Sunken belly help please

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Mazzamoo

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Hi all. I really need some help please. I have an electric blue acara and had him for 4 months or so now. When i brought him home and out him in the tank i saw he had a sunken belly I thought hopefully he has not been fed enough and thats why bit nope he's still got it and I'm not winning. He's never stopped eating but sometimes he do its his food out as he's a fussy eater but he does eat. But never puts weight on. He does have some stringing poop but his is more like boulders look like brains most time and can be big. But he doesn't poop all time. I have tried all sorts, Esha 2000, gdx, ndz, internal bacterial treatments, waterlife sterazin, fluke solve and kursuri wormer plus also metro in food but all 3 fish can be fussy with that. My other 2 fish have white stringy poop to so want to treat whole tank now. I've ordered more metro to try treat in tank and also general cure. My acara also has a protruding anus so i have thought about treating levamisole. I brought harkers liquid wormer but it's the one for caged birds and pigeons but i have read that because of the levamisole in it people do use it in fish tanks.i really feel that this is the treatment that would work and really want to try it but I have no clue on dosage ive tried to look it up on the internet and it confuses me to he'll and I'm scard of over dosing. Does anyone please know the dose I would need for a 250 litre tank or anyone else used it or please could someone help me work out the dose. I'm so desperate now. Thank you.maria
 
Stop buying medications and don't put anything else in the tank :)

What is metro? If it's metronidazole then that should only be used as a last resort if the fish have internal protozoan infections, unlikely in this case.

If the fish are still eating well and doing stringy white poop, then it sounds like they have intestinal worms, either thread/ round worms (capillaria/ camallanus) or tapeworms. They can have both thread worms and tapeworms at the same time. You need different medications for each type.

Praziquantel is for tapeworm, Levamisole is for thread worms. There are plenty of medications but you will have to check to see what is available near you. There are other medications with different ingredients than Praziquantel and Levamisole and they also work. Flubenol was one that was recommended 10yrs back and is meant to work.

Most deworming medications need to be used weekly for 3 weeks. This is to kill any adult worms and any eggs that hatch after the adults have been dealt with.

Tapeworms can be treated with Praziquantel. Use 100mg of Praziquantel per 20litres of water. Do a water change 24-48hours later. Then repeat the treatment a week later.
You can also crush Praziquantel up into a powder and mix it into some frozen (but defrosted) fish food. Then feed the fish as much as they can eat. Use 1 tablet of Praziquantel for 1-2 heaped tablespoons of frozen food. Repeat after a week.

Levamisole hydrochloride is available in 3 concentrations. The lowest concentration is for birds/ poultry, the middle strength is for sheep and the strongest concentration is for cattle. You use different dose rates depending on which strength you start out with. The dose rate for bird/ poultry is the one you will need to find because that is the Levamisole you currently have.

Levamisole Hydrochloride is fine with all fish including catfish, loaches and other scaleless fish.

You must do a partial (50% or more) water change 24 hours later otherwise small fish like neon tetras start to have problems and become nervous and skittish. If you still don't do a water change then the small fish might start to die after a few days. But as long as you do a partial water change 24 hours later they will all be fine.

Levamisole is available in different concentrations. Depending on which concentration you have will determine how much you use.
Pretty sure the one I used was for sheep and contains 32g/l of Levamisole, and I use 5ml of that per 10litres of tank water.

I think the birds/poultry medication has 16mg/l of Levamisole. If yes, then you will need to use 10ml of the Levamisole per 10litres of tank water.

------------------------
re: The acara with its protruding anus. Are there any thin white, red or grey filaments hanging out its butt? If yes, then these are thread worms. If no, then the fish might simply be getting ready to breed. They have an ovipositor (thin tube used to lay eggs or sperm) that pops out shortly before they breed. It will retract after they have bred. If it has been out for a week then it is not breeding and most likely internal problems like worms.

------------------------
To work out the volume of water in the aquarium:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height of the tank, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

Remove any carbon in the tank/ filter before treating and throw the old carbon away. carbon will absorb medication including dewormer.

Do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean before treating. And 24-48 hours after treating do another 75% water change and complete gravel clean.
Make sure any new water going into the tank is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the aquarium.

Keep the feeding down to a minimum when treating the fish.

------------------
lots of edits, sorry. I was going thru my old posts on the forum to find the info about dose rates.
 
Last edited:
I might have screwed up the dose rates of Levamisole. I did 3 posts in 2008 and 2 say I used 32g/l, and 1 says I used 80g/l. I need my old bottle with directions :(

from January 2008
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/camallanis-worms.228571/#post-1894503

from March 2008
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/has-anyone-used-levamisole-or-levacide.236138/#post-1949751

from April 2008
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/angels-preparing-to-breed-i-think.238728/page-2

blah my bad.

