Dealing With A Roundworm (nematode) Infection

[mikev]

Hi All,

I hit a very nasty problem and I need some serious help in dealing with it.

About a month ago, I got a number of hillstream loaches. They went into a Q-tank (while their permanent tank was being cycled), and did fine for almost three weeks. Then, there was a sudden ich outbreak, which I could not suppress, and a few days later, it turned out that ich was just a symptome of a bigger problem: they were infected with a fast reproducing ("direct") nematodes, also resistant to most medications. The "movie" went from Captain Tripps of the Stand straight into the Alien scenes.

Needless to say, the losses were very bad -- I did not know what I was fighting for too long, and most meds had no effect. I have stabilized the situation now; first with some insane improvisations and then with levimisole which does kill the darn thing. Incidentally, the store where the fish came from had a total wipeout (and probably a spreading infection in other tanks now), and it seems that the distributor had it too. I did save some...so far; the last death occurred last Sunday.

The help I need no is to map the strategy of dealing with it now. Levimisole kills adult worms, but not the eggs, so I probably still have some of them in the tank. Given just how deadly this worm is and how fast it reproduces, I cannot take chances on it coming back.

The smaller problem: a 10g planted Q-tank where most of the action took place; it currently has no fish in it. Can I try to disinfect it somehow or just junk it all?

The bigger problem: a 29g hillstream tank where the surviving fish currently is (about 20, a mix of different fish, not just hillstreams). Again, a planted tank. No way of knowing if there are eggs in the ground (I'm vac'ing it of course as much as possible), or perhaps encapsulated in some fish. What is needed is a strategy which will reliably eradicate this thing and hopefully keep the fish alive; the option of killing all the fish and cleaning the tank is not the one I'd like to consider. At some point I do have to take the tank of levimisole and it is scary to think what may happen three weeks later....

The worm in question is a directly reproducing nematode, very thin (hair width), probably of the Capillari family. Exact ID of the species is unfortunately not available.

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

 

[TammyLiz]

I would first be concerned about them spreading to YOU! Many people believe that parasites cannot spread to humans but this one sounds very much like something that could infect humans. Symptoms are so vague in human parasite infestation that it often goes unnoticed. Fatigue, food cravings (that can get severe due to the parasites eating the nutrients out of your food), anxiety or depression due to the stress of never getting nutrition from your food and always feeling empty even when full are all common in those infected with parasites. Many people become vegetarians in attempts to try to feel better. The symptoms build slowly as the parasites multiply. They can be hard to detect, starting in the intestines and moving to other parts of the body. Just because you test negative for them it doesn't mean you don't have them, as they only exit the body when they die, so there are not likley to be any present in a stool sample even with heavy infestation. Those who think you can't get parasites without leaving the country are just fooling themselves so they can feel more comfortable. Spread around by people who leave the country, (or who order fish from out of the country), they certainly are not nonexistant in the US.

EDIT: I know its a disgusting thought and appologize to anyone who wants to throw up after reading this, but all of us with experience know a fish tank can be kind of gross sometimes...

 

[mikev]

Tammy,

Thank you for nice thoughts... This possibility did occur to me, but I attribute the current state of tiredness to constant water changes, gravel cleanups, and waking up in the middle of the night to look at the fish. TBH, I'm not particularly concerned, since I'm careful (I worked with considerably worse things before). The bigger concern is that there was a kid (10-12) who helped at the store and who handled the dead fish; I warned them once I knew what we are dealing with.

Any idea on how to make sure this thing does not come back?

The only positive thing that came out of it is that the store owner got scared enough to finally install proper procedures and I'll have extra strict procedures on top of his. No more 2-week Quarantine tank illusions.

 

[TammyLiz]

I know someone who has actually dealt with roundworms before (not in a fishtank). If I can remember I'll ask her tomorrow if bleach will kill the eggs. I do know of a product that does kill them but have no idea what it might do to any future inhabitants of the tank. Bleach is something I have more experience with in a tank. Are you wanting to tear down the 10 gallon and clean it (like with bleach) or are you wanting to salvage what is already in it and keep it running? If you're wanting to salvage it, then all I can think of is that I know with people its a good idea to do a 10 day treatment, followed by a two week wait, followed by a 10 day treatment, etc., so that you're killing the ones that hatch from the eggs that are not affected by the first treatment. You may try this with the levimisole in your river tank as well as the 10 gallon quarantine.

Tammy

 

[mikev]

Hi, Tammy,

Sorry for the delay in the reply and thank you very much for your help!

As the things stand, the situation got worse and I need to deal with the immediate problem first. (While I probably did not kill the worm, I managed to kill the nitrite processing bacteria somehow, so it is an evacuation, trying to repair the cycle now, and trying to figure out what killed the bacteria...). Yuck...

