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Levamisole Hydrochloride killed our fish | 23 comments (23 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Another probably irrelevant thought. Was there (none / 0) (#17)
by Scott Lockwood on Thu Apr 26, 2007 at 08:05:37 PM PST

Are those 0's accurate? I've never seen a cycled tank with no Nitrate/Nitrites. Were the fish stressed by a recent water change before treatment? The PH is ok, but is perhaps a tad higher than I'd want. The hardness looks okish, but I wonder - does your filter work by deionization? If so, valuable minerals are lost. The water becomes 'hungry'.

I can only guess, since I don't have water or fish corpses to examine, but I think that the sudden shock to the system of killing the worms may have just been too much for the poor little guys. I think your math is a little on the high side, but within norms. I really should make clear that the math I was doing was for my specific tank - you should do your own math every time to make sure you're dosing correctly, don't rely on someone else's figures.

If this happened after only 1/2 an hour of treatment, I can't imaging that it was actually the medication that killed the fish. Where did the water come from that the meds were dissolved in? Was the process of dissolving them simple agitation, or was the solution heated? Blended? Was the water used seasoned? Where did you get the meds, and in what form? Are those water test figures before you put the meds in the tank, or after? The difference between the two could also be telling. What was the medication physically mixed in, and how well was it cleaned? Could there have been any contaminant in the preparation?

We may never know exactly what happened. Sometimes, the best solution is to put down the fish, and bleach everything, dechlorinate it a week later, and start over. It sucks, but it always works. :-(

"I love to visit PetSmart's Tropical Fish Dept. to see what new diseases are around today." -- inkmaker
[ Parent ]



Re: Another probably irrelevant thought. Was there (none / 0) (#22)
by Katastic01 on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 07:00:21 AM PST

I had the water tested at our LFS so I trusted the numbers were correct.  The kid that did it may  have read/written it incorrectly.  I have a canister filter that just runs the water through sponge and carbon.  It's nothing too fancy.

As for the fish, we made the decision to put them down.  They just aren't doing all that well.  Between the Camallanus and the medication I think it's just been too much for them to live a healthy, normal life.  Especially since the treatment, when done correctly, is very stressful to them.  The expelling of the worms is hard on them, and even if they expel some of the worms, they may not get them all out.  All these things are painful for the fish.  I would rather they go peacefully and quickly than going after a lifetime of pain.  They were good little fish.  

I appreciate all of your time and help.  This was the only place I could go to even begin trying to fix the problem.   No one at the fish stores I went to had even heard of Camallanus.  They either shrugged at me or started telling me to buy a bunch of different medications just hoping one would work.  I was in over my head when this whole thing hit.  I will start over and am going to work closely with our LFS (not Petsmart) to get it done correctly.  I am going to spend today getting the tank torn down and cleaned out.  Maybe my next problem will be finding out who wants guppy fry.  

Thanks again.  I will be checking in daily to read up on the latest news.  

[ Parent ]



I can sure understand your frustration and (none / 0) (#23)
by unclescott on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 08:44:29 AM PST

sadness of watching those adult guppies struggle so. And we do sometimes have to figure when the cost is way beyond reasonable (sez the man whose wife took a gerbil to the vet's.)

Note that the guppies would have died anyway without treatment. So would have the fry.

I have been wondering about an aged guppy female I was given. She never did drop (rats!), has obviously been aging beyond whem she could have fry and has had her own small tank for months. I toyed with the idea of putting her in a jar with a little dissolved clove oil and anesthetizing her. Evidently a little drinking alcohol is needed to dissolve the clove oil and that is the more often recommended approach these days, though a quick blow to the head (unpalatable for many folks) or leaving the tank out on a very cold night is still ok by Terry Fairfield.

I kept her and even fed her live food the evening before she died Saturday. Her's was such a gorgeous strain (red delta and red-albino delta), that is why I took her in. I do regret that she never dropped.

If your guppy fry were with the adults when they were treated, they should be fine. They probably had tiny, larval Camallanus within them and those should have been successfully treated. You may find fry hard to give away. Most people prefer that you do the work of raising them to a more attractive stage. ;)

If you can do a near tear-down and keep the fry in the tank, they should thrive. (Or tear the tank down, keep the gravel wet and return the fry with some treated, seasoned water. Feed lightly at first. A few growing plants will absorb most ammonia given off by a few fry.) Just add as nearly as much treated and seasoned water as is in there each day or two until it is full. I know that doesn't do your HOB filter much good. Just rinse it out and leave it for now.

And while fry are not nearly as interesting by themselves as adult guppies, they would thrive in a larger aquarium than we many times give them. And there is a wonder in watching them mature.

In a month the females wild begin showing their gravid spots. Not too long afterwards little males will court and pester them. In a couple of months more they will be maturing into adult "millions fish." You may recognize young males reminiscent of those lost. That may salve some of the stress you have gone through recently. After all of the research, work and asking around, you deserve nice things happening in an aquarium. :)

[ Parent ]



Levamisole Hydrochloride killed our fish | 23 comments (23 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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