Well then, Great news!

The major thing at this point is to get the dead worms out of the fish. They actually freeze and are paralyzed by the drug. This kills them. Once dead or at least affected by the drug they may just fall out - we hope. If that is so then there should be little problem. They don't usually shrink in size, most likely they have fallen out of the fishes.

It is time to watch the fishes and keep them well fed and active. It is good to watch the group and be ready to change water.

Good luck and keep me informed please. I would appreciate any pictures.

Charles Harrison

Hello Charles,

Thanks for your reply.  I was able to find Levamisole HCI at my local feed store, since I live in a big ranching county in Texas.  On one hand, I wish I had waited to order from you, because your prices are much cheaper than I found in town.  On the other hand, it's worth it to have begun treatment as quickly as possible, I'm not sure she would have held out until the shipment arrived.

I have begun treatment following the directions I found on your web site.  Your instructions here clear up a few points for me, thanks!  Tonight will be 48 hours into treatment.  The infested angel and the other fish in the tank are doing well.  I no longer see the worms protruding from her vent.  I understand that they may have simply withdrawn inside, so the war may not be won.  I will continue treatment per your instructions.

I have been so far unable to get a good shot of the worms.  As you know, they are tiny, and she is fast!  Also, she is in a hex shaped tank, for some reason, that glass distorts my shots.  If I do get a good shot, I will be delighted to send it on to you for use on your web page.

Thanks so much,
Dawn

----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:charles@inkmkr.com>Charles Harrison
To: Dawn
Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2005 10:31 PM
Subject: Re: camellanus coti emergency!

Dear Charles,

Hello, my name is Dawn and I was sent to you by the fine folks at Badman's Tropical Fish.

 Hello Dawn,

Sorry about the time it has taken me to get back to you.  I am just now getting back to my e-mail.   Regarding your  adult angelfish,  if there are female camellanus worms  protruding - that would indicate that the gut is probably full of the nematodes. That presents quite a problem for the fish once these nematodes are dead.  The fish will have to digest the remains of the dead nematode  or expelled them and that is very difficult for the large intestines to do since it is their primary responsibility to remove water from the feces.  We lose many more fishes to the dead parasite than any other problem.

The nematode may be spread from  tank to tank in many different ways.  It is unfortunate that this parasite is so virulent.  There  doesn't seem to be any treatment available at  the local fish stores.  As a matter of fact most of the local fish store personnel  really has no idea of the problems caused by this parasite.

The treatment for the nematodes is Levamisole HCl,  It is a water soluble compound.  5 grams  treats 100 gal. of water.  You'll want to have enough Levamisole to treat the water twice.  If you have to treat it total of  265 gal. and will probably want to treat it twice, you'll need about 30 gm.  That's gonna cost you $30.00 plus postage.  I don't want you have to chase the nematode around for several months.  The idea is to get control of the environment and manage the problem so you don't have to go back to treat the ailing fish again.

Once you treat the water with the drug and are able to kill off  the parasite, you will need to change the water, all of it.  If you haven't done a 100% water change, now is a good time to get that started.  Many aquarist change only a small portion of the water at a time. If you kill off all lot of parasites, snails, etc. you're going to have quite a bacteria over growth  and the only way to get rid of that is to change all of the water.  So get the fish used to major water changes.

 Another important issue is to keep the fish as healthy as possible.  Live food that the fish enjoy eating will help to push the dead worms through the gut. The medication  actually paralyzes the worms and this causes them to die.  if they remain hooked inside the fish's gut they're going to have to be pushed out & among the best ways to do it as to feed the fish lots of live food.

 OK, what you need to do -  give me your address to send the medication to  and I will  get 30 g  ready to ship to you on Monday.  Since one of your adult Angels  has already died it is quite likely you will not be able to save the  female.  they're just too many animals in the gut that you are going to kill and I don't think she can pass all of them.

 There is one item I would really appreciate from you,  I noticed that you're quite a photographer.  Is there any possible way you could get some pictures of your angelfishes vent and the protruding nematodes?  I have several photographs of many different fishes  but I don't have  any angelfish.

 let me hear back from you.

