Please Help! Bolivian ram with possible camallanus worms

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

Hello fishkeepers,

I was observing my fish tank just now and I observed my boliviam ram anus was protuding and I saw these tiny little strings on its anus, looks like worms. Is this camallanus worms? Please, if it is, how can I successfully treat it? I have had him for almost a month now and this is the first time I see this. Once treatment is over, should I break down the whole tank and bleach it before putting them back in there again? 

Thank you in advance

Edited February 4, 2023 by Tropicalfishkeeping201

[Colu]

Looks like camallanus worms @Odd Duckhas a good treatment protocol for parasitic infections that works well

[nabokovfan87]

Definitely looks like it.  You'd want to use Expel-P with a minimum of 4 doses.

When you dose the meds, black out the tank for 24 hours, then wait at least 1 week in-between each dose (this gives the worms times to develop from eggs to worms.  Minimum you're looking at 3 doses to treat the fish.

Day 1:  black out tank for 24 hours, dose in meds.
Day 2:  Siphon tank really well and do at least 30% water change.
Day 3-7: Rest and monitor fish

Repeat that as mentioned above!  Agreed, I have used the above method! Works wonderful.

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

On 2/3/2023 at 5:10 PM, Colu said:

Looks like camallanus worms @Odd Duckhas a good treatment protocol for parasitic infections that works well

Thank you! Where can I buy these two meds levamasole  and praziquantal? Sorry but to clarify, how much levamasole should I add into the tank?

In week one, three, and 5: you add Levamosole every 24 hours and after siphoning do you add Levemasole again with prazi? 

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

On 2/3/2023 at 5:13 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Definitely looks like it.  You'd want to use Expel-P with a minimum of 4 doses.

When you dose the meds, black out the tank for 24 hours, then wait at least 1 week in-between each dose (this gives the worms times to develop from eggs to worms.  Minimum you're looking at 3 doses to treat the fish.

Day 1:  black out tank for 24 hours, dose in meds.
Day 2:  Siphon tank really well and do at least 30% water change.
Day 3-7: Rest and monitor fish

Repeat that as mentioned above!  Agreed, I have used the above method! Works wonderful.

Thank you! Sorry, To clarify, I have a 30 gallon tank, so I would add 3 packets of the med into the tank on Day 1 and Day 2 siphone the tank and do water change and not add any more of this med until the following week and than repeat this 3 more times?

Did you break down the whole tank and disinfect it to prevent reinfection?

Sorry, I'm pretty new to the hobby and Its my first time dealing with this and I'm scared of doing it wrong and killing my fish. Thanks again!

Edited February 4, 2023 by Tropicalfishkeeping201

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/3/2023 at 5:37 PM, Tropicalfishkeeping201 said:

Thank you! Sorry, To clarify, I have a 30 gallon tank, so I would add 3 packets of the med into the tank on Day 1 and Day 2 siphone the tank and do water change and not add any more of this med? Than repeat this 3 more times?

Did you break down the whole tank and disinfect it to prevent reinfection?

Sorry, I'm pretty new to the hobby and Its my first time dealing with this and I'm scared of doing it wrong and killing my fish. Thanks again!

It's definitely stressful.  I feel you.  I saw worms in my tank and my first thought was how long they've been there and trying to figure out what precautions to take.

What you mentioned in the first line there is what you'd want to do.  I'll grab a video, keep in mind this is for paracleanse, but there is also some explanation of expel-p in there as well.  Odd Duck informed us that it is light sensitive, and so blacking out the tank, turning the lights off is great advice.  If you don't have a lot of plants attached to the hardscape, you can remove it to make it easier to siphon.  If you change 50% water, that's fine, but the key is to just do a good job on removing the worms from the substrate each time you dose in meds. 

Day 1: meds
Day 2: siphon
Day 7: siphon again
Day 8: meds again

That was my main method there.  The goal being to be overly paranoid about cleaning the tank, removing them.  That might take 4 weeks, but OD recommends 6 for a bad infection.  That's just something to keep in mind.  Play it by ear and keep an eye on symptoms and what you see.

Keep us updated!

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

Should I break down the whole tank and disinfect everything with bleach to prevent reinfection or its not necessary? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/3/2023 at 5:43 PM, Tropicalfishkeeping201 said:

Should I break down the whole tank and disinfect everything with bleach to prevent reinfection or its not necessary? 

I would say clean the filter really well, clean the lids, keep up on that.  Whatever you do normally, just step it up when you go through your maintenance to make sure that WCs and the filters are clean and working well.  Bleach and all that isn't necessary because you have the for this specific issue.

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

On 2/3/2023 at 5:43 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It's definitely stressful.  I feel you.  I saw worms in my tank and my first thought was how long they've been there and trying to figure out what precautions to take.

