Callamanus Worms on Gars. Urgent Help Needed.

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SmallMonster

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 23, 2011
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Thomson
Description: Red wriggly worms on the anus of my gars.

Suspected: Case of Callamanus worms.


Need advise for cause and treatment urgently! (heard its fatal :( )
 
Not sure how well it works for Gars since I have no experience with them, but with cichlids I have had great success treating Callamanus with Levamisole (pig dewormer). I used the powdered form. It only takes a small amount to treat a tank. I can't recall the correct dosage because it has been quite some time since I had this problem. A few teaspoons was enough to treat my 120 gallon tank. You can find Levamisole at feed stores or order it from places like Foster and Smith. You just have to clean the gravel between doses because the worms will become paralyzed and fall to the substrate. Remove them before they infect other fish. I cleaned the gravel after each full day of treatment for a week. Feel free to pm me. I really didn't want to write a novel in your thread. LOL
 
Yup levamisole is your best option. Read the sticky on treatments here
 
i have never dealt with these worms before, but have dealt with numerous parasites in gars. combining the info we have here and the brief search i did on those worms, it seems like Levamisole is the best treatment for the worms...HOWEVER, i have not used it before. for most parasites i use jungle parasite clear or prazipro, both of which use praziquantel as the active ingredient and this works on all major parasite groups (roundworms, fish lice, anchor worm, etc). i have found that about half the dosage works well with gars and other primitive fishes; i've used a full dose on a couple occasions and that seemed to be ok too.

i would recommend going with a half dose of this levamisole and see how that works; if you can get a hold of something with praziquantel, that is also advisable as that is proven to work with gars. keep us posted and good luck. if you are feeding live you may also want to treat your feeder tank as they are likely a good host for the worms.--
--solomon
 
E_americanus said:
i have never dealt with these worms before, but have dealt with numerous parasites in gars. combining the info we have here and the brief search i did on those worms, it seems like Levamisole is the best treatment for the worms...HOWEVER, i have not used it before. for most parasites i use jungle parasite clear or prazipro, both of which use praziquantel as the active ingredient and this works on all major parasite groups (roundworms, fish lice, anchor worm, etc). i have found that about half the dosage works well with gars and other primitive fishes; i've used a full dose on a couple occasions and that seemed to be ok too.

i would recommend going with a half dose of this levamisole and see how that works; if you can get a hold of something with praziquantel, that is also advisable as that is proven to work with gars. keep us posted and good luck. if you are feeding live you may also want to treat your feeder tank as they are likely a good host for the worms.--
--solomon
Click to expand...

1. What are their chances of full recovery?

2. So levamisole is a product name or active ingredient I should find?

3. After the application of medicine, what should I expect next? I read that Jungle Lab's would paralyze the worms and we are to vacuum the paralyzed worms from the tank floors. True? Then what to do for the 2 other choices of medicine?

4. What should be my dosing regime like? 1 dose a day or ?


Thanks for all the inputs! I'm super stressed about this. Will visit the stores once I knock off from work.
 
SmallMonster said:
1. What are their chances of full recovery?

2. So levamisole is a product name or active ingredient I should find?

3. After the application of medicine, what should I expect next? I read that Jungle Lab's would paralyze the worms and we are to vacuum the paralyzed worms from the tank floors. True? Then what to do for the 2 other choices of medicine?

4. What should be my dosing regime like? 1 dose a day or ?


Thanks for all the inputs! I'm super stressed about this. Will visit the stores once I knock off from work.
Click to expand...

will reply with more later, but given experience with other worm parasites in gars, i would expect a full recovery. is the gar still eating? that is always a good sign (compared to it having stopped eating). i have never used levamisole before, so i don't know offhand if it is the actual product or the active ingredient in another product. if you can get a hold of a product with the ingredient praziquantel, i would go with that.

once you have the product, just dose about half of what is recommended on the package, and then follow the rest of the instructions. elevating temp to 78-82F is recommended to help the fish's metabolism boost and with that usually the immune system too. until you get the product, i would advise a quarantine tank and also 50% water changes every other day (water changes and temp increase are general first-run treatments for gars with any issues).

keep us posted, and i'll try to write more later--
--solomon
 
You can buy Vermisol, which is 7.5% Levamisole. Pure Levamisole isn't easy to find. The recommended dosage is 2.5g of 7.5% powder for every 20 gallons, to achieve a concentration of 2ppm.

If dosing 100% Levamisole, then it should be 187mg per 20g.

I bought mine here: http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/catalog/586.html
 
how long should i continue with medication? do i need to re-dose? how long before visible results can be observed?
 
From what I've read you should do a second dose a week or two later. I've never dealt with Callamanus personally, so I'm not sure what the recover is like...
 
anyone tried metronidazole against this?
 
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