# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Deworming Your Fish



## Vicki (Jan 31, 2003)

I've been derelict in my duty--I really meant to post a sticky about internal parasites long before this, and I've been so busy lately I just haven't gotten it done. Part of the problem is that I need to rewrite it, because right at the moment, levamisole is almost impossible to get, unfortunately. There is only one manufacturer producing it, and they're having financial problems and have suspended production; I sure hope it's just temporary, because levamisole is still the best, widest spectrum and most nontoxic dewormer you can use on tropical fish. IF you can get levamisole, and that's a big if right now, this is what I do:

If they're eating, I use a ColorBits cocktail, which consists of ColorBits soaked in metronidazole and levamisole, two broad spectrum antiparasitics and antihelminthics. I get the 5 gram vials of pure metronidazole that Foster & Smith sells. It comes with a little spoon (just like the kinds that come in SeaChem water test kits). I use Tetra ColorBits because it holds together better than flakes do and it's easy to mix. Take off the cap, put one spoonful of metronidazole and one spoonful of levamisole (available in powder from most vets, one brand name is Levasole); add about a teaspoonful of water and mix as thoroughly as you can. Add enough ColorBits to the cap to soak up all the water; mix thoroughly. One capful of this is enough for me to deworm all my tanks, which I do on a regular basis, about every 3 or 4 months; I also do any new fish I purchase while they're still in quarantine. Just feed as much as you can fit on the end of your finger. After you've done it a couple of times, you can easily judge how much to put in. Both of these meds are very nontoxic, but be careful if you have shrimp; you don't want them chowing down on it. Most antiparasitic medications will kill shrimp. I've used the cocktail in a tank with wood shrimp with no problems, but they don't generally scavenge the bottom for food. This may sound complicated but once you've done it once there's nothing to it, and the results are pretty amazing, especially when you realize fish that you thought were perfectly healthy are throwing all kinds of worms.

If they're not eating, you can treat the water with Levamisole. It's most effective at a ph below neutral, so if necessary you can kick up your CO2 to bring it down a little, or put a bottle on your quarantine tank if necessary. Mix ¼ teaspoon per 10 gallons in a cup or so of tank water to dissolve, and then pour into the tank. After 24 hours, do a big water change, at least 50%, and the following day do another one; this will help get rid of expelled worms and any eggs or cysts. After you've done two water changes, the fish should begin to eat normally and put weight back on. If it DOESN'T work, you may need to try another antihelminthic like piperazine or metronidazole or both, but levamisole is effective against a pretty wide variety of organisms, and is particularly good for everything that most commonly troubles cichlids. I have never used this treatment on shrimp and would be leery of doing so; however, it doesn't seem to have any impact on snails.

If you CAN'T get Levamisole, one thing you could use instead is DiscoMed, a medication made by AquaTronics. It contains metronidazole, levamisole and nitrafurazone, and you can also soak their food in it and feed it that way, or treat the water if they're not eating; there are directions right on the medication. Piperazine is also a good option--it's readily available most places as Pipzine, also from AquaTronics.

Feel free to add your own thoughts and experiences!

http://www.wheelpost.com

[This message was edited by Vicki on Tue September 16 2003 at 06:46 AM.]


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## gnome (Jan 27, 2004)

Have you ever heard of or used Ivermectin? I think they use this to deworm cows and pigs and other farm animals. A few years back, at least, I'd read that this stuff was quite readily available from most vets. I wonder how effective Ivermectin would be, compared to Levamisole...? I'm sure it would have to be diluted considerably, though, if it's manufactured to treat cattle.


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## anonapersona (Mar 11, 2004)

I found lots of sources for Levamisole online, but the local vet had not heard of it. I hesitated to buy the sheep or cattle pills, not knowing how to convert to fish size doses.