What you mentioned in the first line there is what you'd want to do.  I'll grab a video, keep in mind this is for paracleanse, but there is also some explanation of expel-p in there as well.  Odd Duck informed us that it is light sensitive, and so blacking out the tank, turning the lights off is great advice.  If you don't have a lot of plants attached to the hardscape, you can remove it to make it easier to siphon.  If you change 50% water, that's fine, but the key is to just do a good job on removing the worms from the substrate each time you dose in meds. 

Day 1: meds
Day 2: siphon
Day 7: siphon again
Day 8: meds again

That was my main method there.  The goal being to be overly paranoid about cleaning the tank, removing them.  That might take 4 weeks, but OD recommends 6 for a bad infection.  That's just something to keep in mind.  Play it by ear and keep an eye on symptoms and what you see.

Keep us updated!

Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me. I hope I can successfully treat this. So far all my fish have been eating and are active so thats a good sign.  It was just today that I noticed my Bolivian ram had these worms and so far, his the only one that has it. Thanks again 🙂

On 2/3/2023 at 5:45 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would say clean the filter really well, clean the lids, keep up on that.  Whatever you do normally, just step it up when you go through your maintenance to make sure that WCs and the filters are clean and working well.  Bleach and all that isn't necessary because you have the for this specific issue.

Thank you! 

On 2/3/2023 at 5:49 PM, Tropicalfishkeeping201 said:

Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me. I hope I can successfully treat this. So far all my fish have been eating and are active so thats a good sign.  It was just today that I noticed my Bolivian ram had these worms and so far, his the only one that has it. Thanks again 🙂

Thank you! 

One last thing, sorry lol, What siphone hose do you use? I use one from top-fin but I feel like it doesn't really pick up the sand very well. I have caribsea sand in my tank.  

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/3/2023 at 5:49 PM, Tropicalfishkeeping201 said:

One last thing, sorry lol, What siphone hose do you use? I use one from top-fin but I feel like it doesn't really pick up the sand very well. I have caribsea sand in my tank.

I have that one too. 🙂

On one of my tanks I use a python branded siphon (ken's fish sells em) and then I have the top fin one as my main on the panda tank.  I've used the top fin one ever since I got back into the hobby.  It's slower, but does work.

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

On 2/3/2023 at 6:50 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I have that one too. 🙂

On one of my tanks I use a python branded siphon (ken's fish sells em) and then I have the top fin one as my main on the panda tank.  I've used the top fin one ever since I got back into the hobby.  It's slower, but does work.

Thank you! It must be that I don't know how to use it lol. I'm going to check out a video to see how to properly do it. Thanks again!

[Colu]

On 2/4/2023 at 1:28 AM, Tropicalfishkeeping201 said:

Thank you! Where can I buy these two meds levamasole  and praziquantal? Sorry but to clarify, how much levamasole should I add into the tank?

In week one, three, and 5: you add Levamosole every 24 hours and after siphoning do you add Levemasole again with prazi? 

You can get Fritz expel p active ingredient is levamisole and prazipro active ingredient is praziquantel from the the co-op Amazon most LFS 

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

On 2/4/2023 at 8:07 AM, Colu said:

You can get Fritz expel p active ingredient is levamisole and prazipro active ingredient is praziquantel from the the co-op Amazon most LFS 

Thank you! 😊 I will purchase it! 

[Odd Duck]

Here’s the entire treatment that explains a bit more.  Please forgive the formatting/font size issues since this is how it pastes in from my “Notes” app.  You don’t need to do the Praziquantal for Camallanus worms as the Levamisole is all you need to treat them.  But keep in mind that if theynhave Camallanus, they may also,have other intestinal parasites, too, so it’s likely prudent to dose with Praziquantal, too.

Deworming

Siphon out debris from the bottom before and after dosing to remove any expelled worms, eggs, debris, etc.  Levamisole is inactivated by organic debris and by light, so dose after lights out and black out the tank for 24 hours, remove organics via water changes and cleaning the bottom of debris as much as possible.

It’s likely that levamisole does what it can do within the first hour, but best to follow directions precisely.  If you have a bare bottom hospital tank available, it might be best and easiest to transfer the fish to that tank for the duration of treatment - up to 5 weeks total treatment time if doing 3 doses of praziquantal.

Levamisole treatment should be weekly for 4 treatments.  Praziquantal treatment should be every other week (at least) for 2-3 treatments and it is left in for a week at a time.  It can be dosed the day after levamisole treatment.  Remove any carbon or Purigen from filters before dosing.

Have enough dechlorinated water to do a 50% water change immediately if any adverse symptoms are seen in the fish.