 Charles H.

I am emailing about my breeding pair of Angels.  I went away on vacation for a week, when I came home the male angel was dead.  Now, looking at the female closely, I see about 8 red things sticking out from her anus.  With help from the folks at Badmans it has been diagnosed at camellanus coti.  I have been told that you can and will give me advice, and that I can buy the medicine from you to try to cure my fish.  I have also been told that I need to treat all of my tanks since this worm can spread by using the same nets and the same python in all my tanks.  I have 10 tanks totalling 265 gallons of water.  One of my 10 gallon tanks has only snails, no fish, do I need to treat them as well?

Please advise me of how much medicine I need, and what the price will be.  I see you accept paypal, so please include their fees in the price.  I'm guessing that I need this med as fast as possible, so please include the fees for the fastest shipping option.

Personally, having done this dance before, I'd rather over medicate, and retreat in a few days. You've just found out why the hard way.

I'm very sorry about your fish. I hope you don't quit the hobby due to this setback.

I would guess that the Levamisole, by itself, wouldn't kill the fish unless it was in the food and was hugely overdosed. I've been lead to believe that anthelmintics are very hard to dissolve beyond a certain point. Indeed some can not really be used for fish. It is probably possible to overdose but not too likely. Your 2 grams for 30 gallons is a little stronger than Charles' "Five grams of Levamisole will treat 100 gallons," but not hugely so. (Most medications have a bit of a fudge factor.)

How big were the Camallanus worms? How long have they been making themselves obvious? Most importantly, have the fish been able to expel the dead and dying worms? If the fish were bloated, that may mean that the worms are still in them. The rotting worms could encourage the rapid multiplication of bacteria, septicemia and gas bloating. And that is so awful!

For constipation, some have recommended adding a level tablespoon of Epsom salts per 10 gallons. I guess that (mostly a magnesium compound) raises the osmotic pressure in the water to closer to the fish's systems.

If they have been able to expel the dying worms, are you able to gravel vacuum them up? Yes if you remove 20% of the water and replace it, you should also replace 20% of the treatment. However that is vastly superior to leaving worms (a very rich meat often) to rot in the tank, to suck up oxygen and to contribute to the over all ammonia load.

Probably this wasn't an issue, but were the fish regurgitating at all? I don't know if they would. They might if fed a lot and then the riot in their  digestive tract took off. I'm personally of the "feed a cold, feed a fever" school. But around fish, during treatment, except for giving them medicated food, feeding should be sparing. That isn't a time you want to worry about left over food.

This is just throwing things again the wall to see if anything sticks, but are there any missing large snails in your tank? In time, anthelminitics can be hard on them. A large dead mystery snail can be disastrous for any fish tank.

Have you kept up with your more or less weekly partial water change (ideally 25-45%)? If the fish are struggling to breath, do you have some treated water, seasoning, which you can add after removing a like portion?

Charles Harrison, who isn't feeding his fish during this time period, recommends a 100% water change with seasoned, treated water of like chemistry and temperature. If that is done quickly, much of the beneficial bacteria on the gravel, "structure" and filter will remain.

On the oxygen front, obviously we want to remove chemical filtering elements (usually activated carbon) but O2 levels are especially important. Is/are the filter(s) and or airstone still running?

Oh, when you say that you cleaned the tank really well, what did that involve? For example, sometimes we clean out filters so well that the floss is white and useless. Then there is much less bacterial breaking down of the ammonia, released by the fish just in their normal respiration.

I don't know if any of these things are of use to you. I would be glad to be wrong because I know each statement sounds so critical. If I've got problems in a tank with parasites, those are among the things I would also ask of myself. And, amazingly dotty as it sounds, if I couldn't figure anything else bothering my fish, I would keep doing partial water changes, even daily if possible.

I have rescued fish from a bad situation occasionally, even though the precise nature of the problem was never effectively identified. Kind of the TLC factor.

Good luck. I fear all aquarists, sooner or later, go through an awful situation such as your.