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Cjbear087
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Hi, I have recently discovered that my fish has camallanus worms, and I have a treatment plan. I have a few things I would like to know and clarify before I start:

1. I am treating the tank with Fritz Expel-P (levamisole) and am aware that I need to gravel vac the tank 24 hours after treating. My question is am I okay to do a 25% water change after 24 hours aswell, or does the levamisole need to stay in for longer than that?

2. I have been told I need to sterilise any external equipment that has been in contact with the water (in my case a bucket, a net, an algae scrubber, some syringes, 2 syphons, a jug, a test tube, scissors and a thermometer) and how would I go about doing this? Do I use bleach and water? Also, I have to repeat the treatment weekly for 4 weeks, so would I sterilise everything at the end of the 4 weeks or sooner?

Any advice is appreciated :)

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On 3/24/2024 at 10:36 PM, Cjbear087 said:

Hi, I have recently discovered that my fish has camallanus worms, and I have a treatment plan. I have a few things I would like to know and clarify before I start:

1. I am treating the tank with Fritz Expel-P (levamisole) and am aware that I need to gravel vac the tank 24 hours after treating. My question is am I okay to do a 25% water change after 24 hours aswell, or does the levamisole need to stay in for longer than that?

2. I have been told I need to sterilise any external equipment that has been in contact with the water (in my case a bucket, a net, an algae scrubber, some syringes, 2 syphons, a jug, a test tube, scissors and a thermometer) and how would I go about doing this? Do I use bleach and water? Also, I have to repeat the treatment weekly for 4 weeks, so would I sterilise everything at the end of the 4 weeks or sooner?

Any advice is appreciated 🙂

some debate as to how long levamisole remains active some think a couple of hour upto 24hr after 24hr your fine to do a water change 

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On 3/25/2024 at 12:52 AM, Colu said:

some debate as to how long levamisole remains active some think a couple of hour upto 24hr after 24hr your fine to do a water change 

Ok thanks, and do you know the answer to my second question?

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I would steriliser your nets and equipment in a bucket containing 3% hydrogen peroxide solution after 24hr it turns into H20 and oxygen you can attach a small pump to your siphon hose and run it in a bucket for 24hr with hydrogen peroxide solution just given them a good rinse in dechlorinated water after the 24hr I would do that at the end of the 4 weeks treatment 

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I have a similar situation, and have related questions, and @Colu always seems to be (one of) the most knowledgeable on this...

Does camallanus have any water-borne stage? Ie how likely is tank-to-tank cross-contamination, via water drops? If I dip my fingers in a tank with infected fish (specifically with this parasite), say to feed pellets below the surface, then wipe my fingers on my pants or shirt, I'm assuming that cross-contamination would be extremely unlikely. I know, no one wants to come out and say impossible, because zero is zero and everything else is non-zero, which is something. I'm not asking for 100% or impossible or certainty, I'm merely looking for real-world advice. 

Second question, being in Canada, my product of choice (rather of necessity) is flubendazole. Wetwebmedia has positive things to say about it, so I have high hopes. Can anyone recommend a re-treatment interval, and a number of treatment rounds? I want to wipe it out for sure, not knock it down and deal with it again in a few months. 

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Camallanus worms can survive for 3 weeks outside of the fish  when it infects your fish it can take 4 weeks before you start to see symptoms I would always be concerned about cross contamination with the way you feed  cross contamination is very unlikely I couldn't say no chance of cross contamination usually with flubendazole you want to do 4 full courses of treatment 1 week apart that's  what I have  done with NT labs fluke and wormer that contains  flubendazole 1000mg/100ml I found it to be very effective @TOtrees

Edited by Colu
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On 3/25/2024 at 1:55 PM, Colu said:

Camallanus worms can survive for 3 weeks outside of the fish  when it infects your fish it can take 4 weeks before you start to see symptoms I would always be concerned about cross contamination with the way you feed  cross contamination is very unlikely I couldn't say no chance of cross contamination usually with flubendazole you want to do 4 full courses of treatment 1 week apart that's  what I have  done with NT labs fluke and wormer that contains  flubendazole 1000mg/100ml I found it to be very effective @TOtrees

Should I sterilise at the end of the 4 weeks or sooner?

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If your going to be using anything in another tank I would steriliser now if not I would what till you have finished 4 weeks treatment to steriliser everything 

Edited by Colu
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On 3/25/2024 at 5:18 PM, Colu said:

If your going to be using anything in another tank I would steriliser now if not I would what till you have finished 4 weeks treatment to steriliser everything 

How sure are you that they were camallanus worms, I’ve kinda planned everything around them being that, but what if they aren’t? I’ll attach some pics. Can’t get great pictures but can tell you I see a few tiny red lines protruding from one of my guppies anus and poop seems to be getting stuck. I believe on one of my other posts I attached some better pictures. I would also like to mention appetite seems okay, and it was bloated a few days ago but isn’t really now at all.

image.jpg

image.jpg

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A few weeks ago I have diagnosed my guppy with camallanus worms but for the last few days and especially today the poop is getting stuck really badly, and it’s whiteish. Is this a normal symptom? I get the treatment on Friday (Expel P) so do you reckon it will be okay until then? @Coluif you got the answer to this it would be much appreciated

IMG_3523.jpeg

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On 3/28/2024 at 12:15 AM, Colu said:

Camallanus worms can cause intestinal blockage that can be caused when your fish has a high parasite burden it struggling to pass  the parasites @Cjbear087

So the expel-p arrives on Friday, do you reckon the fish will be able to survive until then, I will start treating then

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On 3/28/2024 at 6:09 AM, Cjbear087 said:

So the expel-p arrives on Friday, do you reckon the fish will be able to survive until then, I will start treating then

It probably will survive till then  camallanus worms can cause internal damage when your fish  has a high parasite burden even with treatment it may still die I would still  treat all of your fish  with 4 full courses of expel p. you don't need to start a new thread each time you ask a question just continue on the original thread it makes it easy to follow

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On 3/28/2024 at 12:31 PM, Colu said:

It probably will survive till then  camallanus worms can cause internal damage when your fish  has a high parasite burden even with treatment it may still die I would still  treat all of your fish  with 4 full courses of expel p. you don't need to start a new thread each time you ask a question just continue on the original thread it makes it easy to follow

Ah right sorry I know for the future. So basically even if I get rid of the worms it could still negatively affect it in the future

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On 3/28/2024 at 8:31 AM, Colu said:

you don't need to start a new thread each time you ask a question just continue on the original thread it makes it easy to follow

I have combined the two topics to keep continuity of information 

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On 3/28/2024 at 12:34 PM, Cjbear087 said:

Ah right sorry I know for the future. So basically even if I get rid of the worms it could still negatively affect it in the future

Yes 

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@Colu Ok so treated with expel p last night and worms seem to have gone except from 1 tiny one which is still coming out of vent, although it is white not red (dead now maybe) so is this a problem (going to treat for another 3 weeks anyway) also the prolapse is much much smaller now to the point where you almost cannot see it so is it still worth doing epsom baths?

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The medication paralyzes the worms making it easy for the fish two expel them it doesn't kill the eggs  that why it requires multiple treatments spread over 4 weeks 

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