Camellanus & Gill Flukes

[Dazzler666]

I have a five foot C/SA cichlid tank been running around 7 months. Ammonia ' nitrate zero, nitrates below 20 with a PH of 7.2.
Last week i bought a small blue acara from my LFS to go with my adult. When i got him home i noticed something small pertruding from his anis but thought it was constipation. I couldnt QT as had my partners poorly fish in there which passed with dropsy so i had to put him straight in my main tank.
Four days later early morning whilst fish were asleep i noticed a red worm protruding from his anus. I friend of mine had recently also had an outbreak of camellanus so i was aware. I took the fish back to my LFS who conducted a fishy autopsy and they confirmed they found three camellanus worms inside ..... Great!! Altho as the fish was in for four days is it guaranteed that my tank and fish are infected?
In addition one of my rainbows cichlids has a swollen and red gill and some of my fish are flashing which i now suspect to be flukes and not ick.
My LFS has gave me anti-fluke & worm treatment to add which contains Flubendazole (i think!!) but im not convinced how effective it will be on camellanus.
Ive read that levamisole found in cattle & bird wormer is effective which i have got but not yet used.
Has anyone had any experience dealing with camellanus & gill flukes? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated as i dont want this to wipe my tank/s out.
Very valuable lesson learnt about QT fish, just hope its not an expensive lesson!!!
Cheers.

 

[WILDER]

Signs of gill flukes & body flukes.
Flicking and rubbing.
Darting, erratic swimming, swimming in a jerky movement.
Red inflamed gills, pale gills with excess slime.
Opaque body with excess slime.
Red pin prick marks on body, gills. Or sores.
Weightloss.
Gasping at surface of tank, laboured breathing.
Lethargic.
Clamped fins.
Spitting food out.
Secondary bacterial infections. The parasite has a nasty bacteria in there hooks which enters the blood stream once skin in pierced.


I have heard of members in the past using Flubendazol, how effective is in not to sure. As some members said it didn't seem to work on camallanus worms.
If the medication has been effective on camallanus worms the fish should start to produce brown colour of waste, gain weight, no red hair like worms sticking out of the anus.
You have to retreat the fish in 3 to 4 weeks time to make sure the camallanus worms have been eradicated. Same with gill flukes.

You also have to back up with a bacterial medication.
Camallanus worms, and gill flukes cause secondary bacterial infections.

UK medication for camallanus worms sera nematol.

Camallanus

Symptoms:

When the fish is stationary, deep red worms can be seen protruding from the anal pore. They are only visible when the fish is still because the worms retreat into the intestine at the fish�s slightest movement. Other signs may include an inflamed and enlarged anus. In severe infestations, the fish may become emaciated and spinal curvature may also occur.


Cause:

The parasitic worms Camallanus Cotti and Camallanus lacustris. These small, livebearing parasitic worms attach to the intestinal walls and rectum with pinchers. The worm�s grip is so tight that any attempts to remove it forcibly will rip away tissue from the intestinal wall. The worm�s pinching causes ischemia (reduced blood flow) to that part of the intestine. In time, the tissue to that part of the intestine will die, at which time the worm will migrate to another part of the intestine. This causes perforations throughout the intestine, which allows other pathogens to gain entry. If the fish is not treated, either the parasite or bacterial will kill the fish. Camallanus infestations occur most often in livebearing fish such as Guppies and Mollies, though infection is possible in all fish. Camallanus infestations are contagious. All fish, including those not yet showing visible symptoms, as well as the aquarium, should be treated.
Fish-diseases.net

 

[WILDER]

Sera Nemotal.

A sensational R & D success: sera med Professional Nematol is the first ornamental fish treatment against Nematodes that may be sold freely. It is based on a patented Emamectin/solvent complex, highly effective and easy to dose. sera med Professional Nematol is particularly effective against Camallanus and round worms of the genus Capillaria, which mainly occur in angelfish and discus. It can also be optimally used against pinworms (Oxyurida), dreaded by discus keepers. At the same time it combats the small copepods that Camallanus uses as intermediate hosts. Result: A well tolerated and highly effective ornamental fish treatment that can be sold freely is now available for the first time! It is a liquid and therefore can be dosed easily and precisely.

A link to Flubenazole.
http/www.inkmkr.com/Fish/FlubendazoleTreatment.pdf

 

[DrTerror]

Camallanus worms are a nightmare,I got caught out a few years back and introduced a large infected angelfish...A total 100% tank stripdown/detox and a bottle of Harker verm later solved the problem,but if the fish is to badly infected it will die as the dead worms rip up the innards of the fish on thier way out.
You have my sympathies.

 

[Dazzler666]

Wilder, as always you are a fountain of knowledge.
Dr.T thanks for that. Have got some Harker verm at the ready which the active ingredient is levamisole.
The infected fish was in my tank for 4 daysbnut i only seen a single worm protrude the once so i assume that it is likely my tank/fish will av been infected?!
As i am currently treating for gill flukes at mo with second dose to go in tomorrow do you think that once the second dose for flukes is done, add a bacterial med then the following week begin treatment with the Harkwr Verm for camellanus and continue say every four weeks or so in order to try and catch any worms & larvae as they hatch?
Stripping tank aint really an option at this stage due to the amount of fish i have and no where to put them. Furthermore, i dont want to spread this infection to anywhere else and would rather contain it to this one tank. Im hoping that due to early intervention i may be able to kill this parasite before it has had the opportunity to get a real grip in my tank & in my fish..... Fingers crossed!!!
Thank you for the advice, much appreciated.

 

[WILDER]

Once the gill flukes med has been removed from the tank with water change.
I would add a bacterial medication to the tank. Anti internal bacteria med by interpet.
Than saying that I maybe suggest using the camallanus worm treatment, than after the med course has finished than add the bacterial medication.
It's hard to say really with having 2 diseases to treat.

 

[DrTerror]

You are welcome m8.I did go a bit overkill on mine as I kept meaning to strip down the tank anyway,just kept putting it off!.I split all the fish into 3 50 ltr buckets using the FX5 and aps2000ef (both turned down to minimum!)from the tank to run them for two weeks of treatment!.I had the original infected angel in the hospital tank,and all the plants and bogwood in another 2 buckets (all over the living room floor I hasten to add!),hooked up to a couple of fluval 4's!.I ended up 'only' loosing the angel,2 other large angels and a female red rainbow,everything else survived OK (apart from 50% of the plants).I then washed all substrate countless times and replaced all media,seeding it from another uninfected tank!.
TBH if I had a smaller tank I would have probably gone with the Sera Nematol already mentioned by Wilder,but I was pretty skint at the time and to dose a 450ltr tank was going to cost a bit more than I wanted to spend!.