Deworming Fish

[Hidan]

I was watching this video from a experience fish keeper and he mentioned that he always deworms any new stock he purchases as a precautionary method to avoid infecting his existing fish.

Can anyone give me the details, if you guys do the same. Also can the medicine be added to the main tank (rather than the quarantine). Also would adding this affect the sump/filters beneficial bacteria and will it linger in the sponge and effect the fish at a later date.

I have picked up Tetras and have dwarf gouramies from a couple of weeks and am expecting about 12 Discus soon. So want to get this sorted asap. So would appreciate any advise I can get.

 

[kno4te]

Levamisole should help with deworming. Can add to the tank and not affect the beneficial bacteria.

 

[phreeflow]

QT tank is always best so you can observe the fish and see what pops up. If it’s internal parasites, they may eat but not gain weight, have sunken or bloated stomachs, or pass clear feces or even have worms hanging out of their anuses. Depending on symptoms, you can better select meds to target those specific issues. But to answer your question, yes, I almost always deworm all my fish as I focus on plecos and they all go through a full quarantine. Metrondazinole and praziquantel are good general dewormers and they are relatively gentle on most fish and filters and you can treat the whole tank. Flubendazole or levamisole are stronger meds for more persistent issues or different types of parasites like camanallus. When I kept discus, I’d always deworm them as they often suffer from internal worms

 

[Rocksor]

Treat with praziquental for the week , and later treat with 2ppm of levamisole 3 times, in the tank tank.

 

[Hidan]

I have a 120G tank. What is the amount of praziquental I should add.
Also is this available in powder/liquid form readily.

If it’s internal parasites, they may eat but not gain weight, have sunken or bloated stomachs, or pass clear feces or even have worms hanging out of their anuses.

Thankfully none of the tetras or the dwarf gourami seem to have a problem. They are happily swimming, eating well and putting on weight.
Just a bit paranoid as the discus are going to cost a fair bit and don't want to end up with problems after they arrive.

 

[Rocksor]

I have a 120G tank. What is the amount of praziquental I should add.
Also is this available in powder/liquid form readily.


Thankfully none of the tetras or the dwarf gourami seem to have a problem. They are happily swimming, eating well and putting on weight.
Just a bit paranoid as the discus are going to cost a fair bit and don't want to end up with problems after they arrive.

Follow the directions on the bottle or you can look up the directions to Hikari Prazipro, paying attention to the % of praziquental in the product.

 

[Cardeater]

This seems like a good, recent thread to bump concerning prophylactic deworming.

Treat with praziquental for the week , and later treat with 2ppm of levamisole 3 times, in the tank tank.

Can someone be please explain the schedule for this? Would you give a rest period between giving the prazi and then the levamisole?

I have general cure, which has metronidazole and praziquantel. It says to dose, repeat after 48 hours, and then wait another 48 hours, and basically remove it (they suggest 25% water change and then adding carbon).

Would you wait a bit before doing levamisole after that? If so, how long? I know the levamisole treatment should be repeated after 2-3 weeks to kill any eggs that hatch.

Finally, which treatment is more risky? I've got like a week left on my fish guarantee so I should use whichever one is harsher on the fish first, just in case.

My fish don't show any real symptoms but I realize it could takes months for internal parasites to show symptoms so I'm on board with preventatively treating in the QT tank. I have 20+ year old fish in the main tank that I want to protect.

Finally, should I decrease feeding for the fish? I'm not sure if I trust the QT tank (10g) to go 4 days without a water change for general cure treatment as I have 8 fish jammed in there. Filter is mature, but I showed a small 0.25 nitrite spike yesterday. Would that be a reason to do levamisole first, since it's only a 24 hour treatment?

Thanks for any clarifications. I want to start a dose tonight.

 

[kno4te]

Rocksor

 

[Cardeater]

I just dropped in a levamisole dose. It's a 24 treatment so I figured I can rest them a few days and start the general cure treatment a few days before guarantee runs out.

I really hope this doesn't kill any of these guys: rainbowfish and clown loaches but I'd rather be safe than sorry later in my main tank.

I followed the dosing instructions from loaches site which I saw in another thread is sourced from the same DR that RD sources, so therefore realiable. I had to follow the 1/4 tsp divided into ten parts as my scale wasn't accurate enough.

 

[Rocksor]

I haven't had 2ppm of levamisole or praziquental kill my fish. I've even treated a scaleless south american lungfish with both medications in quarantine.