How to treat this parasite? PLEASE HELP

[Brkern]

Back again! Hopefully this is the appropriate way to go about this, I’m still new to these fish forums so please bear with me.
I medicated my tanks for the first time last Thursday, and then again yesterday.
The fish I originally noticed the worm in appeared to be doing better, but then last weekend I noticed I could see a worm inside of the fish, poking out of the fish’s vent. I had hoped the second round of medicating would get it and I’d clean it the second I noticed the worm was no longer in the fish, but unfortunately the worm seems to be doing just fine inside the fish. I looked more closely at all the other fish and noticed that one of the bigger white clouds also has a worm popping out from its vent.
Does this mean I do actually have a Camallanus problem? Is the cleaning/medication procedure the same? My understanding is that the medication doesn’t actually kill the worms, but paralyzes them enough so that they fall off/out of the fish, and then you’re supposed to clean the tank immediately before the medication wears off and the fish become re-infected. I don’t really want to spend the hours scrubbing all of my tanks if I’m not actually removing the worms from my tank that could then lay more eggs and just continue the cycle indefinitely.

 

[Colin_T]

Which medication did you use?
Did you remove carbon from filters before treating?
Did you add the required amount of medication?

Praziquantel and Flubendazole kill the worms. Levamisole is meant to paralyze the worms. Either way, the medication remains active in the tank for a few days and you simply do a gravel clean and water change 24-48 hours after use..

 

[Brkern]

I’m using Wormer Plus (Flubendazole) in all of the tanks except the tank with all of the snails and one platy fry. I’m using PraziPro in the snail tank. I’ve taken out the rocks except for the gravel substrate and I measure everything again before I medicate just to double check the dosage is the same. I’m putting in exactly how much the packaging says to and I double check my math every time as well. I never have carbon in my filters since all the tanks have live plants.

 

[Colin_T]

Assuming the medication hasn't expired, it should have knocked the worms out after the first dose. Check the expiry date.

 

[Brkern]

The best by date is 4/23.

 

[Brkern]

Perhaps my math is just bad? The white cloud tank is 95.57 liters, and the Wormer Plus calls for 0.3g per 136.3L water, so I should put 0.07g in 95.57L, correct?

 

[Essjay]

I'm afraid you didn't use enough.
If 136.3 litres need 0.3g, then 95.75 litres need 0.21g.

As a quick check, 95.75 litres is roughly two thirds of 136.3 litres, so the dose is roughly two thirds of 0.3g = ~ 0.2g.

 

[Brkern]

Oops! That’s what I get for trying to multitask while writing a reply. I wrote the volume of one of my other tanks and not the white cloud tank. The white cloud tank is ACTUALLY 32.77L, and I’ve been putting 0.07g in. I have been putting 0.21g in my tank that is 95.57L, though.

 

[Essjay]

Ah, yes 0.07 is enough for 32.77 litres

 

[Brkern]

Hmm, I’m at a complete loss as to why the meds aren’t killing the worms then.

 

[Brkern]

Does anyone have any experience using Kusuri Wormer Plus to make a medicated feed? I’m thinking of trying that, since the worms are almost completely internal now, not sticking out from the middle of the fish’s body.

 

[Colin_T]

just sprinkle some deworming powder over some frozen food (bloodworm, brineshrimp) and mix it in. Then feed the fish that 3 times a day for one day. repeated each week for 3 or 4 weeks.

 

[Brkern]

So, I tried this... the worms are still going strong. Do you think it’s possible they’re just resistant to the type of medication I’m using? I’m not sure what to do next.

 

[Colin_T]

it's possible the worms are immune to the medication, however if you are feeding the medication to the fish and the worms aren't in the digestive tract, it might not affect them. If you add medication to the tank, then it gets taken in by the fish and might give better results. You could also try increasing the dose rate but do this in a separate tank with just one fish in case you poison the fish.

 

[Brkern]

So, last week I tried increasing the dose, putting it both in the water and in the form of medicated feed, and it did not work. The original white cloud still had the worm poking out from its vent. Yesterday, at least two worms had emerged from where the first worm was, so I tried medicating yet again, with even slightly more medication. The worms are still alive, but now my fish are all very stressed. Should I try Levamisole? I’m starting to feel hopeless that I’m ever going to get this taken care of, and I know retiring this tank wouldn’t solve my problem.

One of the bigger white clouds is extremely bloated, almost to the point of looking pregnant (although I know white clouds are not livebearers). One of my female platies is either extremely bloated or extremely pregnant, and my other female platy is incredibly thin. One of the males is bloated as well. I’ve noticed the large female flashing multiple times now, along with the others.