 

[TammyLiz]

How frustrating. Does levimisole kill the bacteria? Or do you think it was something else? I'm sorry you're having so many problems, and I hope your fish make it. Don't give up on them. You'll get it figured out.

Tammy

 

[mikev]

How frustrating. Does levimisole kill the bacteria? Or do you think it was something else? I'm sorry you're having so many problems, and I hope your fish make it. Don't give up on them. You'll get it figured out.

Tammy

I don't think it was levimisole.

I made one huge error: installed a UV sterilizer (rationale: to deal with ich which was hard to beat in this case, and to prevent secondary infections.)... The cycling bacteria is supposed to be settled, not free-floating, but I was also doing lots of gravel cleaning and water changes, and this unsettled it and sent it through the UV.
The other possibility is the use of PraziPro, which has a warning of "Turn off the UV" without explanation. I did turn off the UV while treating, but turn it on a couple of days later. It *may be* that UV breaks down PraziPro into something that kills the bacteria. In which case, the tank may be still poisoned... (Just in case I'm also doing 20% changes daily).
Or it can be a combination of other drugs...but I do think that UV was the main culprit...

The strange thing is that the Ammonia leg of the cycle works perfectly, but the Nitrites leg is totally broken. The tank is still full of Nitrites, 3.5 days after....

I'm not giving up on them, but I have now no options except for waiting and hoping. No matter what I cannot move them into the other tanks (too much of a risk to spread the worm).

Immensely frustrating. More than a month of ups and downs, unpleasant surprises one after another, and the things that should work fail one after another.

 

[TammyLiz]

I would think that the PraziPro would say "no UV" because the UV would render it ineffective, and not becuase it would make it toxic, but you never know. You could probably contact the manufacturer.

I have noticed the nitrites 'leg' as you call it, is the more sensitive of the two groups of bacteria, so I'm not surprised. At least its not the ammonia you're dealing with, because then you'd be starving the nitrites bacteria and once the ammonia was under control you'd have to deal with nitrites, too!

I trust you're doing extra water changes?

Tammy

 

[mikev]

I would think that the PraziPro would say "no UV" because the UV would render it ineffective, and not becuase it would make it toxic, but you never know. You could probably contact the manufacturer.

I have noticed the nitrites 'leg' as you call it, is the more sensitive of the two groups of bacteria, so I'm not surprised. At least its not the ammonia you're dealing with, because then you'd be starving the nitrites bacteria and once the ammonia was under control you'd have to deal with nitrites, too!

I trust you're doing extra water changes?

Tammy

Yes, this sounds logical, but I still cannot understand how I managed to wipeout the second group so efficiently. There should have been *some* left in the ground/filters.

I'm doing 20% daily (10% fresh water, 10% dirty water from an established tank). There is no fish in the tank (moved them out the moment I saw how bad the things were). In essense I'm doing the fishless cycle again. The worst part is that I cannot reliably fight the worm until I have the new tank operational again.

 

[TammyLiz]

Yes, this sounds logical, but I still cannot understand how I managed to wipeout the second group so efficiently. There should have been *some* left in the ground/filters.

I'm doing 20% daily (10% fresh water, 10% dirty water from an established tank). There is no fish in the tank (moved them out the moment I saw how bad the things were). In essense I'm doing the fishless cycle again. The worst part is that I cannot reliably fight the worm until I have the new tank operational again.

I agree. You'd think there would still be some left.

So...the rivertank is empty and not cycled? Or is that the quarantine you're talking about? Where are the fish? In the quarantine again? Whichever tank is empty, I'd just forget about trying to keep it running, dismantle it and put any plants you want to keep in with the fish to be treated. Bleach the tank and any rocks, replace the substrate (unless its something expensive!) and start over with some mature media from a healthy tank when you add fish back into it. Daily water changes are a killer. If you're doing daily water changes on a tank with no fish, I'd just stop because there is no reason to be keeping the toxins low. If you're really insistant on not dismantling the tank, treat for the parasites, add pure ammonia to feed the nitrifying bacteria, and let the nitrite levels soar until the bacteria for those kick in.

Tammy

 

[mikev]

When I saw the spike I realized I cannot suppress it quickly, I moved the fish back to the original q-tank. Luckily, I did keep it running (fed ammonia). The hope is that levimisole will keep the worm at least suppressed until the river tank is cycled again.

You may be right about simply cleansing it being the best solution, but I'm still hoping that it will restart some time soon. The problem is that the only really reliable way to solve the problem is to bleach both tanks, and I cannot do this unless I kill the remaining fish. And, just in case, I've been cycling a completely new 10g q-tank since last Saturday...if it cycles, it will give me another option.

Not a very good situation right now.

 

[TammyLiz]

Well, best of luck and update later on how it goes.