A typical treatment regimen: 

1. 50% water change with careful siphoning of debris from the bottom of the tank.

2. Dose with levamisole and black out the tank for 24 hours.  Then 50% water change siphoning the entire bottom of the tank.

3. Dose with praziquantal directly after the second 50% WC.

4. One week later, 50% water change siphoning the bottom thoroughly.  Dose with levamisole following directions in step 1-2.

5. One week later (start of week 3 of treatment), repeat all steps 1-4 over another 2 weeks time.

6. Repeat all steps 1-5, then do last WC one week later after third dose of praziquantal.

Not all snails will tolerate treatments, so best to remove any snails in the tank.

 

Condensed, weekly schedule:

Week 1: siphon debris and do 50% water change, levamisole x 24 hrs, siphon.  Treat with praziquantal and leave in until next week.

Week 2: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon.

Week 3: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon, then prazi.

Week 4: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon.

Week 5: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon, then prazi.

Week 6: siphon.

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

On 2/4/2023 at 11:42 AM, Odd Duck said:

Here’s the entire treatment that explains a bit more.  Please forgive the formatting/font size issues since this is how it pastes in from my “Notes” app.  You don’t need to do the Praziquantal for Camallanus worms as the Levamisole is all you need to treat them.  But keep in mind that if theynhave Camallanus, they may also,have other intestinal parasites, too, so it’s likely prudent to dose with Praziquantal, too.

Deworming

Siphon out debris from the bottom before and after dosing to remove any expelled worms, eggs, debris, etc.  Levamisole is inactivated by organic debris and by light, so dose after lights out and black out the tank for 24 hours, remove organics via water changes and cleaning the bottom of debris as much as possible.

It’s likely that levamisole does what it can do within the first hour, but best to follow directions precisely.  If you have a bare bottom hospital tank available, it might be best and easiest to transfer the fish to that tank for the duration of treatment - up to 5 weeks total treatment time if doing 3 doses of praziquantal.

Levamisole treatment should be weekly for 4 treatments.  Praziquantal treatment should be every other week (at least) for 2-3 treatments and it is left in for a week at a time.  It can be dosed the day after levamisole treatment.  Remove any carbon or Purigen from filters before dosing.

Have enough dechlorinated water to do a 50% water change immediately if any adverse symptoms are seen in the fish.

A typical treatment regimen: 

1. 50% water change with careful siphoning of debris from the bottom of the tank.

2. Dose with levamisole and black out the tank for 24 hours.  Then 50% water change siphoning the entire bottom of the tank.

3. Dose with praziquantal directly after the second 50% WC.

4. One week later, 50% water change siphoning the bottom thoroughly.  Dose with levamisole following directions in step 1-2.

5. One week later (start of week 3 of treatment), repeat all steps 1-4 over another 2 weeks time.

6. Repeat all steps 1-5, then do last WC one week later after third dose of praziquantal.

Not all snails will tolerate treatments, so best to remove any snails in the tank.

 

Condensed, weekly schedule:

Week 1: siphon debris and do 50% water change, levamisole x 24 hrs, siphon.  Treat with praziquantal and leave in until next week.

Week 2: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon.

Week 3: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon, then prazi.

Week 4: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon.

Week 5: siphon, levam x 24 hrs, siphon, then prazi.

Week 6: siphon.

Thank you so much!! @Odd Duck, I purchased Expel-P, will this work?  I heard it contains levamisole. 

Can I use Praziquantal after I'm done with the Camallanus worm treatment or will Prazi work best if used with levamisole? 

I was planning on removing all the sand in my tank for it to be easier for me to clean the debris and worms out of the tank and be 100% sure that I'm removing these parasites because I have a lot of sand in my tank.  Can I reuse this sand once treatment is done or is it best to get new sand to prevent reinfection?

What did you use to completely black out your tank? My tank is next to a window. Sorry, Im pretty new to the hobby and its my first time dealing with this. 

Do you recommend me after treating for Camallanus worm, to break down my tank and bleach everything and then reintroduce my fish again into this tank to reinfection? 

I'm really worried about my fish and these worms coming back. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Tropicalfishkeeping201

[Odd Duck]

Yes, to Expel-P having Levamisole.  If you treat at night time and have the room and tank lights off, you should be fine.  It would be ideal to remove the sand during treatment if possible, it just isn’t practical for most people.  You could reuse the sand with no concerns if you bake it to at least 250’F for at least 10 minutes.

You can do both types of dewormer separately but doing the posted regimen shortens your overall treatment time as much as possible by overlapping them as much as possible.

