Camallanus Worms/internal parasite

[luvnature]

I have noticed that some of my guppies have what I think is camallanus worms..an internal parasite.


I see thin red things protruding out of the vents on some of my guppies...two males from what I can see so far. They are continuing to eat fine so far and are lively, active. Not showing any signs of distress but I know that will change. Any internal parasite is never a good thing and most likely ends up being fatal especially if not treated. Of course it also will spread to the other fish.


I read up on it a little bit doing research here and there online and have found a few different suggestions about medications...fenbendazole, levamisole, junglelab tabs etc. I am going to need to treat the whole tank of course.
From what I have found out it seems that guppies are prone to this type of internal parasite



Anyone have this problem before? What did you use to get rid of this problem?


I do not want to lose my guppies or any of my other fishies. They are really beautiful and I love them.
In my 60 gallon I have a silver dollar, the 5 guppies, two corys, 1 gourami, 2 angelfish and 2 clown loaches as well. I also have some live plants...anacharis and sword plants.



Please help me out with any info or suggestion about this ugly parasite...camallanus worms.

[Angelnstuff]

Ive never had any experiences with them, but you got me curious, sense i mostly keep guppies, so i looked around online a bit and found these two sites where people told how they got rid of them..
http://www.guppies.com/forums/printthread.php?t=3161

http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/154/
On the second site, after the story the guy posts in his comments that he thinks the treatment he used killed his angelfish. Since you have two you might want to try something else first..
heres another site Its somebody answering faq about these worms..
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebI...matodesfwf.htm

Some sites also said that after these worms die they have to be expelled (pooed out) and this can sometimes cause problems.. so you might want to feed some veggies after treating your fish to help them pass the worms a little easier

I hope you find something that works for your little fishies.

[luvnature]

Thanks Angelstuff
I did come across those sites you posted and read different things about different methods and different medications. Some say one thing works others say it doesnt etc. Confused..lol.. also want to know what Sasami suggests since she is great at this stuff. Hope she will be around soon.


Yeah, I read about the pooing out. Sometimes they end up not being able to poop them out when worms die inside the fish and that can kill the little fishies. Veggies will continue to be on the menu as always.



Thanks for taking time to read about our wormy problem. Hope your guppies are doing well.

[Sasami]

The reason you're getting all different answers on how to treat for camallanus worms is because sometimes they develop resistances to certain medications. Basically, everyone has different experiences and there isn't any one medication on the market that always works .

I would recommend looking for a product that says "Praziquantel" in the ingredients list...there are a few medications on the market that use it, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Praziquantel seems to be your best bet, as I'd say that's the one people have the most success with. If that doesn't work, we can come up with another course of action .

Good luck! This is a tough parasite, unfortunately.

[luvnature]

Quote: This is a tough parasite, unfortunately.

Thanks for your response. I will look for the ingredient Praziquantel.


And I just changed my carbon too...grrrr..LOL. Oh well, such is the life of a fish lover.

[luvnature]

Ok I got some Parasite Clear tabs from JungleLabs. The box says that it now contains Praziquantel. Guess it didnt in the past.


The directions say that the treatment can be used up to 3 times, using once a week with a 25% h2o change so that is what I plan to do.

I hope it does the trick.

[Sasami]

Good luck and keep us updated!!

[luvnature]

Well, I used the meds back on Friday. I am not sure if it is working or not. I can still see the ugly little wormy thingy hanging from the guppies butt.

Shouldnt it be dead after 6 days gone by?
Shouldnt it have been pooped out by now?




Come this Friday I am going to do a water change and treat it again. I am going to do it up to 3 times like the box says it can be done.




Stubborn worms!

[Sharni]

Here's a thread from another forum...shows photos and what they used to treat the worm.

http://www.qldaf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9129