# Callamanus(?) worms



## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

So I have these wonderful worms in my tanks. Yay....

I've just recently noticed these little buggers in 2 out of my 3 tanks that have been set up for a while now. I'm just gonna go ahead and assume they are in the third tank as well. 

5g has two very pregnant guppys and ~15 cherry shrimp. Very planted and fluorite substrate.

30g has a few guppies, a few swordtails and a chocolate tip bristlenose pleco which is still very young. I just got him a few weeks ago. Rocks and driftwood in tank as well as a couple floating plants

60g has two green terrors (~2in), weather loaches and corydoras. Rocks and driftwood one anubias.

I plan on treating all 3 tanks as soon as I can get the medication and I am buying double so I can do a second treatment in 2-3 weeks. I just have a few questions. 

1. Will treating my guppys kill my unborn fry and shrimp? 

2. Should I put the two pregnant guppys with the rest of them in the 30g and treat them all together? I am planning on taking out all the river rocks so the tank will have a bare bottom to see worms.

3. Should I for sure treat the 60g even without any visible signs yet?

4. Should I treat each tank on separate days so I can sit and watch for worms to be excreted to the bottom?

5. Can I completely take my 5g down and clean everything with bleach while my shrimp are in a brand new container of aged water?

6. How do I disinfect the fluorite and plants so I can be 100% sure all the worms/eggs are dead?

List of plants in my tanks are anubias, java moss, water sprite(?), one marimo ball and another floating plant that I'm not 100% sure the name.

Any advice is very welcome. Thanks so much in advance. 

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## coppercloud (Apr 14, 2012)

Treat EVERYTHING with medication! These Stupid worms are hard to kill! if they're in one of your tanks they're in all of your tanks. I had to do four treatments because the first two didn't kill them all.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

coppercloud said:


> Treat EVERYTHING with medication! These Stupid worms are hard to kill! if they're in one of your tanks they're in all of your tanks. I had to do four treatments because the first two didn't kill them all.


Thanks. I'm getting the medication tomorrow morning and I got enough to do all 3 tanks x2. Hopefully I don't have to get more.

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## Hammer (Apr 22, 2010)

You need to talk to the guys at Canadian aquatics. They can help you with medication and information. I think pat and Charles have an article on this issue.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Hammer said:


> You need to talk to the guys at Canadian aquatics. They can help you with medication and information. I think pat and Charles have an article on this issue.


Yes I ordered some from them a couple days ago. Thank you though.

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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Good luck. I haven't had any experiences with these worms yet but I know that many people have struggled with these nasty pests. I hope that your fish and shrimp thrive.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Morainy said:


> Good luck. I haven't had any experiences with these worms yet but I know that many people have struggled with these nasty pests. I hope that your fish and shrimp thrive.


Thanks. Unfortunately 4 shrimp have died as of this morning. They looked like they were trying to molt, but definitely dead.

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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Oh, that's too bad! I wonder if the shrimp could be kept in an unmedicated tank? I don't know the answer to this, but maybe shrimp can't catch those worms, can't be hosts? (But, i don't know.) Shrimp can be so sensitive. I hope that your fish come through.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Morainy said:


> Oh, that's too bad! I wonder if the shrimp could be kept in an unmedicated tank? I don't know the answer to this, but maybe shrimp can't catch those worms, can't be hosts? (But, i don't know.) Shrimp can be so sensitive. I hope that your fish come through.


Well from what I read shrimp are very good parasite hosts. So I'd rather be safe than sorry. I do want to continue having small fish with my shrimp. I still have over 10 shrimp and a few females out of that so I'm hoping they survive. My fish are starting to swim around more which is always nice. They aren't eating much though since they are very pregnant. Well one is still.

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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Well a few more of my shrimp died today, but my fish are doing great. No visable worms at all anymore so I'm hoping they are all gone. 

After the water change/ gravel vacuuming on the 3/4 day, when should I do another water change? Or should I just leave it till I do the second treatment in 2 weeks?

Also I think I caught this parasite right away. I've only seen worms come out of two fish so far. So I believe I got it at the first possible sign which is awesome imo

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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Well it seems like I've managed to get rid of the worm.. Still gonna do the second treatment in like a week.
I still have no idea how it got into my tank but I'm gonna make sure I quarantine everything and clean plants really well before adding them.. At least I know everything I have now is clean ha-ha. 

Total loss was basically all my shrimp, 4 have made it though and there's at least 1 male and 1 female.. Funny thing is the female that survived is my wild brown "red cherry" shrimp. Not going to get anything new though until after the second dose of medication.. Anyways just wanted to leave a little update. 

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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm glad that your fish are doing well. Thanks for telling me that shrimp can be hosts of these horrible worms. Ugh! Good luck with your second dose. Your thread will be useful even after it's archived.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Morainy said:


> I'm glad that your fish are doing well. Thanks for telling me that shrimp can be hosts of these horrible worms. Ugh! Good luck with your second dose. Your thread will be useful even after it's archived.


