In answer to those questions, the levamisole hydrochloride is a godsend, my biggest complaint being the effort required in locating the stuff. Nothing else worked for me, even fish food containing levamisole.

The dosage settled upon was 5g per 100 gallons. Easiest way to administer (IMO) is to dissolve the medication in a cupful of tank water and then add it directly to the tank (make sure all carbon filtration has been removed, first).

After medicating I noticed a change within a few days; there were live, pink worms in the tank and what worms were protruding from the vents were "dehydrated" looking - thinner and kinked up. Within a week no worms whatsoever, and within 2 to 2 1/2 weeks no more deaths related to camallanus.

Because I had such a bear of a time finding it, I'd like to post a couple of links that may be helpful to others (or myself in the future when I've lost all my bookmarks... again...).

The first place I ordered from was PBS Animal Health, but I got irritated when they e-mailed me a day after the whole ordering process and told me the stuff was back-ordered. Additionally the levamisole is in a tablet, which means you get binders along with medication - not a big deal but something some might want to keep in mind.

So I turned to Valley Vet. I received shipment within a few days and had more than enough for all three tanks (and it's in a powder form that dissolves quickly).

Both the above sites are located in the U.S., I haven't had much luck locating anything in Canada.

Hopefully this information will be of use to someone else who may be pulling out their hair! ;)

Thanks again to all for the advice I received here! Everyone was very helpful!

The role of the Levamisole is to paralyze the Nematode and thus to kill it. The fish then needs to pass the dead worms. The Levamisole in the tank will kill all the stages of the Nematode as long as it is there in sufficient quantity. It takes only 36 hours to kill 99% of the worms both inside and free in the tank. The remaining living Nematodes can reinfect everything very soon given the opportunity.

Once you have managed to really do in the infestation, it is time to flush the septic tank. I don't mean a 20% water change twice a week. That reaches an equilibrium with the tank trash and really never gets rid of everything.

In the treatment I try to get the owner to understand that after the treatment is done they need to change ALL of the water. This removes the dead Nematodes, the dead other things and helps to reestablish good living conditions within the tank environment. One does not kill the bacteria and protozoa attached to the plants, walls and gravel with a water change and I wouldn't advocate a complete tank cleaning because there will be a recycling time and the fish keeper is putting the fish through a lot of stress.

 Change the water, all of it and then lets see what is left of the strange visitors in the tank.

The dead worms in the gut of the fish are the greatest cause of loss of fish after treatment. I am watching a young man now in CA with a Cichlid tank struggling with this. The Nematodes are dead but the fish are really having a hard time of it. Their guts are so full of dead clinging things they are rotting inside the fish. Bacteria, septicemia, gas bloating - all the nastiest one can think of.  Feeding the fish lots of live foods will generally move the stuff through the gut. Newly hatched brine shrimp is my best remedy for these small fishes.

Five grams of Levamisole will treat 100 gallons. Dose accordingly. Charles tried overdosing and it didn't hurt the fish, partly because anthelmintics will only dissolve to a certain strength, varying by medicine.

I realize we have so darn many entries in the Immediate Help section on Camallanus (it is the biggest section there), it is unwieldy. If you had had the time to read them, most of your questions would be answered and this space could be used to follow up the inevitable questions, which arise as we are treating internal worms.

By the way, Jungle's Internal Parasite med, according to PeterW, has an anthelmintic. If the meds are listed as eliminating flukes and the like, they just about have to have an anthelmintic in there. Don't know why companies are so hush-hush about contents. Probably trying to dazzel us peasents.

I can't believe the parade of worms in your tanks! Some may be even tapeworms. They shouldn't continue to live in the water if your dosage is correct. Um... you don't have activated carbon in a filter taking the medicine out almost as fast as you are adding it, do you?

No knowing what all those worms are, I don't know if they will survive w/o fish. Free swimming young Camallanus last less than a day w/o new hosts.

People in SE Asia, who sometimes eat raw or under cooked freshwater fish, have been parasitized by Camallanus cotti. (I was warned off from collecting in freshwater in Hawaii, in part because of cotti in their streams.) As the Immediate Help stuff notes, those people can be treated with anthelmintics, including Levamisole. (Small world!) If the worms were merely stunned, the dosage was inadequate.

Virtually all medicines were originally developed to help humans. Sometimes they were developed to help animals in commercial agricultural operations. I'm not a medical person, nor a fish pathologist, but would guess that none were originally developed to treat tropical fish.

Keep your children's fingers out of your aquariums if the kids are included to put fingers in their mouths. If they have been in the water and put fingers in mouths, please consult your pediatrician or family doctor!

Treat your snails and ghost shrimp or destroy them. If equipment was in a tank, leave it there for treatment or isolate it where there are no aquatic animals (fish, crustaceans, snails and other potential hosts) for a couple of days.

If your fry were in the tank with the adult guppies when the Camallanus were extending from the vents, they are infected. Treat them now or lose them in about three months. This is all explained in the Immediate Help stuff.

You shouldn't have to dose more than once, though I too might dose a second time.

If you are uncertain about the gravel (which can insulate residents somewhat) boil the stuff or toss it. Years ago my lady bought me a coated soup pot for boiling certain fish tank related items (gravel, peat moss, spawning mops...) That kept the fish goop out of her cookware. And it kept dish soap out of the aquariums. ;)

Hope this is useful. If you have time (On a weekend? With kids? Ha!) check out those other threads on Camallanus. Almost all of your original questions (except for the flood of worms in the tank) are dadressed there. You very probably will have follow-up questions and they will be dealt with as to the best of our ability. :)