Medicating fish for worms?

[Jinx_]

Hi, I just want to clear this up.

I just ordered micro pellets from Hikari, I'll try these with my still pretty small guppies and ordered NT Labs for worms.

Since the flubendanzole will kill my shrimps... Does it matter for them if they eat a medicated pellet? Or it doesn't matter if it's a medicated pellet or if it's in water?

I'm only asking this cause not sure if every guppy will eat the pellets or miss them.. I can't move my shrimps anywhere, I just don't have anywhere to put them in.

I've been seeing whitish stringy ish poo from my guppies, and I'm just so paranoid. I want to medicate them just in case. I'm not letting this tank make me quit once and for all.

 

[fishorama]

Well, I'm not sure about your shrimp's safety. Even if the guppies eat all the treated food, might they poo out some of the drug? I'm really not sure how it might work. Can you just put some shrimp in a largish mixing bowl or big jar while this treatment goes on? With an airstone maybe? I wish I had better advice.

 

[AJ356]

Interesting that Hikari are doing medicated micro pellets now for worms

 

[Jinx_]

Interesting that Hikari are doing medicated micro pellets now for worms

You misread it, bought just regular micro pellets from them as well as the flubendazole. Medicated pellets are the aftermath after making the coctail.

Well, I'm not sure about your shrimp's safety. Even if the guppies eat all the treated food, might they poo out some of the drug? I'm really not sure how it might work. Can you just put some shrimp in a largish mixing bowl or big jar while this treatment goes on? With an airstone maybe? I wish I had better advice.

NT Labs says the liquid form will kill any crustaceans/inverts, that if I put im the water. So not sure. I don't have a spare air pump or air stone or a vase or anything like it for over 50 shrimps.. Seems like I will have to risk it

I've noticed a young female, she doesn't eat much. I've dropped in some Hikari First Bites, she barely bothered herself with them. It's I think why her poo looks like she's got parasites. Tho, worms can also cause her not to eat much.

 

[Colin_T]

Intestinal worms don't stop or reduce fish from eating.

If fish don't eat as much and do a stringy white poop, they have an internal protozoan infection.

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

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I live in the states where one can buy more fish medications than most of us even knew existed. One of the worst of these is referred to as wasting disease. Even as the fish appear to eating normally they are losing weight. And at some point they do stop eating. I have had to deal with this.

It took me a bit of effort to discover the proper treatment for this problem. Fortunately, going back many years, I was told the treatment for this was flubendazole. My first experience with this was a small amount given to me by a person with a fair amount of fish knowledge. In fact when I lost one of my larger clown loaches with no symptoms and the death was quite sudden. He had me put the fish in the freeze and then ship it too him for a basic autopsy. He told me afterwards he saw nothing wrong with the fish, no blockages, no parasites or worms or any physical abnormalities. What he explained was that he felt it was likely a heart attack or stroke which killed it. Yes, fish get these.

Some time later when I had fish wasting he sent me a packet of flubendazole. The upshot was it worked and I asked him where I could get this med. He pointed me to a site. There I found some great meds for sale and several articles dealing with wasting and Camallanus worms. Since then my fish medical kit has contained both Flubedazole and Lecamisole HCL/ The letter is a very effect treatment for Camallanus. The site belongs to Dr. Charles Harrison PhD.

Here is a link to the article JAKA Article on Flubendazole and resources I suggest you give it a read.

For my part, last year one of my very large clown loaches (close to 10 inches) was wasting and had stopped eating. Below its spine near the head it was so thin you could almost pinch it and have you fingers touch. No other fish in the tank has any issues. So I caught the fish and move it to a 20 gal. long tank with one big cave some wood and a light white sand bottom.

I began treating it with the Flubendazole. And I was feeding it the whole time. Early on I was just siphoning out the food. And then things changed. The food was being eaten. Dr. Harrison recommends that once one has completed the initial treatment that 3 weeks later it should be repeated as a precaution against any of the parasites still lurking in enough numbers to require it. I decided in between to also medicate use Praziquantel just in case.