Thank you. I'll be happy if it helps someone, but I hope no one has to deal with these guys! It's a lot of stress and work. I don't know what I would have done if I lost my fish due to it.

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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

How are your fish doing? I haven't forgotten your battle with those creepy worms.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Well I did the second dose of medication and I've had the light only on for feeding the last couple days. But so far no other shrimp deaths and both guppys have given birth  I was most worried about them dying through the birthing process because of the worms/medicine but I'm happy to say there's at least 10 fry. Not a huge amount considering they both looked like they would explode/rip apart. And not a single fish death in the other tanks as well.

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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

You are doing great! Congratulations on the fry!


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Thanks hopefully now after 2nd/last dose I won't see them ever again! Still kinda wish I knew exactly when/how I got them...

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## Lizzysfishies (Apr 10, 2016)

I contracted camallanus worms in my tanks at around the same time as you. Did you purchase any fish from Petland? I know some of their angelfish tank did have camallanus worms in them. That could be your answer.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Lizzysfishies said:


> I contracted camallanus worms in my tanks at around the same time as you. Did you purchase any fish from Petland? I know some of their angelfish tank did have camallanus worms in them. That could be your answer.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


I hope you were lucky enough to get them out of your tank! No, I do not have a petland near me, but there is a petsmart. I wonder if they would have the same issues from the same supplier too, maybe?

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## Lizzysfishies (Apr 10, 2016)

LykeOMGee said:


> I hope you were lucky enough to get them out of your tank! No, I do not have a petland near me, but there is a petsmart. I wonder if they would have the same issues from the same supplier too, maybe?
> 
> Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk


Maybe, I thought I got rid of them, but another fish (one of my breeding pair of angels) has contracted them. Have you gotten rid of yours? I find the deworm #3 flake from angels plus works (well, keeps the fish alive and breeding, they might come back later) if you are struggling.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Lizzysfishies said:


> Maybe, I thought I got rid of them, but another fish (one of my breeding pair of angels) has contracted them. Have you gotten rid of yours? I find the deworm #3 flake from angels plus works (well, keeps the fish alive and breeding, they might come back later) if you are struggling.


I thought I had gotten rid of them too. I used medicine from Canadian Aquatics. Two separate treatments, but I've begun to notice them again in my guppies and they were able to have some babies that are nicely getting their colors and growing big so maybe I will have to try that flake food and see if that works.. Would hate to lose my fish and the medicine (drawing a blank on the name right now) didn't seem to work for me :/

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## Lizzysfishies (Apr 10, 2016)

LykeOMGee said:


> I thought I had gotten rid of them too. I used medicine from Canadian Aquatics. Two separate treatments, but I've begun to notice them again in my guppies and they were able to have some babies that are nicely getting their colors and growing big so maybe I will have to try that flake food and see if that works.. Would hate to lose my fish and the medicine (drawing a blank on the name right now) didn't seem to work for me :/
> 
> Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk


I believe it is levamisole HCL? I really hope it isn't that the worms have evolved and are now immune to levamisole... That has happened before with other medicines such as fenbenzadole. Keep trying with the levamisole because the flake food just has levamisole in it, but the fish invest it so it goes right to the source. If you do end up getting it, it is #3 dewormer I believe and it is the colour blue. It has eradicated the worms in certain fish, but then, other fish that maybe didn't get as much flake and decided to eat a camallanus worm get it later. But yeah as far as I can tell it works, it's just other fish contract it easily so you might have to do more treatments then just one... I'm on my 3rd treatment but they give you a lot so that's good.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Lizzysfishies said:


> I believe it is levamisole HCL? I really hope it isn't that the worms have evolved and are now immune to levamisole... That has happened before with other medicines such as fenbenzadole. Keep trying with the levamisole because the flake food just has levamisole in it, but the fish invest it so it goes right to the source. If you do end up getting it, it is #3 dewormer I believe and it is the colour blue. It has eradicated the worms in certain fish, but then, other fish that maybe didn't get as much flake and decided to eat a camallanus worm get it later. But yeah as far as I can tell it works, it's just other fish contract it easily so you might have to do more treatments then just one... I'm on my 3rd treatment but they give you a lot so that's good.


Interesting. I know the levamisole doesn't actually kill the worm it paralyzes it, which is why I'd assume it's hard to get rid of. Correct me if I'm wrong though. Maybe the plain levamisole in the water doesn't work the best because it's not being fully digested like the flake food would be. Would using both cause an overdose? I've treated twice and still have some of the medicine left. I don't see it in my other two tanks. I really hope they aren't getting immune to it though, that's a scary thought.

