Does my juv Kubotai have internal parasites?

[Pete Setchell]

I noticed something odd last night. After feeding my juvenile botia kubotai was sitting right by the glass at the front of my aquarium and I was able to sit down and stare at him for a while.

His stomach looked slightly swollen from the flake food, which seems normal, but there was a slight extra bump at the front of his stomach. As I watched, this bump disappeared and then reappeared again a bit further back. I watched for a while and ended up positive something was wriggling slowly inside him.

Apparently it is quite common for wild caught kubotai to have internal parasites. Do you think this is what I saw?

If he does have internal parasites what is the best course of action?

I have some cory habrosus in my tank and supposedly they're very vulnerable to medication. Maybe it's time to invest in a quarantine tank.

[fusQer]

that is almost as freaky as the tapeworm i saw on my new kittens butt 5 years ago. i too recently purchased 3 kubs, and i think it was erik here who recommended maracyn I&II regardless of symptoms for newly purchased kubs. im waiting to receive them from bigals so i can begin dosage.

does anyone know of a heater for a 2.5g Q tank? do they make them that size? or maybe i should just use a incandescent lamp?

[Erik]

It may be a parasite, I have never witnessed an event like that.
Personally I treat all new loaches with maracyn 1 and 2 for 10days . At the same time I treat with maracide. Mind you this is the original formula which works amazingly well on ich.
After treatment and some water changes I now also treat with either Prazi or
Levamisole.
I know this sounds extreme but these are wild caught fish and I have so many skinny and or ich infested loaches that I started doing that.
It has worked so well for me that in the past I have bought both ich and skinny kubotais (when they were still rare) and histrionicas , treated them and still have them nice and healthy.
I always use a qt tank btw. My one downfall for disease management is that all my tanks are planted and it is difficult to disinffect plants.
Erik

[cybermeez]

If it is internal parasites (and it very well may be though I've never witnessed what you described) then you need to use a medication designed to eradicate internal parasites. I see you are in the UK and I'm not sure what medications are available there. Perhaps Martin and Emma can chime in on that.

In the past I've always used Pepso, a medicated food made by Jungle. However, the company recently pulled Pepso off the market and replaced it with a new anti-parasite food that has a new formulation. In my experience fish won't eat the new stuff.

The other option many people here use is Levamisole. It definitely works on internal parasites and has the added benefit of boosting the immune system. In the case of Chronic Wasting Syndrome (AKA Skinny Disease) this immune system boost probably enables the fish to battle any bacterial infections without antibiotics.

I live in a major metropolitan area so Levamisole (since it's primarily a drug used to treat farm animals) it is not that easy to come by. So, I've only tried it once or twice and there are others here who have more experience with this med and can better advise on where to get it and how do dose it. For many here it is the medication of choice for treating internal parasites.

Incidentally, Maracyn and Maracyn 2 are antibiotics so they are not effective against any parasitic infections.

On a side note, Chronic Wasting Syndrome (AKA Skinny Disease) appears to be caused by more than one pathogen. Probably a combination of bacteria and internal parasites, but that is based on anecdotal evidence from aquarists. There really has been no scientific research into CWS and its causes. In this hobby, when it comes to disease and treatment, science tends to be a few steps behind the aquarist.

Most folks here treat suspected cases of CWS for both bacterial and internal parasites. Since all loaches are wild caught, each one will have internal parasites to some extent. In my quarantine procedures I treat every newly acquired fish for parasites (internal and external). If after that in a few weeks if the loach shows signs of CWS I then treat with the Maracyn combo and that usually does the trick.

[shari]

Levamisole may be available in the UK from veterinarians. Hopefully Emma can chime in on this. I have not used the injectible form myself, but others have had great success with it.

I also treat CWS with a combo of levamisole and antibiotics. I used Kanacyn last time, because the store was out of Maracyn and it was more expensive, anyway Still have my little clown, but it took two courses of treatment and almost 3 months in the q-tank because I wanted to make sure it didn't come back again. He's now in the 55 with his two buddies, making trouble

[Emma Turner]

Hi Pete,

Yes, the best course of treatment for internal parasites would be Levamisole hydrochloride. It is not available in UK aquatic shops (the laws on fish treatments over here are very strict), but 'fish-friendly' vetinary surgeons will be able to order it in for you. Sadly, there are not too many that seem able to deal with fish problems, but things do seem to be improving in this area. Ask/phone around, explaining the problem, and see who might be willing to order it in for you. The easiest form of Levamisole to use is the liquid stuff, which is primarily used as a cattle-wormer, as others here have already mentioned.

