Should i deworm?

[vicky]

I had purchased 8 juveniles about 1 month back, since then four of them have grown up quite a bit, they've doubled in size and four of them havn't shown much growth (none in fact) however they eat normally .I didn't deworm them till now cause they underwent treatment for Ick about 12 days back. they are perfectly alright now except for the growth part for the four. Shoud i deworm or is it some thing else?

[Merrilyn]

Vicky I'd deworm them for pinworm and threadworm. You need a product containing Levamisole. The tablets that treat tapeworm don't control pinworm, you need something specific.

Check with your local pet shop or your vet for the right product.

[vicky]

whatever you say Ladyred.

I'll look for some medicine containing levimasol and will consult my vet and ofcourse you before giving the medicine tomorrow.


:P

[vicky]

sorry i could not reply yesterday, it was sunday and all atores are closed here. am going now to get the medicine will reply after sometime.

[Inspiringfish]

Thank you all for this forum, very informative!!! I've been on for about a week and have learned a ton,, thank you.

I'm hoping for some advice. I've been reading alot about de-worming. I have a 125gall with 12 beautiful Discus. 5 of them have been hiding and one had cloudy eyes. I treated with metro-nitrasol (spelling?) and all but 2 have come out of it quite well and look great (even the cloudy eye'd one).

2 of them are still hiding and won't eat. From this forum, I'm guessing it's capillaria (spelling?) Which should be treated with Levamisol????

I tried this with a mix for the food,,,, :? none will eat it. They just spit it out. The 2 that are sick won't go near it. So, upon further investigation, through this site, I thought about treating the tank :cry: (no quaretine tank, I'll will get one).

I checked with the local vet clinic for levminsole and they referrred me to fleet farm. Which I purchased Levamisol HydroChloride. Is this the stuff I want???? What does the HydroChloride mean or stand for??

Thank you for any and all advice,, especially if it's good advice :wink: .

[Merrilyn]

Mark, yes that's the stuff you need. The dose rate is 1 ml per 7 litres of water.

If you're going to dose in the community tank, don't forget to make allowances for gravel and driftwood when calculating the water volume.

It's a once only dose, and change the water after 2 days. If your fish have worms, they will pass them in that time.

[Inspiringfish]

You guys/girls are amazing on your responses!!!! Thank you for your information. With that formula 1ml per 7 litres I will medicate the tank (125gallons) 6ml (considering decorations)??? Then change the water after 2 days??

Thank you ladyred.

I hope to be informative and instrumental to this site in the future.

Don't count on it though,,, I am Polish. :P :P :o :o :P :P

[Inspiringfish]

Is a 30% water change enough??? If it's not,,, can I do another 30% after 2 more days??? I can get about 15 gallons a day out of my RO system.

[Merrilyn]

Mark, a 30% water change will be fine.

If you give me the dimensions of your tank, I'll work out the dose for you.

[Inspiringfish]

Thanks Ladyred. It is 4 feet long,, 2 feet deep,, and 2 feet high.

You are the bomb!! :D :D :thumb

[Merrilyn]

Mark, your tanks holds 119 US gallons, filled to the top, and not allowing for any gravel or driftwood. That converts to 453 litres. Now if we allow say 40 litres for the gravel etc. we come up with a figure of 413 litres. Divide that by 7 and your dose for that tank would be 59 mls of levamisole.. :P

[glo]

Ladyred, can I dose with Levamisol if I have a discus community tank with corys, hoplos, cardinals and b'nose? I've heard that some catfish and tetras don't take kindly to worming medicine like praziquantal?

Other than Levamisol, what other worming treatments should / can I use in a discus community tank containing the above fish.

[Inspiringfish]

Thank you LadyRed !!!!!!!!!

[Inspiringfish]

Help,, I think?? I dosed the tank with Levamisol. I saw some white strings coming out of some of them today (2). One that had been sick.

Not sure that I mentioned this,,, before the Levamisol I treated with Melafix and Pemafix. Brought 3 of the 5 around great. The other 2 were still sick when I researched the forum and then decided to treat with the Levamisol.

Anyway, since the dosage, 6ml powder disolved in water then added to tank (125gallon). None of the fish will come out of hiding, and they certainly won't eat. None will come up to the front of the tank, which is there normal behavior. Some of them twitch every once in awhile. They look fine but all (12) hide and are very scitish.

Should I be worried??? It's been 30 hours total since the medication has been put in.

Weird thing,, some of them chase the Rummie nose around.

[Cliffeh]

If Levisamol is anything like the wormer plus I use in the UK then I wouldn't be overly worried. The fish can go a very long time without food. Feed a little at a time and be sure to clean any uneaten food pretty quick, they'll come out when they get hungry enough... you say they are looking fine so it may be that the treatments have done the trick... check how long levisamol needs to be left and soon as it expires do a couple of fair sized water changes to perk things up would be what I would do but Ladyred or one of the other advisors may have some more practical advice.



now if anyone knows a trick to get a 6yr old human male to eat anything but one or two chicken nuggets a day then I'd be interested but that'd be another forum I guess! ;)

[Inspiringfish]

Thanks Cliffeh, and I can actually give advice on he 6 year old. I have 3 of my own,,, 6yr old, 4 yr old, and 2 yr old.. Ice Cream, bride them with Ice Cream. If that don't work,, just give em Ice cream and that way you know, at least they're getting dairy. :D :D

[Inspiringfish]

30% water change and presto!!! 8-) The fish look awesome!!!! :blob :wave2 :blob Thanks for the help guys and girls!!!

