Fish dying after levamisole!

[JuliaAndFish co.]

So I've had a little problem in my guppy tank. My fish got an infestation of camallus worms. I bought some treatment after I found a few sticking out of my female guppy. It is levamisole .it's called esha-ndx. I put In the right amount and waited. I saw a few worms pop out but my fish are not in the best condition. They're lying at the bottom of the tank, one dying, and another one alive but not well. One looks fine but hides in plants at the bottom. Can anyone tell me what's happening? I love my fish and hate when they die.

 

[Naughts]

Are you sure you measured the dose correctly?
I would do a large water change to get rid of the ndx, clean the substrate to remove the worms and add aeriation to improve oxygen levels.

 

[OliveFish05]

I agree with the above. I believe most levamisole based medications require a water change after 24 hours

 

[Colin_T]

You overdosed the tank.

Common symptoms of Levamisole poisoning in fish:
fish become nervous and skittish
breath heavily
die

Treatment, do a huge water change and gravel clean the substrate.
Increase aeration/ surface turbulence whenever using medications in tanks.

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Before you treat an aquarium, do the following.

Work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating with chemicals or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working. You do not need to remove the carbon if you use salt.

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When treating fish for worms, treat the tank once a week for 3-4 weeks.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 24-48 hours after treatment.

Clean the filter after each treatment. Wash filter media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn.

Section 3 of the following link has more information about deworming fish.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[itiwhetu]

You usually have way less water in a tank than you think you have. I think you may have overdosed by accident.

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

could be... even though i measured my tank and its 70l and the medication said 1 drop per liter. i ALWAYS read the instuctions, if it says to remove active carbon i remove active carbon. and i always do water changes after medication. i found my beautiful female completely bent over this morning but still alive. CURIOUSLY enough i found some of her FRY!?

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

this isnt her but i cant get a photo of her as im on a laptop. she 's bent like that

 

[itiwhetu]

Not that I am doubting you. But what are your tank measurements that give you 70 liters

 

[GaryE]

Option 2 is that the nematodes (Camallanus) were busy too long, and the meds were too late. It's a hard problem to spot when you are new at this, and the meds aren't all easy to get. Camallanus tends to tear the intestinal lining of fish, and it isn't a gentle parasite, or an easy one to eradicate.

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

Oh ok

Option 2 is that the nematodes (Camallanus) were busy too long, and the meds were too late. It's a hard problem to spot when you are new at this, and the meds aren't all easy to get. Camallanus tends to tear the intestinal lining of fish, and it isn't a gentle parasite, or an easy one to eradicate

 

[GaryE]

That's no critique of your fishkeeping - this is a seriously nasty parasite. It's hit my tanks three times in thirty or so years, and it has evolved to be less catastrophic than it was when it first got into aquarium fish. At first, it killed incredibly fast, and now, like most successful parasites, it has developed the ability to hang around and feed without immediately killing its host.
I've eliminated it, but not one of the fish I saved was ever able to breed after. It's a bit like the creature in Alien, only instead of bursting out, it hangs out the backside. That would have made a lousy movie scene.

Do the treatment and follow the instructions. Camallanus eggs are laid when the nematode appears, and you don't want a second round. The moment you see it, it's laying huge numbers of eggs.

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

Sugar! I measured it again. Shame on myself for overdosing! Can't believe I hurt my fish so by just a few drops more! Can I save them somehow? Can I fix the bent fish? She's my favourite I don't want her to die!

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

And the most annoying thing is that the fish in the best shape has worms still sticking out

 

[Colin_T]

Try doing a big water change and gravel clean every day for a week. See if it helps the fish.

The fish might have had another issue and it just coincided with the treatment.

 

[JuliaAndFish co.]

OK I'll see .