of that. Absolute wost case, I'll slowly up the levamisole HCL dosage until I see a response. At this point, I don't have much to lose! One site indicates a 13% solution needed for Camallanus treatment. Mine certainly seems resistant to both a 2% and 8% solution so far. Trying to find some source of flubenadazol to treat with, but not having much luck.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

DKRST said:


> So far, one dead angel, and no success. The Levamisole HCL does not seem to be working. It does increase the fish appetites, to the point they'll actually eat the anti-parasite food. I'm trying another round of that. Absolute wost case, I'll slowly up the levamisole HCL dosage until I see a response. At this point, I don't have much to lose! One site indicates a 13% solution needed for Camallanus treatment. Mine certainly seems resistant to both a 2% and 8% solution so far. Trying to find some source of flubenadazol to treat with, but not having much luck.


I certainly would up the dosage to 13%. At least they are getting back their appetites, that's always a good sign.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

First I'm going to soak some tubifex works in Fenbendazole. I have some on hand. If that fails, I'll up the Levamisole to 13%. This is a _very _frustrating parasite!!

Interestingly, my corys still don't seem affected.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

DKRST said:


> First I'm going to soak some tubifex works in Fenbendazole. I have some on hand. If that fails, I'll up the Levamisole to 13%. This is a _very _frustrating parasite!!
> 
> Interestingly, my corys still don't seem affected.


Live tubifex worms?? Tubifex are nasty worms, I would not (and have never) feed my fish those worms. They are well known for carrying parasites. Which version do you have? Live, fresh frozen or freeze dried? I have a very stong dislike of all things Tubifex.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

No worries, these are freeze-dried. I would not trust live Tubifex either! IF they won't eat those, then I'll soak some frozen bloodworms (have to go buy those however).

Everything I find, except one person, indicates a 2% Levamisole solution is the appropriate dosage. It's just not working on my parasites.


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## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

*Progress....*

UPDATE: No luck on getting hold of any Flubendazole to treat the water column, but I'm having some success. I upped the Levamisole to 8%, last week and left it in two days. The nematodes did seem to extend more out the fish. I did a water change and gravel vacuum. Then I used the 22.3% Fenbendazole granules I had on hand to soak some frozen bloodworms that I fed to the fish (mixed the granules with water and soaked the defrosted worms for 10 min). _Noticeable_ _difference_. Worms are getting more pale and several have been "passed out" as of this PM. 

Interesting note - I found multiple folks now using Fenbendazole to treat the water column for hydra (invert tanks), so apparently it's not too toxic in the proper dose. I would not recommend dosing the water column with it for Camallanus. The bloodworm soak does appear to be very effective however. Will update with final outcome...

I suspect it's a combination of the meds I used. The Levamisole noticeably increased my fishes appetites, making it easier to feed them the treated bloodworms.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

*More progress !*

I am making definite progress. Here is what has happened to date. The Camallanus apparently were somewhat resistant to the Levamisole. I found another thread on this forum
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...eating-internal-parasites-fenbendazole-19108/

That link above has a recipe for using 22.2% Fenbendazole granules (Safe-Guard Canine Dewormer, purchased from Petco). I modified the recipe slightly. I ground up, using a spoon, 1/4 teaspoon of the fenbendazole granules and mixed that well with about 10-20ml of water (3-5 teaspoons). I let a serving of frozen bloodworms soak in that mix for one hour. I did not have any of the Seachem Focus on hand, but would recommend it to help the medicine delivery. I kept the tank dosed with a 2% Levamisole concentration. The Levamisole seemed to greatly increase my fishes appetite. They consumed the treated bloodworms without hesitation. I did not dump the entire mix into my tank, but spooned out the bloodworms, with a small amount of mix, to feed. After the treatment yesterday afternoon, no worms are visible as of this AM. I followed that up with a third treated feeding this evening. I'll repeat this medicated bloodworm feeding cycle two or three more times at 7-10 day intervals. Based on my research, that should break the Camallanus life cycle (approx 30 days) quite nicely.

I'm adding this treatment cycle to my new fish quarantine treatment. The cost of treatment is cheap and I do NOT want to deal with this again. I also started treating my kids 29 gallon guppy tank - that tank has been losing fish for inexplicable reason(s) since it was set up. The guppies could be the original source of my parasitic infection. I kept the guppies in my 55 gallon before getting the angelfish.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

*Update...one+ month later*

Well, after the treatments concluded, I ended up only losing the one angelfish that had stopped eating. No more were lost and all signs of the worm are gone. My kid's guppy tank has had zero fish losses since treatment concluded. One tank had Pepper Corys and Angelfish, the other just guppies. Levamisole is apparently safe at >10% dosage. No problems for me.

So, the combo of Levamisole and the dog dewormer seems to work well. 

Only change: After administering Levamisole, I would NOT recommend a massive water change and vacuuming of the tank. From my reading, once paralyzed, the worms stay that way and die.


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## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

Glad to hear it, too bad Levamisole isn't easier to get ahold of, stupid drug dealers. Also are you saying not to change the water so the Levamisole stays in the water? I wonder what the worms lifespan is while its paralyzed, maybe vacuum the tank so no fish eat a paralyzed worm but dont refill the tank so the concentration stays the same in the tank until you are sure they are dead?


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

zof said:


> Glad to hear it, too bad Levamisole isn't easier to get ahold of, stupid drug dealers. Also are you saying not to change the water so the Levamisole stays in the water? I wonder what the worms lifespan is while its paralyzed, maybe vacuum the tank so no fish eat a paralyzed worm but dont refill the tank so the concentration stays the same in the tank until you are sure they are dead?


You can certainly vacuum the tank, but by my reasoning, there are no fish hosts since I'm "de-worming" every 7 days for a three-week period with the Fen. From what I read, once paralyzed, the worm can't cause any more problems, even if eaten. I could be wrong, so treat this as a disclaimer 
Total life cycle is about 21-28 days, depending on temp. 21 or so days at 80F.

If you need any Levamisole, shoot me a PM.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

If you happen to find it, 'Ultra Cure PX' is the best anti-parasite food...


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

redchigh said:


> If you happen to find it, 'Ultra Cure PX' is the best anti-parasite food...


Thanks, never heard of that one...


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## eileen (Feb 24, 2009)

*Web site to get medicated flake food*

I wanted to post this website Angelsplus
www.angelsplus.com

I bought some dewormer flakes and immune booster flakes from them. They also carry an assortment of medicated flake foods. They sell angelfish also and the owner Steve is very nice in answering your questions by e-mail.


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## DKRST (Jan 11, 2011)

eileen said:


> I wanted to post this website Angelsplus
> www.angelsplus.com
> 
> I bought some dewormer flakes and immune booster flakes from them. They also carry an assortment of medicated flake foods. They sell angelfish also and the owner Steve is very nice in answering your questions by e-mail.


Well. shucks eileen! Where was that info when I needed it?  Looks like their flakes use the active ingredient I ended up using, but the entire process would have ended up much less expensive and less messy using their medicated flakes! I'm a little skeptical on the immune booster stuff, could not find any scientific studies supporting it, but I didn't look very hard either....


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