Clown Loach Treatment with Picture

[starsplitter7]

Hi,

I have a small Clown Loach (1.5-2") that eats all the time and is shrinking. He's active, eats all the time, . . . always looking for food. I assume he has the wasting disease.

I need some advice for treatment. Charles Harrison was kind enough to sell me some Levamosole and Flubendazole. I am very grateful to him, because I have been looking for the medication everywhere.

I have a very small Clown and a danio I believe are infested with worms preventing them from gaining weight.

I have a quarantine tank set up and ready to go.

I have read the articles on LOL about the treatment, but I just need a little reassurance that I am doing this the right way.

My questions are:

1.) Which treatment would be the safest and most effective to use on my fish?

2.) Is there a way to treat without putting the fish into quarantine? Both the Clown and Danio are very social, and I am afraid quarantining them will stress them to the point of death. Can I dip them and then put them back into the tank with their friends?

No other fish in the main tank show any signs of illness (I am assuming their immune systems keep them healthy), and these fish have been together between 3-6 months. I would prefer not to treat the entire tank, because I have many delicate fish: loaches, eels, . . . but I will if that would be best.

Thanks for any advice. I plan to treat tomorrow. Tanja

[Diana]

http://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/l ... chloride-1

Here is the Levamisole treatment, but I have not found the order in wich to do a combined treatment.

The Levamisole treatment involves medicating, the removing the medicine from the tank for a while, then medicating again (to catch the parasites at their most vulnerable stages)
I think other treatments can be alternated with the Levamisole treatments.

[shari2]

have you seen any red, threadlike worms protruding from their anus - ie cammallanus worms?

If so, treat the whole tank with either flubendazole or levamisole HCL.

If not, you can treat either in the qtank or the main tank. Afaik, levamisole is not intolerable to any fish (but i hardly know it all ), and is safe for the biofilter. Fish carrying a heavy load of parasites may have difficulty passing the paralyzed worms, however.

If using levamisole, keep the lights out for at least 24 hours as it is light sensitive. Do a good substrate vac between treatments but don't overdo it and damage the biofilter. Better smaller ones over several days than one 75% change.

Fish stressed by parasites often succumb to secondary bacterial infections either due to the suppression of their immune systems or the injuries caused by the parasites. If you catch the problem early, antibiotics are often uncalled for. You have to watch your fish to determine the need.

What i've done in the past is treat with levamisole, then treat with a 5 day course of Kanacyn, then after a good tank clean, 24 hours of running carbon in the filter, treat again with levamisole. It worked for a clown that seemed to respond to an initial levamisole treatment, but relapsed a month later. I treated him the second time (including the antibiotic) in the qtank, and it seemed to do the trick.

I am familiar with levamisole and have not ever had any problems using it in my tanks. Ask Charles his opinion re: flubendazole vs levamisole for your situation and see what he thinks.

isn't he a nice guy?

[starsplitter7]

Here's pictures of my skinny, sweet Clown with his reflection.


The tank looks dirty, because they got a zucchini treat last night and bits are floating. The thing near the Clown is a freeze dried bloodworm, not a parasitic worm.

I've had him for three months + and he hasn't gained weight.

[starsplitter7]

http://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/l ... chloride-1

Here is the Levamisole treatment, but I have not found the order in wich to do a combined treatment.

The Levamisole treatment involves medicating, the removing the medicine from the tank for a while, then medicating again (to catch the parasites at their most vulnerable stages)
I think other treatments can be alternated with the Levamisole treatments.

Hi Diana,

Thanks so much. I did read Shari's excellent article. I worry about treatments. Seems like I kill fish faster by treating I never have any luck. I don't want to make things worse for this sweet Loach. He is very endearing, because he's always out.

I wasn't planning on combining the Flub and Leva, but I was interested in knowing which one would be best tolerated.
Thanks, Tanja.

[starsplitter7]

have you seen any red, threadlike worms protruding from their anus - ie cammallanus worms?

No worms present. Nothing from the anus. Thankfully. No signs of illness, except the Clown is small, skinny and not growing.

If so, treat the whole tank with either flubendazole or levamisole HCL.

If not, you can treat either in the qtank or the main tank. Afaik, levamisole is not intolerable to any fish (but i hardly know it all ), and is safe for the biofilter. Fish carrying a heavy load of parasites may have difficulty passing the paralyzed worms, however.

If using levamisole, keep the lights out for at least 24 hours as it is light sensitive. Do a good substrate vac between treatments but don't overdo it and damage the biofilter. Better smaller ones over several days than one 75% change.

Fish stressed by parasites often succumb to secondary bacterial infections either due to the suppression of their immune systems or the injuries caused by the parasites. If you catch the problem early, antibiotics are often uncalled for. You have to watch your fish to determine the need.

What i've done in the past is treat with levamisole, then treat with a 5 day course of Kanacyn, then after a good tank clean, 24 hours of running carbon in the filter, treat again with levamisole. It worked for a clown that seemed to respond to an initial levamisole treatment, but relapsed a month later. I treated him the second time (including the antibiotic) in the qtank, and it seemed to do the trick.

Okay.

I am familiar with levamisole and have not ever had any problems using it in my tanks. Ask Charles his opinion re: flubendazole vs levamisole for your situation and see what he thinks.

I emailed him tonight. He is really very kind and helpful. I am waiting fr a reply.

isn't he a nice guy?

Absolutely. Very kind and patient.

[starsplitter7]

Ask Charles his opinion re: flubendazole vs levamisole for your situation and see what he thinks.
isn't he a nice guy?

He recommended the flubendazole for skinny fish, so I will start the clown's treatment today after reading all the instructions. Cross your fingers. Thanks Tanja.

[shari2]

Good luck!

[Whitey_MacLeod]

I've used flubendazole on kubs, garra and otos without any sign of ill effects. Good luck.

[starsplitter7]

The original fish I bought the Flubendazole and Levimosole for, perished before it arrived. Sigh! But over the last couple weeks I watched my second smallest Clown shrink, and I have two Leopard Danios that were terribly slim.

I set up a treatment tank with a seasoned filter, put the temp to 82 and added 1/4 teaspoon of Flubendazole for a 10 gallon tank. According to Charles Harrison's article the dosage is 1/4 teaspoon at 5% for 5 gallons. The medicine was 10%, so I thought 1/4 teaspoon for 10 gallons should be fine. I added a couple plastic plants and a small tube for the Clown. Other than that, the tank is bare. I drip acclimated the Clown and Danios to the treatment tank over two hours. The Danios were flipping out, but they are a hyper lot. The smallest Danio only has one eye, s he swims funny generally. The clown took everything in stride.

24 hours later all fish are doing well. I added live brine shrimp today and everyone pigged out.

In two days I will change the water and repeat the treatment, and three days later I will return the fish to their tank. I hope the clown doesn't die of loneliness.

Since I am treating for internal parasites, does anyone know what I should look for? Would I see the expelled worms? Should the fish start to grow? When can I safely return them to the main tank? Do I need a second treatment, or will one work? I want to get the Clown back with his buddies as soon as possible.

Thanks, Tanja.