During the time between the Flubendazole treatments and also after the second round was feeding the fish at least twice a day. I wanted it to put weight back and and to bulk up before I returned it to the main tank. This fish was the second largest in the tank and two two bigger ones would regularly squabble.

Dr. Harrison's site says Flubendazole

Best for eliminating Hydra. Treats protozoa wasting disease, serious treatment for Velvet, enternal and external parasites, 1/4 teaspoon of 10 % powder treats about 20 gallons of water for most parasitic Protozoa. Eliminate Carbon filtration during treatment. Change most of the water after 10 days. Will not harm plants, Prolonged use will kill most all snails.........

He also notes this about the drug

Flubendazole is useful for controlling intestinal parasites, especially most of the protozoa, some nematodes and gill flukes. Flubendazole is active through adsorption into the fish’s skin and gills. The drug does not have to be eaten to be effective. This makes the drug useful for treating fishes which have quit eating due to irritation from infection of the throat and gut.

As far as I know Flubendazole will not kill shrimp but it will harm/kills snails. But Fenbendazole will kill shrimp.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

One more thing that is important here. White poop is not necessarily a sign of the presence of worms or parasites. Here is a decent but very detailed article on this subject you might find interesting to read. It is written by

About The Author​

Dr. Jessie Sanders, DVM, DABVP (Fish Practice)​

Chief veterinarian and owner of all-aquatic mobile veterinary practice serving California and Nevada. Board certified in Fish Practice through the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners.

https/cafishvet.com/fish-health-disease/stringy-white-fish-poop/

 

[TheMrEd]

My African cichlids got internal parasites recently and 7 died in a week span. I wasn’t sure why at first but then I treated the tank with API General Cure and the remaining fish recovered very fast. Their appetite came back and they look healthy again. I would recommend

Hi, I just want to clear this up.

I just ordered micro pellets from Hikari, I'll try these with my still pretty small guppies and ordered NT Labs for worms.

Since the flubendanzole will kill my shrimps... Does it matter for them if they eat a medicated pellet? Or it doesn't matter if it's a medicated pellet or if it's in water?

I'm only asking this cause not sure if every guppy will eat the pellets or miss them.. I can't move my shrimps anywhere, I just don't have anywhere to put them in.

I've been seeing whitish stringy ish poo from my guppies, and I'm just so paranoid. I want to medicate them just in case. I'm not letting this tank make me quit once and for all.

 

[Jinx_]

Intestinal worms don't stop or reduce fish from eating.

If fish don't eat as much and do a stringy white poop, they have an internal protozoan infection.

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

Right. I don't know what to get for these then, most meds aren't available here in the UK. I also am unsure what is actually wrong, or what if I'm just paranoid. I don't want to kill them.

She eats then spits the food out, doesn't that much. I've observed them poo today, looked mostly normal apart for the female and a young male with whitish stringyish poo. Other guppies had mostly normal poos, with little of white and white stringy bits. Rest eats normally.

 

[Jinx_]

As far as I know Flubendazole will not kill shrimp but it will harm/kills snails. But Fenbendazole will kill shrimp.

Thank you so much for all the information you have posted.

This is the medication I bought:

NT Labs Anti-Fluke and Wormer 20ml 733809004800 | eBay

Fish are susceptible to internal worms, especially Discus and Angel species. Buy now and save! © All Things Aquatic. Cloverleaf Blanket Answer 4kg. Cloverleaf Blanket Answer 2kg. Cloverleaf Blanket Answer 200g.

www.ebay.co.uk

In the description, it's stated it will kill any inverts like shrimps and snails. Unless I misread

One more thing that is important here. White poop is not necessarily a sign of the presence of worms or parasites. Here is a decent but very detailed article on this subject you might find interesting to read. It is written by

About The Author​

Dr. Jessie Sanders, DVM, DABVP (Fish Practice)​

Chief veterinarian and owner of all-aquatic mobile veterinary practice serving California and Nevada. Board certified in Fish Practice through the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners.

https/cafishvet.com/fish-health-disease/stringy-white-fish-poop/

Thank you.

My only problems with it are:

In the past, my fish have been wasting away and had white stringy poo. Until they all eventually died. They still fed, and this didn't change their poos.

