Loaches Online Forum

i think i have mentioned in a previous post, i couldnt locate levamisole hydrochloride in singapore here, to take care of nematodes. I noticed that 1 of my loaches was not getting fat, and although it wasnt getting more skinny (as far as i can tell), i decided to look for something else to take care of the nematodes. ( i felt quite confident that an earlier treatment of metro and praziquantel took care of the other critters) I managed to talk to a vet with experience in treating fish (mostly arowanas), and was recommended closantel or albendazole. I think a closantel-based med has become very popular among koi keepers. Closantel has also been quite effective in removing tapeworms from arowanas.

i bought a bottle of closantel (concentration unknown, approximately 100 ml for $15 usd) and was told to dose 2.5 ml per 1000 liters, and then use activated carbon to remove the med after three days. I can then repeat it after a week. I applied slightly higher dose than recommended in my quarantine tank (my syringe couldnt handle the decimal points so i had to round up), which contained 2 clown loaches, a small blood parrot and a raphael catfish. after a night, it seems that the clowns showed strong positive reaction to the drug. They were pretty shy and hid a lot before the med. Now, the two are going up and down the sides of the tanks and actively foraging for food. no positive or negative reaction from the rest of the fish.

encouraged by this, i tried out the medication (full recommended dosage) in my main tank. so far the reaction among the clowns is increased activity in the tank (foraging, clicking and chasing each other). so closantel might just be an alternative to levamisole hydrochloride, for those who cant get levamisole hydrochloride.

my question is: if indeed my loaches have worms, should i expect to see something in the substrate? If so, what should i be on the lookout for? white stringy things? is there a possibility of a loach eating a worm that was expelled?

Being very interested in having another tool, I did a little googling on Closantel, and saw this report:

http://www.koivet.com/html/articles/art ... edications

It ends with

No Koi was adversely affected by the Closantel/Mebendazole combination.

100% of Goldfish treated are dead. They died in each system over 36 hours from start to finish with 100% morbidity and 100% mortality.

A similar report from Singapore:

http://www.singaporekoiclub.com/knowled ... ation.html

A Closantel-Mebendazole combination, Supaverm was tested in eight discrete systems on several species of fish, with Goldfish and Koi in the majority. Within five to seven days from the first applications of Supaverm, and replicated in eight different systems, every member of every species of goldfish was 100% annihilated including Ranchus, Pembrookes, Midnights, Wakins, Telescopes, Shubunkins and Comets. Salt appears to enhance the killing effect of Supaverm on flukes. Carbon does not remove sufficient compound to save the Goldfish in treated systems. There appears to be no negative effect of Supaverm on Koi.

IMHO, much more information is needed on safety before this can be tried. (Yes, it is entirely possible that the culprit is Mebendazole). One should be very careful with any drug that kills GF...

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Per your question:

if indeed my loaches have worms, should i expect to see something in the substrate?

If worms are small, no. I could not find any *dead* worms, even if I knew for a fact that worms were present and was looking through the debris.

I've experimented with applying Lev. to small nematodic non-parasitic worms, and it tied them into knots...which were hard to find even in the empty experiment tank.

Yes, it is possible they will be eaten (leading to new infections in some cases).

hth

i think the 2 links refer to the same experiment...
anyway, to update what has happened, i didnt lose any loach (clowns) after 1 treatment cycle (2.5 ml/1000l followed by WC and activated carbon after 3 days.) The skinniest loach i have is also showing signs of gaining some weight. this was also true for a flagtail prochilodus.

would you guys use a dewormer (for dogs) whose main active ingredient is levamisole hydrochloride but also has other active ingredients?

libingboy wrote:would you guys use a dewormer (for dogs) whose main active ingredient is levamisole hydrochloride but also has other active ingredients?

libingboy,

If you can, find the nearest "greyhound vet"
levamisole is one of the main treatments as a "non-specific immune booster" in greyhounds with a suppressed immune system (often brought on by an increased workload when they start training)
If you can find a vet that deals with greyhounds fairly often, you should be able to get a liquid form of levamisole at a reasonably cheap price (I paid about $12 for a litre here, 12.5 mg/ml concentration of levamisole).

libingboy wrote:would you guys use a dewormer (for dogs) whose main active ingredient is levamisole hydrochloride but also has other active ingredients?

No, if I have a choice, because I'd have no information about what these other ingredients do to fish.

Did you try ordering via internet from the US?

i was told levamisole hydrochloride importation to singapore is restricted.
i heard of people finding the odd "bird shop" in singapore selling levamisole hydrochloride, but till now havent found any.