# Oh god. A guppy has camallanus. What do I do?!



## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

I dealt with this nematode years ago and it decimated my tank. My 20g has been set up for around 10 years and it's full of snails and scuds. The last time I heard, Levamisole was banned in Canada and I think all of the medications for this stupid parasite are toxic to inverts not to mention you're supposed to vacuum the gravel when treating fish. I can't do that with my set up because I'll end up with a muddy tank.

What in the hell am I suppose to do?! It was hell the last time I dealt with this and I'm freaking out at the thought of it happening all over again.

Edit: I wanted to add more info. I had gotten some new guppies a few months ago and it was one of them that has the worm showing which I noticed just today(I always keep an eye out for this). I've only kept guppies in my tank and none of the others ever had it so it's from the new guys. In the past, I had tried making the medicated food that Diana suggested but they wouldn't eat it so I managed to get Levamisole before it was banned and in the end, they ended up dying.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

Fenbendazole should work for roundworms. It's dog/cat dewormer you can get at the pet store.
It doesn't dissolve in water so it's best to crush it and add it to food. Add in very small amounts if they don't eat. It does smell chemically to them.

Oh, find flubendazole, not sure how. It is water soluable.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

mistergreen said:


> Fenbendazole should work for roundworms. It's dog/cat dewormer you can get at the pet store.
> It doesn't dissolve in water so it's best to crush it and add it to food. Add in very small amounts if they don't eat. It does smell chemically to them.
> 
> Oh, find flubendazole, not sure how. It is water soluable.


Hello. Thanks for the reply. 

I think the fenbendazole was what I tried with the food the last time and the guppies didn't take to it.

Oh, did you know that in Canada, all medications for pets, including fish, are now by prescription only? Yep. I just found that out today. All fish medications have been taken off the market here and the only ones you can buy is stuff like Melafix. That would explain why I had a difficult time finding stuff for Ich over a year ago. This even applies to farmers. Before, they could by the medication at a store for livestock but not anymore.

Here's another link where people are discussing it.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

Well, this could make it easy for you. You can call up a vet instead of going all over town hunting for meds. Ask for water soluble roundworm dewormer for your fish.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

My website has a comprehensive article 'Treating Fish for Camallanus and Other Nematodes'.

It shows how to prepare fish food with Fenbendazole, the drug I used to get rid of Camallanus in my guppies. My guppies love the food I prepare in the blender with sardines, spinach, flakefood plus the drug. Levamisole HCL also works.

I got my Fenbendazole from ordering off of Amazon. You can order Levamisole from Charles Harrison His website explains treatment.

The disease can be eradicated with either Fenbendazole or Levamisole, but you will probably have to order these drugs and then use them properly.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Levamisole is commonly used as a wormer for hogs and other livestock, so it should be available from a veterinarian in Canada. It successfully treated my pearl gouramis when they had camallanus.

Good luck! I have become so paranoid about diseases carried by retail fish that I don't buy them anymore.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

mistergreen said:


> Well, this could make it easy for you. You can call up a vet instead of going all over town hunting for meds. Ask for water soluble roundworm dewormer for your fish.


You'd think it would be that easy but it's not. You can only get it from a vet that treats the animal in question and in this case, a vet that treats fish. I had contacted my vet and this is what I was told. However, not all is lost! Read my reply to Michael.



dwalstad said:


> My website has a comprehensive article 'Treating Fish for Camallanus and Other Nematodes'.
> 
> It shows how to prepare fish food with Fenbendazole, the drug I used to get rid of Camallanus in my guppies. My guppies love the food I prepare in the blender with sardines, spinach, flakefood plus the drug. Levamisole HCL also works.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Diana. I want to go with the Fenbendazole because from what I've read, that med actually kills the parasite whereas Levamisole only paralyzes it. Whether it's true or not, I don't know. Also, I'd rather stay away from medication that has to go into the water.

Should I remove my snails(physa and nerite) and my RCS? Some people said that Fenbendazole won't harm snails and shrimp yet others say it will. Since it's only in the food, I'd like to think it will be okay. Did you have any problems with this when you fed your fish the medicated food? How many times a day did you feed your fish with this treatment? I feed mine twice a day.



Michael said:


> Levamisole is commonly used as a wormer for hogs and other livestock, so it should be available from a veterinarian in Canada. It successfully treated my pearl gouramis when they had camallanus.
> 
> Good luck! I have become so paranoid about diseases carried by retail fish that I don't buy them anymore.


Thanks! Check out my reply to mistergreen. I even asked my vet again about this and they won't because they don't treat fish so they don't know what dose to give. However, I do have a friend who is helping me out so I should be getting some meds soon. :spy:

I read that Levamisole only paralyzes the parasite whereas Fenbendazole will kill it. Is this true? I'm going to try the latter because I want to avoid having to put medications into the entire tank so I'm going with the food route. I just hope it won't harm my snails and shrimp.