I also always thought their parasites weren't to be seen by naked eye? I mean, maybe? I do sometimes see tiny white string like worms, they're maybe less than 1cm long? They live in the gravel, but if I disrupt the gravel I can see them out and about for a while. But anyways, parasites live in the fish. Probably just detritus worms.

 

[fishorama]

A good article 2tank.

Hmm. I just remembered a club friend wanted both flubendazole & some plants from me quite a few years ago. I said I had expired fluben. Both the vet I got it from & my chemist husband thought it was safe to use but it was up to him if he wanted to try it. He wanted to use it in a shrimp tank for something (shrug), no idea what. But it was fine. It got rid of the critters he wanted & didn't harm his shrimp AFAIK. I was more nervous about sending white powder though the mail, lol.

There are various harmless worms that can live in our tanks. The white 1s that swim in an S shape usually are stylaria, no big deal & fish can eat them. Fat reddish 1s in the substrate are likely detritus worms. Also likely harmless but both a sign to clean the substrate.

Camallanus worms are hard to treat. They look like little red skinny worms protruding from the fish's vent, maybe 1/8 inch. They can go back in & come out again. & there are other harmful worms of various kinds. & other internal parasites are possible too.

I didn't see that ebay seller told what was in the med. Praziquantil? I'm not sure what drugs you can get & what might be most helpful.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

They do say flubendazole kills shrimp on the NT site. Dr. Harrison does not say that on his site. He does acknowledge snails are at risk. I have never had cause to use it in a tank which contained either snails or shriimp was involved, so I can not say first hand. odd;y the only tanks where I have shrimp I also have snails. Some are pest pond snails and the others are assassin snails. Shrimp are Neocaradina davidi reds in one tank and blues in another and amanos in several tanks.

I have to admit that despite having 2- -28 yanks running for the last almost 20 years I have not had to deal with a lot of disease/parasite problems. Columnaris has been the most frequent then wasting or other parasites and finally Ich just twice. I consider most of the fungal things to have been secondaey to more serious infections or else on non-viable fish eggs.

Most parasites need magnification to be seen. Gere is how Dr. Harrison dexribe what he saw. Je doesn't say he used any magnification but he must have?

I also sacrificed some of the dying fish and found Hexamita in their digestive tracts. These “bugs” were not easy to observe—the contrast isn't very good in the gut of a fish, considering all of the rest of the stuff that is in there. The movement of the fine hairs on one end of their peanut shaped bodies give the little animals away. They look much the same in a public health wet slide as they do in the gut of an infected fish, and once you have seen these flagellated protozoa, you don’t forget.

API GENERAL CURE- metronidazole praziquantel powder​

Active Ingredients: 500 mg Metronidazole and 150 mg Praziquantel per teaspoon.

I have both of the above meds, but on their own.


Dr. Harrison also has several articles on camallanus. https://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamallanusTreatment/

This is his paper on camallanus- a must read imo" https://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamellanusTreatment.pdf

Treatment for Camallanus

by Charles H Harrison

The first time I saw this parasite was in a Convict chichlid back in 1970. It was a stranger to us then but since that time, I have lost several fish to this parasite. The following article has been written for the Killifish enthusiast, but it certainly applies to all the Tropical Fish Hobby.

Camallanus is an intestinal parasitic infection. This malady is due to a nematode or parasitic worm which is found in wild fresh and salt water fishes throughout the world . The infestation is characterized by, among other things, the presence of tiny red thread structures protruding from the anus of the infected host fish. Close inspection of the victim shows a swollen and irritated vent area. The worms actually protrude 1/3 to 1/2 inch from the anus of the infected fish. This is about one fourth to one third of the worm’s length. The worms are red from the victim’s blood in their gut.

Depending on how much information any of us in the hobby are willing to absorb and then on our abiloty to locate it has led me to a lot of what I quote and link in threads. I matters as to the source of information and. more importantly, the author(s) of such information. Nobody should just take what I might post here as gospel. So I want to let people to be able to facy check me by seeing exactly the what I have. Judge for yourself. After all, this is the interent and any screen name can post anything they want regardless of it's veracity.

