Re: callamanus help

by **callen** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:27 pm

The white could be some other type of parasite. How are the fish holding up?

Sorry to hear about your dad...best wishes to you and your family.

by **Gerry** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:40 am

Hope your dad gets on OK, so best wishes to him for the future, Fingers crossed on the parasite problem too.

by **Frances** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 10:40 am

I'm not seeing any of the callamanus stuff anymore. I did a 50% water change today to take out some of the parasite clear stuff that I had been using. I'm probably going to do another 50% water change tomorrow or Monday. (That would be 75% altogether, right?) The oscar's appetite is perking up some, but he's off the Hikara pellets. He's eating some smaller pellets. The water change seemed to have helped him a lot, I think he was getting a little stressed by all the chemicals in the water. I'm holding off on the levamisole hydrochloride for a while. My plan is to redose with the gel tek in about 5 days. If I see the worms again, I'm going to use the levamisole, but I'd rather wait. The white poop seems to be decreasing and the body profile on the oscar has changed somewhat. His belly doesn't look as pinched in as it did. Hopefully, this plan will work out. The fish were seeming stressed by all the treatments I've tried, so unless I see signs of an active infection, I don't want to add anything else to the mix at this point. I have Monday off, so I can watch the fish a lot over this three day weekend.

Frances

by **callen** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:02 pm

Frances this is great information and I thank you for posting.

Your plan sounds good. The fact that you are seeing improvement says a lot. Your doing well!!

The fish were seeming stressed by all the treatments

I'm sure they were. Could you explain how they seemed stressed as this will help others and what you did to help them? Did you notice that the water changes help with the stress?

Please continue you keep us posted.

by **Sharn** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:47 am

good to hear things are going well

the white worms could have been younger ones or dead ones, if they werent moving around then they were most likely dead. alive worms will retreat back up into the intestine when the fish is netted, chased etc.

its good to hear the pinching is going away too, its definatly a good sign!

please let us know how it goes after the second treatment (their lifecycle takes around two weeks to complete, that may be of some help when it comes to treating times)

by **Frances** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:47 pm

Some bad news and some good news. This morning, I saw the red spikey worms in the oscar's anus again! So, I did another 50% water change and I treated the tank with the levamisole hydrochloride from Jeffers. The dose I used was 1 teaspoon of the liquid per 10 gallons of tank water. I did conversions, etc, until my head was spinning, and that was the lowest suggested dose I saw anywhere. (I did find a few places where people had managed to overdose a tank using pig or cow dewormer, so I was a little scared of this whole process.) I immediately saw some small worms in the water near the oscar. (Thread-like, about 0.5 cm in length.) About 1.5 hours later, there are still two spikey worms in the oscar. I don't want to increase the dose today. The oscar keeps getting pale and then coloring back up, and I'm guessing he's a little stressed out by the treatment. I'm going to wait the 72 hours and then change the water. About 5 or 6 days from today, I'll treat the tank again. I may have to use a larger dose, but I hope not!

If my math is correct, the stuff I ordered from Jeffers is 3.6%. The percent was not on the label, I calculated it, so use this number at your own risk! With the amount I used, that gave 0.00475 g/L of levamisole. The dosage Sharn suggested (0.015 g/L, again assuming I can do the math right) would be 3X the one I used, but I'm not going to increase the dosage this time around.

I just saw my oscar pass more worms. I for got to mention that I'm keeping 1 tbspn of epsom salts for every 10 gallons of water while I get this under control.

I have a stupid question. If the oscar, who evidentally is not the brightest fish in the pond, eats one of the worms he just passed, will he be reinfected? Or is the worm dead? I guess the worm is dead, but it could have eggs inside, right?

Disclaimer: If you try repeating my doses and kill your fish, please don't blame me! I'm a chemistry teacher, but not a fish expert by any means. (The 70 gallon bowfront was my Christmas present this year and marks my re-entry into the hobby.) With that said, I think the levamisole is the only thing that really worked on this parasite.

Frances

by **Gerry** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:55 pm

I have never had this problem, but I would guess if your Oscar is passing worms that the med is working and the parasites should be dead, as for the eggs in the dead parasite I would guess that they have been poisoned too, though as you are still treating your Oscar then even if they are not then as soon as they hatch they will be.

But as I said, I have no personal experience of this and is just a calculated guess.

by **Sharn** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:31 am

if its pure levamisole hydro it doesnt hurt to go higher from what ive read, ive read a few articles on people who tested the effects of it when OD'd at at least 5 times the reccomended dose (on culls), they saw nothing major and the fish were completly fine afterwards. i was very paranoid about treatment (im like that about meds) so i wanted to find out if it was going to be a risk if OD'd by accident. it isnt reccomended you go and OD, at any dose it irritates the bowels but you should be fairly safe if you choose to go a big higher.

during my treatment the only fish that showed any signs of unhappyness were my rummynoses, they were pretty pale by 48 hours which is when i decided to do my w/c. my wild apistos couldnt have cared less, my rams actually spawned during the treatment LOL. as long as he doesnt look too bad (if he starts laboured breathing, sitting on the bottom continuously etc) leave the treatment in.

all fish act differently though so as usual caution is advised

by **Frances** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 11:03 am

Thanks for the advice! I know that I don't have pure levamisole hydrochloride since the label says that it has 18 grams of levamisole and the total weight listed on the bottle is 20 grams. Fish are doing ok today, so I'm leaving the treatment in. Oscar's a little off his food, but that could be pouting from all the water changes. He was pale yesterday, but he's dark today. The pleco is doing fine.

I haven't seen any worms today. None hanging, in the water, nothing. I think this has done the trick.

by **Gerry** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:19 pm

Hope so, keep us posted Frances :fro:

by **Sharn** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:15 am

by pure i meant no other additives other than water

good to see you havent seen any for a while and that your fishies have perked up a bit

by **Frances** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:45 am

Haven't been around much, things are very busy at school and home right now, but I wanted to let everyone know that my fish are doing much better!! My oscar has finally started growing noticeably and plays new games like chase the pleco and beg shamelessly.

Thanks for all your help! I'm watching for reinfection, etc, and I'll keep you posted.

Frances

by **callen** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:13 am

Great news!! :fro:

How long did you use the treatment for?

by **Gerry** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 1:25 pm

Great news :fro:

by **Sharn** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 4:36 am

WOOOHOOO! way to go Frances, you did a great job

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