---------------------
I know I bought a 20litre bottle of the stuff and I also bought a 1litre bottle before I got the 20litre. I think the 1 litre bottle was for sheep (32g/l), and the 20litre bottle was for cattle (80g/l). I then used the 20litre bottle to fill the 1 litre bottle. ahhh confusing.
sorry I (*&^%$ up.

-----------------------
anyone know the dose rate for nilverm (levamisole hydrochloride)?
 
For anyone in the UK, eSHa-ndx contains levamisole, and you don't need to work out the dose, just follow the instructions.

Of the meds in Mazzamoos' list, he/she has already used levamisole (eSHa-ndx), praziquantel (eSHa gdx), flubendazole (Kusuri wormer plus) and piperazine (Sterazin)


Mazzamoo - did you do a second dose of the wormer treatments, as recommended with most of them?
 
For anyone in the UK, eSHa-ndx contains levamisole, and you don't need to work out the dose, just follow the instructions.
Agreed. Had ordered the pigeon version when I spotted one of your previous posts mentioning this (thanks btw). Managed to get it on Amazon and just dosed per instructions.

Couldn't be bothered to count drops so squirted it into a medicinal syringe till I had the 8ml I required :good:
 
Stop buying medications and don't put anything else in the tank :)

What is metro? If it's metronidazole then that should only be used as a last resort if the fish have internal protozoan infections, unlikely in this case.

If the fish are still eating well and doing stringy white poop, then it sounds like they have intestinal worms, either thread/ round worms (capillaria/ camallanus) or tapeworms. They can have both thread worms and tapeworms at the same time. You need different medications for each type.

Praziquantel is for tapeworm, Levamisole is for thread worms. There are plenty of medications but you will have to check to see what is available near you. There are other medications with different ingredients than Praziquantel and Levamisole and they also work. Flubenol was one that was recommended 10yrs back and is meant to work.

Most deworming medications need to be used weekly for 3 weeks. This is to kill any adult worms and any eggs that hatch after the adults have been dealt with.

Tapeworms can be treated with Praziquantel. Use 100mg of Praziquantel per 20litres of water. Do a water change 24-48hours later. Then repeat the treatment a week later.
You can also crush Praziquantel up into a powder and mix it into some frozen (but defrosted) fish food. Then feed the fish as much as they can eat. Use 1 tablet of Praziquantel for 1-2 heaped tablespoons of frozen food. Repeat after a week.

Levamisole hydrochloride is available in 3 concentrations. The lowest concentration is for birds/ poultry, the middle strength is for sheep and the strongest concentration is for cattle. You use different dose rates depending on which strength you start out with. The dose rate for bird/ poultry is the one you will need to find because that is the Levamisole you currently have.

Levamisole Hydrochloride is fine with all fish including catfish, loaches and other scaleless fish.

You must do a partial (50% or more) water change 24 hours later otherwise small fish like neon tetras start to have problems and become nervous and skittish. If you still don't do a water change then the small fish might start to die after a few days. But as long as you do a partial water change 24 hours later they will all be fine.

Levamisole is available in different concentrations. Depending on which concentration you have will determine how much you use.
Pretty sure the one I used was for sheep and contains 32g/l of Levamisole, and I use 5ml of that per 10litres of tank water.

I think the birds/poultry medication has 16mg/l of Levamisole. If yes, then you will need to use 10ml of the Levamisole per 10litres of tank water.

------------------------
re: The acara with its protruding anus. Are there any thin white, red or grey filaments hanging out its butt? If yes, then these are thread worms. If no, then the fish might simply be getting ready to breed. They have an ovipositor (thin tube used to lay eggs or sperm) that pops out shortly before they breed. It will retract after they have bred. If it has been out for a week then it is not breeding and most likely internal problems like worms.

------------------------
To work out the volume of water in the aquarium:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height of the tank, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

Remove any carbon in the tank/ filter before treating and throw the old carbon away. carbon will absorb medication including dewormer.

Do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean before treating. And 24-48 hours after treating do another 75% water change and complete gravel clean.
Make sure any new water going into the tank is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the aquarium.

Keep the feeding down to a minimum when treating the fish.

------------------
lots of edits, sorry. I was going thru my old posts on the forum to find the info about dose rates.
Stop buying medications and don't put anything else in the tank :)

What is metro? If it's metronidazole then that should only be used as a last resort if the fish have internal protozoan infections, unlikely in this case.

If the fish are still eating well and doing stringy white poop, then it sounds like they have intestinal worms, either thread/ round worms (capillaria/ camallanus) or tapeworms. They can have both thread worms and tapeworms at the same time. You need different medications for each type.