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## Geoffrey (Jun 24, 2015)

It's hard to say what's true or not on the Internet :/

At a dose of 2ppm, it only paralyzes the worms and does not kill them. So gravel vacuuming is an essential step.
plecoplanet: Treat Camallanus Worms

At a dose of 13ppm (5g per 100 gallons, which is probably what you've done) it kills them
Important: How To Get Rid Of Camallanus/nematode Worms - 41023
Treating Your water with Levamisole

I also read that levamisole has a very high lethal dose (250ppm), so it's safe to overdose.
99% Pure Levamisole HCl Powder

I hope it all works out for you.


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## Lizzysfishies (Apr 10, 2016)

Wow I didn't know that it only paralyzes the worms at a low dose, do you think that is why they keep coming back? Will it eventually kill the fish if they keep getting u infected and reinfected with camallanus worms?


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Lizzysfishies said:


> Wow I didn't know that it only paralyzes the worms at a low dose, do you think that is why they keep coming back? Will it eventually kill the fish if they keep getting u infected and reinfected with camallanus worms?
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Well from what I understand is the worms are damaging the intestines the longer they are in the fish. And when you give them levamisole it paralyzes the worms so they let go (hopefully) and get pushed out when the fish poop. Which can really damage the fishes intestines.

My fish were very pregnant when I discovered the worm and they wouldn't eat. So I think the worms never fully got removed because they weren't eating enough to push them out. Now I'm worried the worms are becoming immune. I'm gonna buy that flake food you told me about and hopefully they helps.

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## Lizzysfishies (Apr 10, 2016)

LykeOMGee said:


> Well from what I understand is the worms are damaging the intestines the longer they are in the fish. And when you give them levamisole it paralyzes the worms so they let go (hopefully) and get pushed out when the fish poop. Which can really damage the fishes intestines.
> 
> My fish were very pregnant when I discovered the worm and they wouldn't eat. So I think the worms never fully got removed because they weren't eating enough to push them out. Now I'm worried the worms are becoming immune. I'm gonna buy that flake food you told me about and hopefully they helps.
> 
> Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk


The food says it does get rid of the worm but I have never really done a thorough gravel vac because my tank is dirted... My fish are fine for now I'll just continue treating I guess but the food does work.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Lizzysfishies said:


> The food says it does get rid of the worm but I have never really done a thorough gravel vac because my tank is dirted... My fish are fine for now I'll just continue treating I guess but the food does work.


Hmm good to know. Yeah I find it very difficult to gravel vac my 5g because it's small and very planted. I don't want to remove all the plants but I may have too. I also have 4 shrimp left that have survived two doses of levamisole and they can be carriers of the worm so I have to treat them each time too. Lost 15 shrimp 

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## Lizzysfishies (Apr 10, 2016)

LykeOMGee said:


> Hmm good to know. Yeah I find it very difficult to gravel vac my 5g because it's small and very planted. I don't want to remove all the plants but I may have too. I also have 4 shrimp left that have survived two doses of levamisole and they can be carriers of the worm so I have to treat them each time too. Lost 15 shrimp
> 
> Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk


That REALLY sucks... Maybe if you use the flake the shrimp won't get the levamisole treatment and will stop dying? Hopefully they aren't infected, try separating them.


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Lizzysfishies said:


> That REALLY sucks... Maybe if you use the flake the shrimp won't get the levamisole treatment and will stop dying? Hopefully they aren't infected, try separating them.


Maybe! They can easily pick up the worm and/or eggs from the gravel and ingest it. Then they carry the eggs until a fish eats the shrimp. It isn't likely to happen with my guppies but I was planning on feeding the over population to my green terrors.

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## Geoffrey (Jun 24, 2015)

I don’t have very much experience with diseases and worms, but I don’t think you have to worry about them being immune. Unlike bacteria, I don’t think worms would reproduce as fast to build a resistance to the med.

If you still have some levamisole left, you could treat the tank as well as make your own medicated fish food.

Can you separate the shrimp into another tank or holding container?


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## LykeOMGee (Apr 23, 2014)

Geoffrey said:


> I don't have very much experience with diseases and worms, but I don't think you have to worry about them being immune. Unlike bacteria, I don't think worms would reproduce as fast to build a resistance to the med.
> 
> If you still have some levamisole left, you could treat the tank as well as make your own medicated fish food.
> 
> Can you separate the shrimp into another tank or holding container?


That's great news about the immunity. 
Unfortunately I do feel like I need to treat the shrimp as well because I do plan on having them with guppies and so I won't separate them. Luckily these 4 shrimp survived the 2 doses of meds just fine and continued to grow/molt so I think they are okay. The 15 that I lost maybe were more susceptible to the meds than the 4 I purchased at a separate time.

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## Lizzysfishies (Apr 10, 2016)

Try using the remainder of the meds and if it doesn't work proceed to the flake food. One of them should work.


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