Treating fish with the worming drug "Levacide"

T · Post by T » 05 May 2003, 14:59

Ok I have ordered the worming drug "Levacide" which contains Levisamole.It should be delivered on friday.My rams and panchaxes have worms pretty bad and I'm sure my pl*cos will have them also.

Just wondering if anyone has used this paticular form of the drug and has any info/tips on using it.I have checked some websites and found it is quite safe to use provided a large waterchange is carried out the next day.So if anyone has used it please let me know.

Thanks

T

aeroflight · Post by **aeroflight** » 05 May 2003, 19:35

This thread might help, but I'm assuming you've already read through it. I'd just mix up a solution of the levamisole so that your tank (treat the entire tank) gets a dose of about 5-10 mg/liter and then do as large of a water change as possible after 24 hours.

T · Post by T » 05 May 2003, 20:25

Yeah thanks, I had a good look through that thread before.I'm just wondering if anyone has actually used Levacide or knows if it is used the same as levisamle.

aeroflight · Post by **aeroflight** » 05 May 2003, 22:07

From what I found out when looking for a good deworming med, Levacide is the brand name for a product containing levamisole as the active ingredient. This was the case with the Levasole, which I used. There's some good info over on The Krib about using levamisole HCl; directions for using Levacide are given there, too.

T · Post by T » 05 May 2003, 23:44

Thanks for that, I think I know what to do now.I think I may lose my favourite ram though.He has stopped eating and looks listless.I hope he makes it till friday.

T · Post by T » 10 May 2003, 00:23

Ok guys I dosed the tank with Levacide about 4 hours ago with 1ml per 3l(levacide is 3% levisamole).After about a half hour the affected fish began to expel lots of very small white worms.But they still have the red ones sticking out(quite a bit further though)although they have gone from the female panchax and her vent is much less inflamed.Will the others eventually be expelled or have I dosed wrongly.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Oh and the ram that I though I would lose seems much brighter already.

catdoc · Post by **catdoc** » 10 May 2003, 01:44

Did you treat them in your main tank or move them into a hospital tank? Just wondering since I'm considering doing the same.

T · Post by T » 10 May 2003, 02:07

I treated them in the main tank since I wanted to make sure all the fish are treated.

T · Post by T » 10 May 2003, 16:03

Well next morning the tank seems to be ok, but my male panchax still has one lone red worm showing.Do you think its dead and just needs to be passed?I can usually get them to snap up anything that hits the surface of the water so feeding him peas would be an option.Also is it normal for the fish to not be interested in eating the day after the treatment?I did have a casualty though, my little weak ram did die in the bight, I guess he was not strong enough.I also have an otto MIA but they were both fine last night so I think he will turn up.

T · Post by T » 10 May 2003, 16:26

Whoohoo the otto has turned up alive and well.

T · Post by T » 11 May 2003, 01:31

Anyone have input, I really need to know if my fish will start eating properly again or if there is something else I need to do.

BK · Post by BK » 11 May 2003, 02:05

i have not used it yet myself but i have heard that fish frequently loose their appetite while being treated with it.

T · Post by T » 11 May 2003, 14:13

Is there anything I can do to stimulate thier appitite?Most of the fish seem a bit affected but my gold ram and female golden panchax wont eat at all, the ram I dont think had worms and usually eats like a pig.The panchax probably had the worms the worst out of all the fish.

aeroflight · Post by **aeroflight** » 11 May 2003, 15:31

My fish suffered a small loss of appetite for a day or so after I treated them with Levamisole HCl. The only thing I did was to cut back on the amount of food offered since I knew they wouldn't eat their regular servings. After I did a very large water change to get rid of the med in the water, it didn't take them long to get back to normal.

One thing to remember is that even though the worms have been killed, you can still lose some fish due to intestinal damage. It's my understanding that some of these worms attach themselves in the fish's intestines using a series of small hooks. These hooks can sometimes tear through the intestine, allowing bacteria to grow and kill the fish. I haven't experienced this myself, so I'm not sure how much of a concern it should be. Perhaps this scenario is most likely with fish that have been heavily infected for an extended period of time.

Are any of your fish still displaying any signs of the red worms?

T · Post by T » 11 May 2003, 15:38

No not at all, my male golden panchax still had one left yesterday but its gone now.The fish seem a lot more active and my rosy tetras even seem to be spawing(maybe it was the big waterchange).I did about a 70% change should I do another?

aeroflight · Post by **aeroflight** » 11 May 2003, 16:57

How often and how large are your regular water changes? I too did about a 70% - 80% water change after 24 hours. My next water change was along the lines of my regular water change habit. I normally do water changes (roughly 25% - 30%) every 5 - 7 days (whenever I get a free moment). If you follow a similar schedule, I'd just leave it be and then just do your usual water change. You probably don't want to wait for more than a week or so to do another change, though.

If you really wanted to make sure you cleared out the levamisole you could put some carbon in your filters. I didn't think the carbon would be worth the effort to open up my canisters. Since the fish weren't too sensitive to the med, I just left the carbon on the shelf.

Do you have any plans to retreat in a couple weeks or so? My Levasole solution is good for 90 days, so I was thinking about retreating the tank, especially since I added a few new fish. However, I haven't seen any more signs of infection, so I'm a little hesitant to do it.

T · Post by T » 11 May 2003, 17:15

Well I usually do a 30% change every sunday so I'll probably just wait then or maybe do a 10% during the week.I'm thinking of adding a pair of cockatoo dwarfs soon so I might treat again.

Also I have another tank containing cichlids, clowns loaches, ghost knife and a few different pl*cos.But none of the fish show any signs of worms, although I did move a yoyo loach and some plants from the affected tank a few months back.Should I dose that one too?

aeroflight · Post by **aeroflight** » 11 May 2003, 21:39

Yeah, you might want to treat your other tank, too. I've gotten the impression that these worms can spread fairly easily and sometimes take months before they're detected. Since the fish seem to do well with the medication, it probably wouldn't hurt. But then again, I'm not fond of needlessly medicating my fish.

I probably won't get around to my usual water change today (normally do it on Sat/Sun but we've got a 2-week old daughter in the hospital) so I'll probably retreat my tank, too. I'll be able to do a good water change tomorrow, anyways.

Good luck, T.

T · Post by T » 11 May 2003, 23:35

Thanks man, hope your daughter is ok.

aeroflight · Post by **aeroflight** » 12 May 2003, 15:06

I went ahead and retreated the tank yesterday evening. Same results as before. None of the fish seem to be overly affected. I didn't notice my sailfin pleco out much last night, but my pictus cats are as active as ever. Everything seems to be okay ...

My daughter's doing really well. She was born 7 weeks premature and has been spending time in the newborn intensive care nurseries. If she keeps gaining weight like she has, she should hit the 5 lbs mark Wednesday. The nurses say she should come home this week, although she'll probably still be on oxygen. At least she'll be at home. It'll be nice to spend an entire day away from the hospital.

T · Post by T » 12 May 2003, 22:50

Thats good, I hope she continues to make steady progress and you have her home soon.