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## imported_aspen (Feb 20, 2003)

here's the instructions for de-worming discus with panacur. i use my own beefheart, and find this food is the best for delivering powdered meds, due to the fact that it almost all gets into their system this way. i make my bh mix with fish and shrimps and almost all fish will eat it, or you can just buy a little for your fish from the lfs.

when using any med, be very careful with your measurements, and follow dosing and other instructions to the letter. imo, de-worming fish MUST be done in a bb tank. first it is easier to see the worms, and these things should not be left in the gravel to rot. i once treated discus for worms, and the tank was thick with them, out of 30 small fish, hundreds of worms came out.

rick

DEWORMING DISCUS WITH PANACUR

You will be using a total of 1/8 tsp. of Panacur (Fenbendazole) per 3oz (84g) total food (beefheart works best) in a 4-dose treatment. Using it inside food is the most effective way to use this drug - it does not dissolve well in water.

Begin by starving fish for 12hrs before feeding so they'll be good and hungry and won't turn their noses up at the treated food.

Take 1/8 tsp. Panacur granules and grind into a fine powder - we use a pharmacist's mortar.

Divide the ground powder into four doses and put ½ (two doses) back for later use.

Take ¼ of the 3oz beefheart (21g), flatten out and sprinkle one dose of Panacur over the top (imagine you're heavily salting food), fold the beefheart over, then soak the mixture in the fridge for about an hour before feeding it to the fish.

Do this again 8-12hrs later. Wait 6-8 days (depending on the life cycle of the worm you are treating for) and repeat this procedure. Feed your fish normally during this "wait period" and do not pre-mix the treated food, as the drug will lose its potency (as most all drugs do).

We find it best to not feed the fish their night-time meal, mix one dose early in the morning, feed it to them, then don't feed them again until their second dose is due (8-12hrs later). We usually wait until the 8th day to give them their third and fourth doses.

If the fish have any kind of lump in the stomach, they've not been passing their feces at a normal rate. If they've had worms in excess of 3 months or if you suspect the fish are infested with worms, we suggest you clean them out before treatment, 24-48hrs after the second treatment, then again 48hrs after the fourth treatment. Be sure to keep a check on how well they pass the worms, dead or otherwise. They may require a fourth cleaning out if they're having a hard time passing their feces or if they're passing it at a rate YOU don't fell like is normal for them. Your' the only one who can make that decision since you're the only one who sees them on a daily basis. Clean them out using Epsom salt inside their food as we've found it's most effective when put directly inside their gut (remember, that's where the worms are so it only makes sense that it would be most effective when used this way). Normal dosage for cleaning out a fish is 1/8 tsp. Epsom salt per 4oz (112g) of beefheart. This dosage changes if you have to clean them out throughout the de-worming process. Any of the special circumstances mentioned above, or if the fish aren't passing their feces normally the morning after the second dose was administered, you will need a change in the Epsom salt dosage.

May I suggest the above directions be read carefully and understood before beginning treatment. It's almost impossible to overdose with the Panacur (and Epsom salt for that matter), however, getting too much in their stomachs at once could cause the fish to get a bellyache for a few days.

[This message was edited by aspen on Fri September 19 2003 at 12:35 AM.]


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## Vicki (Jan 31, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Have you ever heard of or used Ivermectin?


I haven't used it; I've been leery of trying it because I haven't found any indication that anyone's ever tried it on tropical fish, and I didn't feel like making my fish the guinea pigs! Ivermectin is one of the dewormers that is commonly used now. Fifteen years ago, levamisole was used a great deal more in cattle and pigs than it is today, and one of the reasons I like it so much is that it's so nontoxic. If anyone out there has tried Ivermectin as a dewormer, I'd love to hear about it.

Rick, thanks for the great info! I'll have to find out more about Panacur.

Ann, I haven't used the boluses myself, but I have a friend who has; I'll have to check the dosage and let you know. There are still several places on line that list Levasole (levamisole hydrochloride)--but when you try to order it, you discover they're out of stock. I believe it's still available by prescription for human consumption (it's used in conjunction with chemotherapy for colon cancer patients, both as an antihelminthic and an immune system booster), but it's a lot more expensive. On the other hand, one prescription would be a lifetime supply. LOL! It might be a little tricky explaining to your doctor why you wanted it!

http://www.wheelpost.com


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## imported_trilinearmipmap (Feb 11, 2003)

Where to get Panacur? I just could find an online Canadian pharmacy that would sell it in 450 gram tubs.

