Another sick fish

Ammonia is 0.25ppm
Nitrite is 0.2-0.25ppm
Nitrate is 5.0ppm

Lamie said:

Hi, I have put some levamisole in but there is no improvement in the platy. How will it improve?

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You might see some red hair like worms being pooped out a few hours after treatment. Sometimes you don't.

The fish won't look any different for a few weeks. If it has worms and they were successfully treated, the fish should start to gain weight and look more normal after a couple of weeks.

If it isn't worms or gill flukes, or the medication didn't work, the fish will remain skinny and looking unwell. However, platies, mollies, guppies and swordtails are regularly infested with Camallanus thread worms so there is a good chance it should start to fill out and look better in a few weeks.

Lamie said:

Ammonia is 0.25ppm
Nitrite is 0.2-0.25ppm
Nitrate is 5.0ppm

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You need to get ammonia and nitrite down to 0ppm.

How long has the tank been set up for?
What sort of filter do you have?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

The easiest way to reduce water quality issues is with big daily water changes and gravel cleaning.

itiwhetu said:

How do you know which worm you have?

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if I get an itchy left butt, it's tapeworm.
if I get an itchy right butt, it's thread worm.
if I drag my butt along the ground, it's both

Colin_T said:

if I get an itchy left butt, it's tapeworm.
if I get an itchy right butt, it's thread worm.
if I drag my butt along the ground, it's both

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That was the mature response I was hoping for from you.

Bioflow filterOne filter system from the juwel 70 primo aquarium
I also have a small filter from another tank for extra filtration not sure which brand it came with the aqua one 20l tank I think i

I clean the filter sometimes just one side and then the other every month or 2 weeks about that
Not that much


The tank has been set up for a year abouts

Colin_T said:

You need to get ammonia and nitrite down to 0ppm.

How long has the tank been set up for?
What sort of filter do you have?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

The easiest way to reduce water quality issues is with big daily water changes and gravel cleaning.

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Do you replace the filter pads or anything, or just squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water and re-use the pads/ media?

Colin_T said:

Do you replace the filter pads or anything, or just squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water and re-use the pads/ media?

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No just squeeze them out in bucket of tank water and reuse the pads/media. I've never replaced the pads/media

I do wonder if it's something other than worms maybe something worse or bacterial. I don't think the platy will last out the night. I have noticed these sick fish, they start to get really skinny and stop eating and in 24-48 hours they die. In the last year why do the fish die off 1 at a time 1 about every month? There must be something in the water but I don't know what it is?

Platy has come to the surface to graze

Lamie said:

I do wonder if it's something other than worms maybe something worse or bacterial. I don't think the platy will last out the night. I have noticed these sick fish, they start to get really skinny and stop eating and in 24-48 hours they die. In the last year why do the fish die off 1 at a time 1 about every month? There must be something in the water but I don't know what it is?

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It doesn't look like a bacterial infection. Bacterial infections usually show up as a red patch on the outside of the body. This spreads rapidly and the body can erode away and the fish dies within hours to days later.

Internal bacterial infections usually cause the fish to bloat up, stop eating and do a stringy white poop. The fish die pretty soon after that.

Most common livebearers (mollies, guppies, platies & swordtails) that come out of Asia, will have intestinal worms and gill flukes. Fish that are skinny and lose weight over a period of time, and then die, regularly have worms and or flukes. These parasites suck the blood out of the fish and the fish becomes weaker until it dies from lack of blood.

Deworming the fish is a good way to start because it removes worms and gill flukes as the likely cause. If the fish doesn't get better after deworming, then it could be an internal protozoan infection, bullying, or something else.

Does levamisole work for gill flukes?

Lamie said:

Does levamisole work for gill flukes?

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no.

Levamisole treats round/ thread worms. Gill flukes are a type of flat worm and you can use salt or Praziquantel for gill flukes. Praziquantel is safer for fish than salt, and treats tapeworm and gill flukes, whereas salt does not treat intestinal worms and will only kill the gill flukes.

Is it ok to start to use praziquantel after I finish using the levamisole ?

Lamie said:

Is it ok to start to use praziquantel after I finish using the levamisole ?

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If you have done 2 big (75-90%) water changes and gravel cleaned the substrate, then yes it is ok to use Praziquantel after using the Levamisole. But you need to do 2 or more big water changes and gravel clean the substrate to remove most of the previous medication.