De worming

[mattb2989]

Hi all. So in obs tank i was treating my fish with general cure and metroplex inbetween gc and food soaking gc. My leopard wrasse wouldnt touch the medicated food and it died last night. Left in tub of fresh water and noticed a what i believe a white wiggling worm coming out of its anus. Is my treatment method still good and just died because it didnt eat the medicated food? Purple tang and 2 clowns are good and eat the medicated food and show no signs of stringy poo now

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sorry to hear about the wrasse. If you got a good look at the worm, was it pointed at both ends? If so, it was probably a nematode. GC only kills flukes, cestodes (tapeworms) and internal protozoans, it won't cure nematodes. Fenbendazole will, but I've seen some toxic events using that. The dose for it is 2mg/l of tank water once a week for 3 weeks OR 25 mg/kg of fish weight fed orally in food daily for three days. A q1uick cheat for that dose is 0.25% fenbendazole in food, fed at 1% of the fish's weight per day for three days (fish typically eat about 3% of their body weight per day, so you might be able to estimate that).

Medicated food overall is almost never done correctly. People soak food in the medication, but there is no way to know how much medication got absorbed into the food, then knowing how much was rinsed off when the food was added to the tank, and finally, no way to know how much of the food the fish actually ate. Since oral medications are dosed on mg of medication per kg of fish weight, soaking food cannot give you a proper dose. The irony is also - metronidazole is so bitter that if by chance you do get a proper dose, the fish will refuse it.

Here is an article I posted on this topic:

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[mattb2989]

Sorry to hear about the wrasse. If you got a good look at the worm, was it pointed at both ends? If so, it was probably a nematode. GC only kills flukes, cestodes (tapeworms) and internal protozoans, it won't cure nematodes. Fenbendazole will, but I've seen some toxic events using that. The dose for it is 2mg/l of tank water once a week for 3 weeks OR 25 mg/kg of fish weight fed orally in food daily for three days. A q1uick cheat for that dose is 0.25% fenbendazole in food, fed at 1% of the fish's weight per day for three days (fish typically eat about 3% of their body weight per day, so you might be able to estimate that).

Medicated food overall is almost never done correctly. People soak food in the medication, but there is no way to know how much medication got absorbed into the food, then knowing how much was rinsed off when the food was added to the tank, and finally, no way to know how much of the food the fish actually ate. Since oral medications are dosed on mg of medication per kg of fish weight, soaking food cannot give you a proper dose. The irony is also - metronidazole is so bitter that if by chance you do get a proper dose, the fish will refuse it.

Here is an article I posted on this topic:

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thanks jay. There is a product in the uk called nd labs anti fluke and wormer. It contains flubendazole. Is this of any use?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all. So in obs tank i was treating my fish with general cure and metroplex inbetween gc and food soaking gc. My leopard wrasse wouldnt touch the medicated food and it died last night. Left in tub of fresh water and noticed a what i believe a white wiggling worm coming out of its anus. Is my treatment method still good and just died because it didnt eat the medicated food? Purple tang and 2 clowns are good and eat the medicated food and show no signs of stringy poo now

Yep- internal parasite. Metroplex should have helped but my better choice would be praziquantel (prazi pro) treated for 8 day period followed by water change and one more 8 day treatment
Oops- see Jay has responded

 

[mattb2989]

Yep- internal parasite. Metroplex should have helped but my better choice would be praziquantel (prazi pro) treated for 8 day period followed by water change and one more 8 day treatment
Oops- see Jay has responded

Is it better to soak general cure or seachem metroplex to food?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Is it better to soak general cure or seachem metroplex to food?

In your case, fenbendazole otherwise metroplex with fenbendazole likely more targeted to your circumstance

 

[mattb2989]

In your case, fenbendazole otherwise metroplex with fenbendazole likely more targeted to your circumstance

Thanks mate. There is also a product called esha ndx which targets nematodes. Unsure what this contains though but ive had good success with esha products in freshwater days

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks mate. There is also a product called esha ndx which targets nematodes. Unsure what this contains though but ive had good success with esha products in freshwater days

If you can, look up ingredients

 

[mattb2989]

@vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal please see attached pics

 

[vetteguy53081]

@vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal please see attached pics

Yikes

 

[mattb2989]

Yikes

Any possible id? Is this 1 that gc food soaked foods should kill?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Any possible id? Is this 1 that gc food soaked foods should kill?

Pic is a little fuzzy for me to confirm worm type

 

[mattb2989]

Pic is a little fuzzy for me to confirm worm type

Thats a shame. They look ok my end. These are the ingredients of esha ndx which treats nematodes
Levamisole hydrochloride Sodium metabisulphite Methyl parahydroxybenzoate

 

[Jay Hemdal]

@vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal please see attached pics

I can't see the typical pointed ends on these worms, but they do look like nematodes. Some of these are internal parasites, but they can also be free living. It gets complicated; I once found nematodes in the anus of a dead fish, but then determined that they had come up out of the gravel to feed on the dead fish and weren't parasites at all. On the other hand, I recently pulled a parasitic nematode from a killifish that when straitened out, was longer than the fish.

Flubendazole is another anthelminthic, but I've not used it, so I don't have a dose for you, nor do I know which worms it is effective against.

Jay

 

[mattb2989]

I can't see the typical pointed ends on these worms, but they do look like nematodes. Some of these are internal parasites, but they can also be free living. It gets complicated; I once found nematodes in the anus of a dead fish, but then determined that they had come up out of the gravel to feed on the dead fish and weren't parasites at all. On the other hand, I recently pulled a parasitic nematode from a killifish that when straitened out, was longer than the fish.

Flubendazole is another anthelminthic, but I've not used it, so I don't have a dose for you, nor do I know which worms it is effective against.

Jay

@Jay Hemdal thanks mate. Got 2 different meds to go for. Either nt labs which has flubendazole or esha ndx which has Levamisole hydrochloride Sodium metabisulphite Methyl parahydroxybenzoate

 

[Jay Hemdal]

@Jay Hemdal thanks mate. Got 2 different meds to go for. Either nt labs which has flubendazole or esha ndx which has Levamisole hydrochloride Sodium metabisulphite Methyl parahydroxybenzoate

I don't have recent experience with either of those...

Levamisole, dosed at 10 mg/l has been used against encysted nematodes as per Ed Noga. It is supposed to have a good margin of safety.

Jay