Good luck,

Emma

[fusQer]

it should be added that levamisole (sp?) cannot be administered in water with PH > 6.9. how do i tell if my kubotai's have the skinny disease or not? they are babies.

[Pete Setchell]

Has anyone had success with WATERLIFE STERAZIN?

Sterazin is a parasiticide for the control of gill and body parasites which cause fish to flick and scrape - usually when no symptoms are visible to the unaided eye. Must not be used when crustaceans, echinoderms, rays, seawater sharks, pirahna, sturgeon or sterlets and related species are present.
Suitable for tropical, marine and coldwater aquariums. A 5 day course for 180 litres.

I've found it in a couple of uk fish shops. It has a couple of clown loaches on the box, so I guess they're suggesting it's safe for use with them.

I have a quarantine tank set up now, so at least I'll be able to medicate my kub without worrying about collateral damage. Unfortunately I've had to put a new honey gourami with one pop-eye straight into quarantine, so won't be able to get my loach in there until the hospital is empty. I've now made a mental note to visually check both sides of new fish before deciding they look healthy.

[Emma Turner]

Hi Pete,

Sterazin is only suitable for external parasites, gill flukes etc. It will not treat internal parasites.

To have any real success in treating your loaches for internal parasites, you need to find yourself a helpful vet who will prescribe some Levamisole hydrochloride.

fusQer - Out of interest, we have treated with Levamisole in aquariums with a pH of up to 7.5 and found it to be very successful.

Emma

[shari]

And I would second Emma on the pH issue. The instructions for dosing being effective for only under pH of 7.0 are out of date. I does work above 7.0 as I have experienced myself.

[fusQer]

tap water here is 8.0+

[Pete Setchell]

Ok - I won't use the sterazin. I'm a little perplexed, as it does say the following on the bottle:

STERAZIN will also aid the control of internal parasites such as Round Worm, Thread Worm, and Intestinal Worm.

Obviously reading labels is no substitute for the practical experience on this forum. I need to get my hands on that Levamisole Hydrochloride.

[fusQer]

well i have 3 kubo's and 1 sidthimunki in a Q tank. the kubo's have been there 15 days with no symptoms (and no medication) and i recently adopted the stray munki and received my medicines in the mail theother day and began medicating. i got maracyn 1&2 and maracide, and did all three at once. today is day 3, but because theres no symptoms, i dont know if the medicine is working.

i also have 5 new neon tetras in there who were perfectly fine, also new fish and in Q. after day 2 of the medicine, one of them is exhibiting neon tetra disease symptoms. i guess ill findout if this medicine fixes it right now it seems as if the medication is the cause of NTD

anyways, the 4 loaches in the tank are all under 2", so i dont know how to go about noticing the symptoms, and i have no clue where to find levamisole

[Emma Turner]

I have to say that in the past we have had no success whatsoever when using Sterazin for Chronic Wasting Syndrome in loaches. The wording on the treatment bottle is rather ambiguous: "aid the control of internal parasites" being the operative words, and not "eradicate internal parasites". The manufacturers are covering themselves well, and I do not believe that this product will ever work as effectively as an anthelmintic product from the vet, such as Levamisole.

Emma

[fusQer]

It may be a parasite, I have never witnessed an event like that.
Personally I treat all new loaches with maracyn 1 and 2 for 10days . At the same time I treat with maracide. Mind you this is the original formula which works amazingly well on ich.
After treatment and some water changes I now also treat with either Prazi or
Levamisole.
I know this sounds extreme but these are wild caught fish and I have so many skinny and or ich infested loaches that I started doing that.
It has worked so well for me that in the past I have bought both ich and skinny kubotais (when they were still rare) and histrionicas , treated them and still have them nice and healthy.
I always use a qt tank btw. My one downfall for disease management is that all my tanks are planted and it is difficult to disinffect plants.
Erik

hey erik, so i began my maracyn 1/2 & maracide treatment. none of my fish have symptoms. they are all juveniles. the box says 5 day course, but you did 10 day, im wondering if ithe fish showed any signs of stress due to the heavy medication dose. also when exactly did you do water changes? what about the maracide, did you do that for 10 days as well on odd days?