Camallanus Worms! - i have no idea what i'm doing! :(

[bugz000]

update: day 2 after treatment

day 1, one more guppy died - unexpected as it looked happy and healthy - but still some left
day 2. not much more has changed - fish have all perked up a bit, one guppy however had a single worm hanging nearly 1/2 inch out of it's rear end, and was sulking in the corner away from the gourami,
i know the gourami is a little ill tempered when it comes to the guppies - i was warned by my brother he's not a particularly nice fish, but i managed to gently cup the guppy in my hand and use my little finger to pinch the worm - opening my fingers to let the guppy swim away - i caught the worm!
after that - i figure those fish are cured - or if not, they'd be at the same level of "infestation" as the other tank
in an effort to save the guppy from further stress - i transferred the fish from the quarantine tank back into the main tank - happy that there has been no worms showing (Except the one)
that guppy has instantly perked up since being in the bigger tank and is happily swimming around with the others

i'm going to wait a week then treat the large tank but so far things are looking good - the medicine seems to have worked - that one guppy with the "last" worm was the most infested of all the fish - i didn't think she'd pull through at all

the worm appeared to still be moving, but it was very slow, sluggish, you couldn't tell it was moving by watching it - i only knew it was moving cause i left it on the lid of the tank while i did something else, when i had come back it was curled into a little ball
not sure what this means - whether it was still dieng considering it was so far out of the guppy, but it didn't look too healthy which is a good sign definitely a fully grown adult nearly 1.5cm long

now the worst of the worms are dealt with - i have whatever worms i can't see inside the guppies and eggs to deal with

again, i'll keep you all updated and i thank you for your assistance
i'm feeling optimistic about all this now seeing some survivors of the quarantine tank seemingly happy and healthy

doing a stock count i see

17 guppies total
9 tetras
3 plecos (2 bristlenose)
7 snails
1 gourami

hopefully no more casualties!

 

[Essjay]

Don't forget to remove the snails before treating the big tank. And they can't go into the quarantine tank unless you remove every trace of the medication first.

 

[bugz000]

Don't forget to remove the snails before treating the big tank. And they can't go into the quarantine tank unless you remove every trace of the medication first.

yes, thankyou for reminding me i have noticed one other worm poking out of the guppy i previously removed a worm from - i may treat the big tank tonight unless that would harm the fish i've transferred from the quarantine tank being dosed twice within a few days?
i got too eager it seems aquariums take patience

as for the snails i'm thinking of repurposing these items - the big bottle and the jar - the coke and rubix cube serve as a scale reference

the water bottle will be for 6 of the snails, and is unopened so should be good to go with a good rinse out - i'll be using water from the tank rather than the water that's in there, it's been sat around for about 3 years (not sure where it come from really)

the jar i'll clean out thoroughly, i'll refrain from using any soaps though just incase, and will house my assasin snail to stop a mass killing

i have spare gravel etc to make these vessels like mini tanks for them till this is over

i do have algae wafers too - not sure if snails eat these?
i'll put them in a sunny spot - but not too sunny to try and promote a bit of algae growth
they can't stay in too long as plastic bottles start giving off chemicals after a while in the sun if my memory serves correctly but they'll be fine for a couple weeks - in which time i'll clear out the quarantine tank

 

[bugz000]

LATE UPDATE!

i have been preoccupied with other things - but i've been observing the tank closely - no signs of worms anywhere - it appears putting the worst in quarantine solved it!
i honestly didn't think i was quick enough but i guess i was - it's been nearly 2 months since the event and no signs of worms anywhere - since then my guppies have started breeding, got two more plecos, 7 shrimp, and planted the tank with live plants and it's looking beautiful

i still have the treatment incase another outbreak occurs but for now i see zero evidence of worms whatsoever

about 3 weeks ago i did find a small guppy in the main tank which had got worms - he was weakly swimming around the top, stomach very sunken with a few adult worms hanging out nearly as big as he was i pulled him out and put him out of his misery - as much as it pained me to do so - he was truly in a bad shape

i also rehomed the gourami as he was stressing the guppies out - agressive fish sadly - i did warn the new owner about the worms and the fish's contact with them - and his temperment, he seemed to know what he was doing and was well set up to deal with it so that's another problem solved now a lovely guppy tank

thank you all again for your help now my problem (as you can probably see) is algae - but that's a problem for another thread if i can't fix it myself

for now: case closed!