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Hi All!
After a long hiatus from my fish and plants, my interest has been re-sparked.

Let me explain:
Several months ago (well, almost a year), I discovered that most of the angels, tetras, gouramis, and catfish in my 100g planted tank had become infested with red worms (camellanus?). This happened to coincide with the complete remodeling of our kitchen and bathrooms (which took 3-4 months), which left me without an easy way to do my regular water changes. Also at the same time, I also became the reluctant parent of 2 red-eared slider turtles, which I have since completely fallen in love with.

But back to the fish...
I tried treating the fish with the only readily-available internal parasite medicine (it's from Jungle) I knew of. It didn't work. Many people on this forum suggested I track down something called Levamisol, which I did, but never ordered it. Wish I had, because I've lost most of my fish to these red worms. As of now, I only have one angel, 3 tetras, and 1 oto left. And only the oto and the angel seem to be worm-free, whereas the 3 tetras look & act heathy, but are definitely infected.

So I have several questions:
1) Should I immediately remove and euthanize the 3 infected tetras?
2) I want to get a new community of fish established, but only if I could make it completely safe for them. Assuming that I remove the infected tetras, and assuming that the angel and oto are indeed uninfected, is it safe to add new fish (can red worms survive without fish in the tank)?
3) I believe the red worms were introduced by either the tetras, or a pair of golden wonder killis, both bought from reputable fish stores. How, in the future, can I prevent new additions from bringing in these horrible red worms?
4) If the only way to get a new community of fish established in this tank is to treat it with levamisol, could someone give me a brief step-by-step of the process? I know the temp. needs to be at a specific setting, and I think also the pH, but I don't remember what. Is it safe to treat a planted tank?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I'm not great help when it comes to these worms, but there are several other posts in this forum about them. Maybe the tips from the more enlightened folks in these threads can help you.
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/10182.1.htm?9#
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/9599.1.htm?4#
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/8719.1.htm?8#
Sorry if it's a bit of a read, but the info should be helpful. I see that you'd replied in one of the posts.

You should remove and quarantine the tetras if you hope to treat and save them, otherwise euthanization is the best choice. Even that may not mean that your other fish don't get sick, however.
Sterilizing the tank would be the best option to ensure that another outbreak of worms doesn't occur, but I don't know if that's necessary. It would be a huge pain on a tank this size, that's for sure. Another person would probably know the answer to this.

The absolute best way to prevent new fish from carrying disease into the main tank is with a quarantine setup. Not only will this help to ensure that newly-purchased fish do not get your other animals sick, but diseased fish from the main tank can be removed here for quarantine and treatment. An isolation tank is very valuable indeed.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I had these worms, thankfully only in one betta, but he'd been with a few females, who in turn had been with a few males, so the whole fishroom got blitzed.

Once you SEE the worms, they are likely to have already done a good deal of damage, as their mouthpieces grip onto the innards of the fish.
If you SEE the worms, they are BREEDING so you must assume all fish in the same water are infected.

Ideally, you want levamisole/praziquantel as that covers all your bases for internal parasites (at least, at the moment)
I found a bird wormer over here that works wonderfully as it is water soluble and because the preparation has 2 drugs in it, they can be at lower strengths, so a full dose to the fish is less stressfull than a full dose of praziquantel.

levamisole will damage finer plants, but really unless you cull and bleach and toss the plants, i think its the only safe option.

Prevention? well, worm the fish before they enter your system, and make sure they stay in quarantine long enough to drop any parasites they may be carrying.


I have not heard of a specific pH or temp, but i'll go have a bit of a hunt around for it. I'm fairly certain that the drugs won't inactivate around neutral pH, but maybe a problem with alkaline? I'll google


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

If you have success in treating you fish, I encourage you (and anyone else who has battled the worms from hell) to add to the Camallanus disease profile.

I had Camallanus a couple years ago, and I tried every kind of wormer I could get my hands on. Unfortunately, none of them worked, so I ended up destroying all the infected fish as a last resort (and I treated the tank after to prevent it from spreading).

About six months later, one of my Pearl Gouramis had a single worm sticking out of her. I wasn't about to go through that whole ordeal again, so I scooped her out of the water and pulled the worm out. I know that's one of the worst things you can do for Camallanus, but all other infected fish died anyway so I was willing to risk it. Fortunately, the worm had not yet attached itself firmly to the gourami, and it came out very easily. None of my fish have become infected after that.