I'm going to have to start looking for guppy breeders in the area so I can hopefully avoid this in the future.

Thanks everyone!


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

Use levamisol. It's inverts (snails & shrimp) safe. You can get it from farm animal vet  Say you have a pony in the backyard.

Yes, levamisol is a paralytic but in essence, it'll kill the worms from starvation and normal functions. You only need 2ppm of it once and then another dose a few weeks later to make sure.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

mistergreen said:


> Use levamisol. It's inverts (snails & shrimp) safe. You can get it from farm animal vet  Say you have a pony in the backyard.
> 
> Yes, levamisol is a paralytic but in essence, it'll kill the worms from starvation and normal functions. You only need 2ppm of it once and then another dose a few weeks later to make sure.


So I gave it a try and no luck. I even called other vets in the area. There is a vet college here in town that deals with fish but because of the COVID thing going on, they are closed and they won't prescribe it without seeing the animal. Ugh. I know that Levamisole was taken off the market here because people were adding it to cocaine and it was being used to treat certain cancers so I don't even know if a vet would be able to get it.

I'm going to check out the link Diana posted.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Red_Rose said:


> YShould I remove my snails(physa and nerite) and my RCS? Some people said that Fenbendazole won't harm snails and shrimp yet others say it will. Since it's only in the food, I'd like to think it will be okay. Did you have any problems with this when you fed your fish the medicated food? How many times a day did you feed your fish with this treatment? I feed mine twice a day.


I've had _absolutely_ no problems feeding my Fenbendazole fishfood to RCS, snails, and guppies. At this time, I am feeding them the stuff every other day, because they like it and I wanted to use up my little stash of Fenbendazole before the drug expired.

Fenbendazole--unlike disinfectants chlorox, propanol, and lysol--is an anti-parasitic drug targeted for nematodes, not every living creature!


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

dwalstad said:


> I've had _absolutely_ no problems feeding my Fenbendazole fishfood to RCS, snails, and guppies. At this time, I am feeding them the stuff every other day, because they like it and I wanted to use up my little stash of Fenbendazole before the drug expired.
> 
> Fenbendazole--unlike disinfectants chlorox, propanol, and lysol--is an anti-parasitic drug targeted for nematodes, not every living creature!


Good to know. Thanks!

I just ordered some Levamisole from Charles. I noticed that he also sells Fenbendazole as well. It's nice to know there's someone to go to for whenever I need meds like this.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Charles is a terrific resource. If you have any problems, I would urge you to ask him. He knows more than I do and seems dedicated to worm removal! 

Then, let us know if you get rid of the nasties. 

I still have half of the powder he sent me a couple years ago. I mixed half of it with water to treat fish and kept the rest of it dry--just in case. It's precious stuff.


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## bertha (Sep 19, 2018)

mistergreen said:


> use levamisol. It's inverts (snails & shrimp) safe. You can get it from farm animal vet  say you have a pony in the backyard.
> 
> Yes, levamisol is a paralytic but in essence, it'll kill the worms from starvation and normal functions. You only need 2ppm of it once and then another dose a few weeks later to make sure.


+1


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

dwalstad said:


> Then, let us know if you get rid of the nasties.


I certainly will. 

Thanks again, everyone!


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## St. Louis Cardinal Tetras (Aug 25, 2021)

dwalstad said:


> I've had _absolutely_ no problems feeding my Fenbendazole fishfood to RCS, snails, and guppies. At this time, I am feeding them the stuff every other day, because they like it and I wanted to use up my little stash of Fenbendazole before the drug expired.
> 
> Fenbendazole--unlike disinfectants chlorox, propanol, and lysol--is an anti-parasitic drug targeted for nematodes, not every living creature!


I can’t find fishbendazole anywhere so I picked up some safeguard dog dewormer. It says it’s only 22% fenbendazole so how would I dose following your recipe?


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

St. Louis Cardinal Tetras said:


> I can’t find fishbendazole anywhere so I picked up some safeguard dog dewormer. It says it’s only 22% fenbendazole so how would I dose following your recipe?


Well, you could try using 2 to 4 times what I used with the pure stuff. Dosage does not have to be exact and the drug is targeted for parasites. Also, the fish have to be willing to eat it. Make sure you pulverize pill into tiny pieces before adding to wet ingredients.


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## St. Louis Cardinal Tetras (Aug 25, 2021)

Thank you! I figured it out with some math. I just need to use 250 milligrams of the 1 gram package for 1 ounce of food. I mix it with repashy community plus. My fish love the stuff. And the fenbendazole comes as a powder


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