Camallanus Worms?

[Chewyrat77]

I recently moved a group of variatus from quarantine after probably a month or more into my 125 molly/platy/variatus tank. Today I noticed that one of them had a reddish colored turd hanging out and when it came all the way out I inspected it on the floor of the tank and it wasn't really moving or anything (wish I had taken a picture).  A little while later I went back over to look at it and it was gone. I had heard of these camallanus worms before so I googled them and it kinda looked one. My question is if that was one will it die off without a host?  That is if another fish didn't eat it. 

[Chewyrat77]

I recently moved a group of variatus from quarantine after probably a month or more into my 125 molly/platy/variatus tank. Today I noticed that one of them had a reddish colored turd hanging out and when it came all the way out I inspected it on the floor of the tank and it wasn't really moving or anything (wish I had taken a picture).  A little while later I went back over to look at it and it was gone. I had heard of these camallanus worms before so I googled them and it kinda looked one. My question is if that was one will it die off without a host?  That is if another fish didn't eat it. 

[Wingman12r]

Did you see the worm move? Inspect the anal opening for small red spots. If the infection isn't severe they can be hard to see.

After years of having "live-bearer diesese" I never saw a single worm untill I treated with Levamisole from Select Aquatics.

With that said I had scares where I saw a red poop thinking it was a camallanus worm only to realize the krill flake and tetra color granules I had been feeding were red in color.

[Colu]

Treatment for camallanus worms is levamisole you get it from select aquatics

[Keeg]

14 hours ago, Chewyrat77 said:

 My question is if that was one will it die off without a host?  That is if another fish didn't eat it. 

I would say no. Once one of the fish seem to have it, assume all the fish have it. Without the fish, I believe the parasite can linger far longer than most if not die at all. That is because its larval stage feeds on crustaceans until it can reach a host. I would medicate the tank, wait 2-3 days, vacuum the substrate vigorously, and repeat. There are more specific details on other forums and from other people. 

 

[Colu]

1 hour ago, Keeg said:

I would say no. Once one of the fish seem to have it, assume all the fish have it. Without the fish, I believe the parasite can linger far longer than most if not die at all. That is because its larval stage feeds on crustaceans until it can reach a host. I would medicate the tank, wait 2-3 days, vacuum the substrate vigorously, and repeat. There are more specific details on other forums and from other people. 

 

It's should die off with out a host but I don't now how long  that would take

Edited May 5, 2021 by Colu

[Chewyrat77]

14 hours ago, Wingman12r said:

Did you see the worm move? Inspect the anal opening for small red spots. If the infection isn't severe they can be hard to see.

After years of having "live-bearer diesese" I never saw a single worm untill I treated with Levamisole from Select Aquatics.

With that said I had scares where I saw a red poop thinking it was a camallanus worm only to realize the krill flake and tetra color granules I had been feeding were red in color.

No, I never seen it moving and don't see any red spots. It was around an inch long too and I'm not sure if camallanus worms get that big. Seemed pretty big to come out of a sunset variatus. 

The TetraMin tropical flakes I'm feeding look to be 1/3 red flakes and I'm also feeding Repashy community 

[ccurtis]

This is how I treated camallanus worms.  I follow this guys video to a T. It worked like a charm.