My Common Plec Has Internal Parasites, What Med Should I Use?

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yay, i got the levamisole and the plec is still alive! But, the vet gave instructions on how many mg of levamisole i should apply per litre, and not ml. How do i work out how many ml's i need per litre from mg's?

 

[tttnjfttt]

well, according to this article, http/www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamellanusTreatment.pdf

Add 1.5 mililiter per 7.5 liter of 7.5% Levacide (levamisole hydrochloride) to each tanks being treated. Mix the drug in a liter of water before pouring over the tank surface. If you obtain another strength of the drug (e.g. 1.5%, 3%) then adjust the dosage as required.

I have no clue how similar that is to the dose your vet recomended though.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

....The plec died this morning...

I am sorry i have not updated this thread much, but this is basically what happended.
The vet advised two doses- a really strong one which would treat the fish for two hours and need a 100% water change, and a medium strength dose that would treat the fish for 24hrs and need a 50% water change.
I put the plec in his own hospital tank (about 10gals) as the other plecs were pushing him out of the way a lot at feeding time and he was finding it difficult to eat. I tried the 2hr dose (i cannot remember the exact doses for either of these now as i cannot find the instructions the vet gave me), this did not seem to affect the plec much though.

So i did a waterchange, left the tank unmedicated for a day to give the plec a break, and then tried the 24hr dose...This did really not work either. The plec by this time had stopped eating, and would not eat any food (not even cucumber, which was one of his favorite foods). Over the next couple of days, i did twice daily waterchanges (an uneaten algae wafer that i accidently left in overnight caused a bacterial bloom in the tank making the water all cloudy).
Early this morning he has bobbing around the tank very weak, he hadn't eaten for days. I didn't know what to do...I have tried everything. I have treated him for internal bacteria and internal parasites, i have used general meds like Pimafix, i have done regular water changes, given him good food, made the tank very pleco friendly...I feel all this is my fault though...I feel, maybe there was somthing more i could do, but i don't know what.
I find it difficult to grieve over loved ones, its not somthing that comes naturally to me really, i just feel silent.
But, there's nothing more i can do now.

Thankyou for all your help everyone, despite this loss, i value the knowledge i have gained and will continue to try to be a better fish keeper. Over the coming months, i am going to reduce my stocking by spreading it through larger tanks and investing in more fry eating fish to prevent my livebearers breeding so successfully. If i need new fish, i will adopt them if i can. The more my stocking is dispersed, the less i have to worry about though. Fishkeeping is enjoyable in its own way but can also be tiring and heart breaking.

 

[Bloo]

So sorry to hear

Out of interest - did you have the guts to open him up and check out what's going on on the inside ??

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

So sorry to hear

Out of interest - did you have the guts to open him up and check out what's going on on the inside ??

I don't think i could do that, maybe if he was a guppy, but he's a plec i've had for years- it would be a bit like cutting open a pet dog (not that i have anything against guppys, but things are less gory when you are working on an animal 2inchs long than a fish thats nearly a foot long).
I'm pretty certain though it was internal parasites, i had a guppy die of tapeworm a month or two ago, and i've caught him munching on deceased fish in the past. I think he was too weak, the sickness far too progressed, by the time i managed to get hold of the appropriate med from the vet for it to work effectively on him. If there hadn't been so many hold ups over the purchasing of the med, things may have been different, but i know the vet did the best he could in the circumstances (firstly they ran out of stock of levamisole, so i had to wait a couple of days, then the vet needed to inspect the tank and research the fish, then i wasn't able to make it on friday to pick up the med etc).

 

[WILDER]

Sorry tokis, R.I.P. internal parasites are nasy things and do alot of damage to a fish inside, thats why when you treat for internal parasites it can be to late as they done there damage, causing bacterial infections.

 

[tttnjfttt]

I'm sorry for your loss. I am suprised that you didn't see anything happen with the meds, because from every other account I have read, once the meds were added, there usually are hundreds of little worms expelled.

Good luck and i hope none of your other fish develop these symptoms.