You don’t need to bleach everything. You can soak all plants or hardscape with seltzer water for 12 hours in the dark - Reverse Respiration, then 30 minutes in the light, best with fairly high pH water if possible but at least not in low pH water.

I would also treat or swap out all filter material but you will lose your beneficial bacteria and have to recycle your tank.

You can do dilute bleach treatments but you must rinse like mad until you can’t smell any further trace of bleach, then I rinse about 3-5 more times, then soak everything that got bleached in water that’s treated with about 5 x normal dose with dechlorinator for at least 10 minutes minimum.  Most stuff probably doesn’t need to be bleached.  Easier to do seltzer soak on plants and bake what you can’t soak easily.  Wiping down the tank with straight vinegar should clean adequately, then rinse well.

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

On 2/5/2023 at 1:21 AM, Odd Duck said:

Yes, to Expel-P having Levamisole.  If you treat at night time and have the room and tank lights off, you should be fine.  It would be ideal to remove the sand during treatment if possible, it just isn’t practical for most people.  You could reuse the sand with no concerns if you bake it to at least 250’F for at least 10 minutes.

You can do both types of dewormer separately but doing the posted regimen shortens your overall treatment time as much as possible by overlapping them as much as possible.

You don’t need to bleach everything. You can soak all plants or hardscape with seltzer water for 12 hours in the dark - Reverse Respiration, then 30 minutes in the light, best with fairly high pH water if possible but at least not in low pH water.

I would also treat or swap out all filter material but you will lose your beneficial bacteria and have to recycle your tank.

You can do dilute bleach treatments but you must rinse like mad until you can’t smell any further trace of bleach, then I rinse about 3-5 more times, then soak everything that got bleached in water that’s treated with about 5 x normal dose with dechlorinator for at least 10 minutes minimum.  Most stuff probably doesn’t need to be bleached.  Easier to do seltzer soak on plants and bake what you can’t soak easily.  Wiping down the tank with straight vinegar should clean adequately, then rinse well.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I already purchased Expel-P, hopefully it comes tomorrow and I'm going to buy prazipro too to do the treatment like you posted here. Thanks again! 🙂

Sorry @Odd Duck,one last thing, do the fish tank have to be in blackout with prazipro too or is it just with Expel-P/levamasole? 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Tropicalfishkeeping201

[Odd Duck]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:52 AM, Tropicalfishkeeping201 said:

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I already purchased Expel-P, hopefully it comes tomorrow and I'm going to buy prazipro too to do the treatment like you posted here. Thanks again! 🙂

Sorry @Odd Duck,one last thing, do the fish tank have to be in blackout with prazipro too or is it just with Expel-P/levamasole? 

 

Only need blackout with levamisole.  The praziquantal is light stable.

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

On 2/5/2023 at 11:00 AM, Odd Duck said:

Only need blackout with levamisole.  The praziquantal is light stable.

Thank you! 

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

Are Expel-P and praziquantal safe for plecos to treat internal parasites and Camallanus worms? Can I use these two medications when fish are in quarantine? 

I have the aquarium co op heater which has a light that says the temperature of the tank, is it necessary to cover this heater since levamisole is light sensitive? 

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Tropicalfishkeeping201

[Colu]

On 2/6/2023 at 6:35 PM, Tropicalfishkeeping201 said:

Are Expel-P and praziquantal safe for plecos to treat internal parasites and Camallanus worms? Can I use these two medications when fish are in quarantine? 

I have the aquarium co op heater which has a light that says the temperature of the tank, is it necessary to cover this heater since levamisole is light sensitive? 

 

Expel p and praziquantel are safe to use with plecos I don't think the the small light on the heater would affect the medication you could cover the light if your worried 

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

On 2/6/2023 at 10:55 AM, Colu said:

Expel p and praziquantel are safe to use with plecos I don't think the the small light on the heater would affect the medication you could cover the light if your worried 

Thank you!

[Tropicalfishkeeping201]

Hey fishkeepers, 

I got the meds already for the Camallanus worms and today I removed all the decorations and the majority of the sand to start the treatment. I just need to wait until the water clears up more because its a bit cloudy. I have a couple of questions. 

I have to treat two tanks with the Prazipro and Expel-P for the Camallanus worms and I only have one siphone hose. Is it okay to use the same siphone hose on both tanks I will be treating or should I disinfect the siphone between each tank and how? 
 

I use a water pump to do my water changes, how should I effectively and safely disinfect this or is it not necessary? Will air drying these equipment kill these Camallanus worms?

I have fry in my tank, will this treatment work for them? They are not that little but are really young and still small, they are not adults yet. 

I apologize for the questions, I just want to make sure I can successfully treat this and eradicate these worms. Thank you in advance

Edited February 9, 2023 by Tropicalfishkeeping201