Praziquantel is for tapeworm, Levamisole is for thread worms. There are plenty of medications but you will have to check to see what is available near you. There are other medications with different ingredients than Praziquantel and Levamisole and they also work. Flubenol was one that was recommended 10yrs back and is meant to work.

Most deworming medications need to be used weekly for 3 weeks. This is to kill any adult worms and any eggs that hatch after the adults have been dealt with.

Tapeworms can be treated with Praziquantel. Use 100mg of Praziquantel per 20litres of water. Do a water change 24-48hours later. Then repeat the treatment a week later.
You can also crush Praziquantel up into a powder and mix it into some frozen (but defrosted) fish food. Then feed the fish as much as they can eat. Use 1 tablet of Praziquantel for 1-2 heaped tablespoons of frozen food. Repeat after a week.

Levamisole hydrochloride is available in 3 concentrations. The lowest concentration is for birds/ poultry, the middle strength is for sheep and the strongest concentration is for cattle. You use different dose rates depending on which strength you start out with. The dose rate for bird/ poultry is the one you will need to find because that is the Levamisole you currently have.

Levamisole Hydrochloride is fine with all fish including catfish, loaches and other scaleless fish.

You must do a partial (50% or more) water change 24 hours later otherwise small fish like neon tetras start to have problems and become nervous and skittish. If you still don't do a water change then the small fish might start to die after a few days. But as long as you do a partial water change 24 hours later they will all be fine.

Levamisole is available in different concentrations. Depending on which concentration you have will determine how much you use.
Pretty sure the one I used was for sheep and contains 32g/l of Levamisole, and I use 5ml of that per 10litres of tank water.

I think the birds/poultry medication has 16mg/l of Levamisole. If yes, then you will need to use 10ml of the Levamisole per 10litres of tank water.

------------------------
re: The acara with its protruding anus. Are there any thin white, red or grey filaments hanging out its butt? If yes, then these are thread worms. If no, then the fish might simply be getting ready to breed. They have an ovipositor (thin tube used to lay eggs or sperm) that pops out shortly before they breed. It will retract after they have bred. If it has been out for a week then it is not breeding and most likely internal problems like worms.

------------------------
To work out the volume of water in the aquarium:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

When you measure the height of the tank, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

Remove any carbon in the tank/ filter before treating and throw the old carbon away. carbon will absorb medication including dewormer.

Do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean before treating. And 24-48 hours after treating do another 75% water change and complete gravel clean.
Make sure any new water going into the tank is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the aquarium.

Keep the feeding down to a minimum when treating the fish.

------------------
lots of edits, sorry. I was going thru my old posts on the forum to find the info about dose rates.


Hi thsnk you for you reply . I used metroplex. The praziquantel I used fluke solve 1g powder for 250 litres and I treated again 4 days later.
The acara has had a sunen belly since I had him and a protruding anus since had him. Think 4 months or over. Sometimes he does have the odd little white or red bits sticking out. But not very far . The others bellies are are ok but i dont see them all poo much and they have white stringy bits sometimes. Because I've tried everything and wgat ive read about camallanous worms I do think the acara has them but hey I'm not a professional so not sure. But I've gotta try. I read wasting away, protruding anus and rock like poos can be symtoms plus the bits sticking out but i have read and watched u tube videos that fish dont always have the bits sticking out. Ive found couple of posts of people using harkers harka verm and dosage. So I've done it. My heart was pounding. I'e had this for 2 months but dardent as scard to over dose. I'e put in 35ml for 250 litres. I' watching my fish like a hawk. Like do keep flicking every so often like somethings irritating them. Hoping its worms that are irritated and not bad side effect. I' ready to empty tank if need to. Thry seem ok though so far touch wood. Thanks for your help. Maria
 
For anyone in the UK, eSHa-ndx contains levamisole, and you don't need to work out the dose, just follow the instructions.

Of the meds in Mazzamoos' list, he/she has already used levamisole (eSHa-ndx), praziquantel (eSHa gdx), flubendazole (Kusuri wormer plus) and piperazine (Sterazin)


Mazzamoo - did you do a second dose of the wormer treatments, as recommended with most of them?
Hi thsnk you for your reply. I did do second doses. I followed nstructions.. I've been wanting to try levamisole for ages but been to scard but felt deep down from reading on internet thats what they needed. Well defo the acara. I just want to get him saved and fat again. He came to me like it from the lfc and been battling he whole time. My 3 fish are beautiful and getting big. I got the acara, ekectric blue jack dempsey and a elliot fish. Oh and a bristle nose. Thanks for your help.
 
can you post a couple pictures of the acara?