I took a picture of the extracted worm, and that's the photo that's in the profile (it's also on Pandora's Aquarium). It would be great, however, if someone could donate a picture of the worms actually sicking out the fishes' anus, so people will know what to look for.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Hi there,
I am currently working on erradicating
these worms from my 75g tank as well.
I managed to rid my 10g tank of it by
following this plan:
Large Water change with 100% of gravel vaccuumed.
Dose with Jungle Fizz AntiParasite Tabs Day 1.
Day 2 : Add Another Tab
Day 3 Another Tab
Day 4 Another Tab
Day 5: Large Water Change with 100% gravel
vaccuumed again.
Repeat twice.
This got rid of the worms.

In my 75g tank, I am currently treating with
a schedule of every 7th day a large water
change and 100% gravel vac - or as much as I
can get. These worms will live and reproduce in
the gravel, and can be carried by intermediate
hosts such as fw clams, snails, and smaller
inverts such as Cyclops and Hydra.

I am using Pure Crystalline Metronidazole
at a dose of 1 scoop (comes in the metro)
per 10g + 2 extra, every second day for 3
treatments then a water change.

I am currently watching the fish, of
the affected 3 bolivian rams, 2 pearl
gouramis, 1 rummynose tetra,
only 1 ram still has it, and 1 pearl gourami.
I have lost both the rummynose and other
affected gourami.
The gourami I lost was due to the inability
to discharge the dead/dying worms from its gut
- the most common cause of death in treated fish.
If you watch the fish carefully during treatment,
you will know treatment is working because
the worms will turn white, then disappear.
Feed every 7th day on water change a diet of
nothing but veggies (veggie flakes, spirulina,
squashed peas) to help clean any dead and dying
worms out of the fishes system.

Continue to dose meds well after the worms appear
gone, to ensure their death and not a reccurrence.

The only sure way to prevent a reccurrence
entirely is to completely strip the tank,
bleach all ornaments, boil all wood thoroughly, completely bleach out filters and dump used media,
and to euthanize any affected fish.

Treatment will work, but be sure to ensure
good gravel vac's and continue to dose meds
for at least 4 weeks after all worms appear
gone - this will kill any juvenile larvae
that may emerge from the gravel bed.
The Camallanus Worms life cycle is 31 days
from start to finish.
In a bare tank, such as a qt tank, it is
easier to treat - as the lack of gravel and
constant water changes prevent the worm from
reproducing.
If you were to Qt all your fish in a bare tank
and treat them, and treat the main tank with
no fish for the same period, the worm would be erradicated- with no intermediate host
(fish, snails, cyclops, etc),
the worm cannot complete its life cycle.

Sorry for such a long winded post,
and I do wish you the very very best of luck.



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Be careful only feeding weekly. You run the risk of reducing the fish's defences to not only the worms, but the treatment (technically a poison) and secondary infections.

I'd feed sparingly, but i'd feed more regularly.

Metronitazole is a very potent drug. Wonderful, but its very almost as debilitating as the illness/parasite, so watch how the fish handle it It does have antibiotic properties though, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about infections after the worms leave.

Have you seen this?
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamellanusTreatment.pdf
Not a bad article


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Callatya, I didnt mean to feed only
once a week, just that one day a week feed
nothing but veggies to help clear
any dead or dying worms out of the system.
I have been feeding a combination of
high protein foods and veggies,
and 3 days a week feeding GelTek Ultra Cure PX,
a gel based food enhanced with pheromones and
treated with Metronidazole, Flubenol, and Prazinquental.

As for metronidazole being a debilitating drug -
according to all sites info I can find it is a mild
drug, tolerated by most fish and inverts, is easily
removed by carbon, and almost impossible to overdose.
My discus are even tolerating it well and have
laid eggs yesterday evening.


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

Your info on metronidazole is correct with a couple of contraindictions omitted,

1)In species with no fliud or tissue barrier to the brain it will almost certainly cause brain damage, thankfully this doesnt occur with most fish,

2)it can cause infertility in a whole range of animals from fish to mammals and reptiles, but again this is not common.

Besides that its a fairly safe and commonly used drug, but be aware that all antibiotics can put a strain on the liver and kidneys, so avoid its direct use in situations where serious renal failure is an issue.Having said that most other brands of antibiotic have more impact, so this isnt a big issue.