 

[Colin_T]

Right. I don't know what to get for these then, most meds aren't available here in the UK. I also am unsure what is actually wrong, or what if I'm just paranoid. I don't want to kill them.

She eats then spits the food out, doesn't that much. I've observed them poo today, looked mostly normal apart for the female and a young male with whitish stringyish poo. Other guppies had mostly normal poos, with little of white and white stringy bits. Rest eats normally.

If you read the article (section 3) that I posted about stringy white poop, it shows medications for the UK.

In the UK look for:
eSHa gdex contains praziquantel that treats tapeworm and gill flukes.
eSHa-ndx contains levamisole and treats thread/ round worms.
NT Labs Anti-fluke and Wormer contains flubendazole.
Kusuri wormer plus (contains flubendazole) - sold mainly for discus, comes as a powder which is quite hard to dose in smaller tanks
Sera nematol (contains emamectin)

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

Guppies are normally infected with thread/ round worms like Camallanus and should be treated while in quarantine. You can also treat them for tapeworm and gill flukes but Camallanus are more common than tapeworm. Virtually all fish have gill flukes.

If fish are biting at food but spitting it out, they either don't like the taste or texture of the food, or they have an infection in the mouth or throat area. If the other fish are all eating the food and one fish isn't, try a different food. If that doesn't help then add some salt for a few days and see if it helps. If that doesn't help then try a broad spectrum medication that treats bacteria and fungus.

 

[Jinx_]

A good article 2tank.

Hmm. I just remembered a club friend wanted both flubendazole & some plants from me quite a few years ago. I said I had expired fluben. Both the vet I got it from & my chemist husband thought it was safe to use but it was up to him if he wanted to try it. He wanted to use it in a shrimp tank for something (shrug), no idea what. But it was fine. It got rid of the critters he wanted & didn't harm his shrimp AFAIK. I was more nervous about sending white powder though the mail, lol.

There are various harmless worms that can live in our tanks. The white 1s that swim in an S shape usually are stylaria, no big deal & fish can eat them. Fat reddish 1s in the substrate are likely detritus worms. Also likely harmless but both a sign to clean the substrate.

Camallanus worms are hard to treat. They look like little red skinny worms protruding from the fish's vent, maybe 1/8 inch. They can go back in & come out again. & there are other harmful worms of various kinds. & other internal parasites are possible too.

I didn't see that ebay seller told what was in the med. Praziquantil? I'm not sure what drugs you can get & what might be most helpful.

Maybe fluben isn't this dangerous to shrimps, but I'll still try to avoid my shrimps getting the medicated pellets.

You know what, I googled stylaria and these make sense. Barely 1cm long, S shape swim style, very wiggly

Thank God my gups don't have Camallanus, entire stay in the hobby they're one of the scariest worms fish can have imo. Other worms are easier to treat.

The meds I got are liquid ready to use flubendazole. Seller description says it will kill shrimps, snails and other inverts. I guess only when put in the water column?

 

[Jinx_]

If you read the article (section 3) that I posted about stringy white poop, it shows medications for the UK.

In the UK look for:
eSHa gdex contains praziquantel that treats tapeworm and gill flukes.
eSHa-ndx contains levamisole and treats thread/ round worms.
NT Labs Anti-fluke and Wormer contains flubendazole.
Kusuri wormer plus (contains flubendazole) - sold mainly for discus, comes as a powder which is quite hard to dose in smaller tanks
Sera nematol (contains emamectin)

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

Guppies are normally infected with thread/ round worms like Camallanus and should be treated while in quarantine. You can also treat them for tapeworm and gill flukes but Camallanus are more common than tapeworm. Virtually all fish have gill flukes.

If fish are biting at food but spitting it out, they either don't like the taste or texture of the food, or they have an infection in the mouth or throat area. If the other fish are all eating the food and one fish isn't, try a different food. If that doesn't help then add some salt for a few days and see if it helps. If that doesn't help then try a broad spectrum medication that treats bacteria and fungus.

I appreciate this. I got the NT one.

I haven't observed any other issues, no Camallanus sightings. I've watched them for an hour straight getting a few nice pics.