Fish twitching every now and then is not worms. It can be external parasites or chemicals. Considering what you have tried, I would say chemicals are just irritating them a bit. A few pictures can help in fish health issues.

How big is your tank and how much rock/ wood do you have in it?

The dose you said you used for Praziquantel is lower than what I use. Are you sure you are treating for the correct amount of water?

Do you have carbon in a filter running on the tank? If yes the carbon will absorb medication and prevent it working as effectively or at all.

Another option is the acara is simply a dud and has had the problem since it hatched. However, the other fish do stringy white poop too so there is a problem in the tank.

How often do you feed them and what do you feed them?
 
can you post a couple pictures of the acara?

Fish twitching every now and then is not worms. It can be external parasites or chemicals. Considering what you have tried, I would say chemicals are just irritating them a bit. A few pictures can help in fish health issues.

How big is your tank and how much rock/ wood do you have in it?

The dose you said you used for Praziquantel is lower than what I use. Are you sure you are treating for the correct amount of water?

Do you have carbon in a filter running on the tank? If yes the carbon will absorb medication and prevent it working as effectively or at all.

Another option is the acara is simply a dud and has had the problem since it hatched. However, the other fish do stringy white poop too so there is a problem in the tank.

How often do you feed them and what do you feed them?


I treated right dose for prazi. I know lfc do treat double or triple doses so could try higher dose if it doesn't work. They all seem ok right now. Active. I put lights on for the pictures but keeping lights off for the treatment as it's sensitive to light. I'e got no carbon. I use seachem purigen but that' out. There is nothing on outside a of the fish thats visible. There not flicking on rocks etc. I'l see how this goes. Ill do big water change after 25 hours and siphon well. If i dont see any worms then prob not worth doing again as the worms paralyze and come out so will see them at some point if it' that. If not I'll look at doing higher prazi. Ill try add pics but saying to ouc so need to figure it Thanks maria
 
Hope these photos have worked. Thanks
 

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can you post a couple pictures of the acara?

Fish twitching every now and then is not worms. It can be external parasites or chemicals. Considering what you have tried, I would say chemicals are just irritating them a bit. A few pictures can help in fish health issues.

How big is your tank and how much rock/ wood do you have in it?

The dose you said you used for Praziquantel is lower than what I use. Are you sure you are treating for the correct amount of water?

Do you have carbon in a filter running on the tank? If yes the carbon will absorb medication and prevent it working as effectively or at all.

Another option is the acara is simply a dud and has had the problem since it hatched. However, the other fish do stringy white poop too so there is a problem in the tank.

How often do you feed them and what do you feed them?


I treated right dose for prazi. I know lfc do treat double and triple doses so could try higher dose if it doesn't work. They all seem ok right now. Active. I put lights on for the pictures but keeping lights off for the treatment as it's sensitive to light. I'e got no carbon. I use seachem purigen but that' out. There is nothing on outside a of the fish thats visible. There not flicking on rocks etc. I'l see how this goes. Ill do big water change after 25 hours and siphon well. If i dont see any worms then prob not worth doing again as the worms paralyze and come out so will see them at some point if it' that. If not I'll look at doing higher prazi. Thanks
 

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what are you feeding the fish and how much and how often do you feed them?
 
what are you feeding the fish and how much and how often do you feed them?


Sorry I forgot to say that. I alternate between hikari cichlid excel medium pellet. I soak them first and new life spectrum cichlid formula and flake like terra pro energy multi crisp. Try not to use blood worm and read not good for electric blue jack. I'e got frozen food but seems to snall for them all and it flies all over tank. I feed twice a day. But not lots jist msje sure tgey all get abit.
 
You could try raw fish or prawn. Buy some and keep it frozen. When its feeding time, defrost one, remove the shell and pull the head off. Then use a pr of scissors to cut the prawn or fish into small bite size pieces and offer a few bits at a time. Feed as much as they can eat then throw the remains in bin and wash up with soapy water. That's in addition to their normal food.

You can add the deworming medication to frozen food and let it soak for a minute and feed the fish with the medicated food. It might work better than dosing the tank.

------------------
Theoretically, if you are using sufficient medication for the volume of water (including any external filters) and it is not working, then either the problem is not worms or the medication is dodgy.
Have you checked the expiry dates on the medications?
Does the petshop keep the medication in a fridge, in the warm fish room, or on the shelves in the cool part of the shop? Heat and humidity causes medication to break down much quicker than cold & dry conditions, and if the stock is in a warm area it might be causing the medication to become ineffective.
You mention the medication is damaged by light, if it's in a light coloured container and kept in a bright section of the shop, that could cause it to break down too.
 

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