[Merrilyn]

Ladyred, can I dose with Levamisol if I have a discus community tank with corys, hoplos, cardinals and b'nose? I've heard that some catfish and tetras don't take kindly to worming medicine like praziquantal?

Other than Levamisol, what other worming treatments should / can I use in a discus community tank containing the above fish.

Glo, the levamisole is fine with all those fish. I'd exercise caution with prazi, and only use it if you have reason to believe that your fish are suffering from tapeworm.

If you have to use it, remove the cats before you medicate the tank, or treat the discus in a hospital tank.

Inspiringfish, that's great, sounds like you fish needed a worming. Just do a few more water changes and all the medication will be removed from the water.

[Bill T.]

I don't like melafix at all. I have used it upon the advice of my lfs a couple of times - never worked and possibly did some harm.

[Merrilyn]

I agree Bill. Lots of people say it's wonderful on other fish, but I think because of the particular slime coating that discus have, it doesn't work.

[Bill T.]

Smells nice....but!

[Merrilyn]

And it's good if you've got a stuffy nose LOL

[Bill T.]

I've got a large container of it left over - can't bring myself to throw it out!
Perhaps it might work as window cleaner?

[Inspiringfish]

Thank you Ladyred.

Excuse me if I'm duplicating info,,, LadyRed you just indicated to dose with Levamisole only if you beleive they have worms??? I thought you/someone indicated it should be used twice a year as a preventative and or introducing a new fish to the tank (after he/shes' been in the tank a month or so)??


Good information on the Melafix, Bill T and LadyRed.

Thanks all for this discussion on worms.

[Merrilyn]

Mark, if you had a static population of fish in your tank, then I guess you could worm once, and that would be the end of it.

However, most of us add plants or fish to our tanks. Each time you put something new in there, you risk introducing worms. Most tetras to day are still wild caught, and even if they are farm bred, a lot of the farms don't treat for worms, so you risk introducing worms again.

I regularly worm my fish every six months, as well as every new fish when they arrive. But then I have a lot of fish and a lot of fry, and I don't want to take chances.

If your fish seem happy and healthy, with bright eyes, erect fins and good appetite, then you probably don't need to worm them. If you've recently introduced new fish to your tank, any kind of new fish, then I'd do a routine worm treatment.

Hope that helps.

[Cliffeh]

It's a coincidence we've been talking about worms... just found these in my quarantine tank wriggling around the glass after a drain for a water change.

[Merrilyn]

Yikes :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

[Cliffeh]

I've done wormer plus so hopefully they are gone. Posted the pictures here and on the UKDA but Still haven't identified the critters.

[Inspiringfish]

Great feedback,, thanks to all.

The worm pictures,,, I bet you could serve them as crab meat and know one would know the difference.. Any friends you dislike and want to welcome over for dinner???? Just an idea :D

[lou48314]

I am pretty sure my discus are "wormy".
I never dewormed anything before so I am new to this.
I looked all over the 'net to see what I could find for Levamisol but found nothing. I assume it is because it is a somewhat controlled substance, considering what it does...
Would a LFS have the stuff?
How about Tractor Supply Company? They seem to carry a bit of the pet stuff....
Any help would be awesome!

[TomNS]

I am pretty sure my discus are "wormy".
I never dewormed anything before so I am new to this.
I looked all over the 'net to see what I could find for Levamisol but found nothing. I assume it is because it is a somewhat controlled substance, considering what it does...
Would a LFS have the stuff?
How about Tractor Supply Company? They seem to carry a bit of the pet stuff....
Any help would be awesome!

Produce/Farm shop would have it - you don't one it with gluecose in it - the tank will errupt with algae amongst other things

Tom

[Robdog]

Welcome to the forums Lou!
I've heard that Levamisol is also used as a wormer for pigs and other agricultural animals. I'm sure there is a fish specific version around that you can get your hands on.

On a local note, does anyone know a place in Sydney to get some? A LFS to be specific.

[marg]

Just go to a Stockfeed supply store - most of them sell Coopers Nilverm Pig and Poultry Wormer which is perfectly safe - I have used it on all my Fish without any problems.

Marg.

[lou48314]

Produce/Farm shop would have it - you don't one it with gluecose in it - the tank will errupt with algae amongst other things

Tom
Tom,

Thanks a ton.
Unfortunately I will be heading out of town fir the next couple of days so I will not be able to do anything until this weekend.
They are hiding in the corners and they are not eating like they used to.
I am chalking it all up to the fact that I started feeding them live blackworms back about a month ago.
I have noticed that a couple of them are showing some signs of stringy poop too.
I sure hope they can make it another couple of days.....