Canadian Aquatic Plant Trading Website


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## imported_aspen (Feb 20, 2003)

i am not sure where you can get it. i got it from a fellow hobiest, out of HIS 450 gram tub...

rick


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## imported_trilinearmipmap (Feb 11, 2003)

I think we need to set up a group buy for levamisole or for Praziquantel.

Canadian Aquatic Plant Trading Website


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## deepblue (Dec 30, 2003)

How do you know if your fish have worms?


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## Josh Simonson (Feb 4, 2004)

Worst case you can see the worms hanging out of them.

I got 52 grams of prohibit drench, which is 48 grams pure levisimole, for 15 bucks plus 5 bucks handling from a farm vet website. I added 5 grams to a 55g tank 5 days apart and it seemed to do the job.

3 weeks later, everybody is still worm free, but a week after the second dose my a. gracilis melted down on me. I'm not sure if it was the medication, I didn't do a water change after one day because I really wanted to zap the worms and the literature suggested the stuff was really safe. Maybe it broke down into funky chemicals over time, or maybe something else triggered the meltdown since we've had a heat spell since then. 

The ph was lower for the second dose than it was for the first, and the second dose really did the job, so the ph buisness may be important.


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## Josh Simonson (Feb 4, 2004)

Ok, so the levisimole worked great on my 55, but one of the killies in my 20 looks awful thin, so they've probably got a problem too. Unfortunately their tank is nowhere near nuetral so I don't think adding it to their water will be as effective as it was in the 55. 

Update:
Added the reccomended dose directly to the 20, it caused hornwort and hydrocotyle to melt to some extent. I'd noticed this in the 55 too. A water change the next day pretty much stopped that. The killies look much better now. One of the females looked pretty stricken for a day or two, but has recovered since. Probably constipated from the nasties.

It seemed to kill all the daphnia in the tank, but the rotifers are still there. The MTS also all pulled into their shells for a few days, but seem to have pulled through too. I guess that's a warning that much more than the reccomended dose of levisimole may well kill plants and snails, as well as some other tank organisms.


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

I have used Praziquantel to deworm my discus in the planted tank. No harm to the plants. I found that majority of my discus had tapeworms.


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## menschenjaeger (Aug 10, 2004)

Since 2 ppm Levamisole/24 hrs will do the trick, I think the problem was that you dosed at about 10X that amount, if my math is correct.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

But where does one find Praziquantel?


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## imported_shalu (Feb 13, 2004)

I had two doses(two days apart after 50% water change) of 3 grams of Levamisole in 100g, no harm to the plants.


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## Josh Simonson (Feb 4, 2004)

Hmm, guess that's why I'm still worm free then. I'm pretty sure I used the reccomended dose though. My angels have spawned 3 times in my community tank since then and I've got about 20 near-adult killie fry, so I guess the crew's happy.


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## menschenjaeger (Aug 10, 2004)

I remember reading somewhere about levamisole causing sterility in zebra danios.

I've used it on gold panchax and paradisefish so far, with no sign of that happening. Good to hear your fish aren't "shooting blanks" either. Maybe they gave the zebras an elephant-sized dose...


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## ranaman (Feb 26, 2003)

I visited the fish farm coop yesterday they had medicated flakes in 8oz sizes so you don't have to buy 5lbs. It is custom made by Ziegler. They had a worming flake but I can't remember the active ingredient. They have a metrondiazole flake as well as some antibiotic flakes. the website is http://www.4fishstuff.com They will sell to hobbyists.


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## TwoTankAmin (Apr 10, 2005)

About 18 months ago I had what I thought was a worm problem. A friend own a 3 story retail and wholesale fish and plant business and he sent me Flubendazole. He said it was the best dewormer he had found. I recently had to use it on discus with tape worm- worked like a charm. Also now have recovering angel in H tank having just been treated with metro, Flubendazole and Epsom.

Several other larger scale fish folks i know also swear by it. Unfortunately it is not the easiest med to find.


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## Chiad (Feb 17, 2005)

....Fish get worms...? How often do they need to be dewormed? I mean, I deworm my dog every four months, but she's activly eating contaminated things (mice).

How can you tell? Should I just deworm all my fish, or look for symptoms?

About the only good thing is that I'm a veterinary assistant, so I can take a list of the drugs you folks have recomended in to work tomorrow and see if I can find any of them.


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