# Roundworms



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

Good afternoon everyone.

So, my fish have roundworms which I've been attempting to treat with a product called Praz-Tastic, at the urging of my LFS owner. So far, nothing has changed. I did a little research of my own and discovered that levamisole will take care of it. Now, the problem is, where can I find it? I've tried looking around online, but I can't find anything I would deem reliable.

Thanks!


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

This is only place I currently know of to get it with dosing instructions for fish. http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/ It is now expensive and hard to get.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

The stuff has been pretty much outlawed, so you're not gonna have much luck getting any, but I wish you all the best of it.
I managed to finally find a pharmacist about 30 miles away who can still get it, but it's not cheap. At all.

I don't know about Praz-tastic, having never heard of it, but Prazi-Pro is a reliable product.


----------



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

Why hello again. Sorry for resurrecting this topic, but I can't seem to get rid of the roundworms.

I bought Prazi-Pro about two weeks ago and have been following the instructions to the letter, but nothing seems to have changed. In fact, for about 3-4 days, it looked like they were gone, but then they came back with a vengeance, and took out a few danios along the way.

Is there anything else I can do? Or would I be better off nuking the tank and starting over?


----------



## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

Well I think getting a nuke would be harder then getting levamisole, I'm j/k but anyway's never had round worms what do they do to a fish and what causes them?


----------



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

Lol, yeah, you do have a point about the nuke. ^_^

From what I've read though, it seems like they're similar to tapeworms in that they leech nutrients. But they also have caused my fish to stop eating.

As far as where they came from, I'm still unsure.


----------



## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

You know you might get lucky and go to your local grange/farm supply store and still be able to get it, it might be under a diff name but ask them what they use to treat cows and pigs for worms, its getting hard to get cause the damn drug trade started cutting thier coke with it, same reason why you cant get yellow jackets and other energy pills with amphetamine anymore cause meth heads use it to make meth.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

you can try adding metro to food, like frozen brine shrimp. But that only works if fish will eat.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Metro = metronidazole


----------



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

Hm. Well, I'll give it a shot, but I can't guarantee that they'll eat anything. Thanks!


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If you lose all the fish, I would definitely 'nuke' and do your best to sterilize everything that has been anywhere near this tank.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Just noticed Levamisole on aquabid. http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?medications&1300494654


----------



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

Awesome, thanks for the heads-up!


----------



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

Wow, these are some hardy worms. They'll go away for a couple days then come back fighting. My koi angel has them so bad that they're sticking a 1/2 inch out of him.

I'm bidding on that levamisole, but at this point, my fiancee and I are not hopeful. We'd really rather not do it, but if the levamisole doesn't work, we've talked about nuking the tank. Obviously, we'll try to save any fish that we can, but it seems that all of the fish except the pleco has been affected.


----------



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

try a country vet.
Lev is used to worm sheep and rabbits and I don't know what else. Perhaps you might try that.


----------



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

I hate to revive this old thread, but I think I have to.

So, after the Prazi-Pro didn't really work, my LFS gave me some De-Los, as they think it's anchorworm and not roundworm. To my surprise, it's actually working. But, it also kills snails, and I had a heavy population of trumpet snails, which has caused the tank to go through a mini-cycle. My problem is that the instructions for the De-Los call for it being used for 4 weeks and they suggested not doing water changes during that timeframe. I just tested the water and ammonia is at 0, but nitrite is at 1 and nitrate was around 40. Should I do a water change?


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You have a couple of choices. Change water anyway and replace the med that got removed (you'll prob. have to buy more med). Try a ion exchange nitrite remover such as nitra-sorb and hope it it doesn't catch any med. Add an 'emergency' dose of a product that 'detoxifies' nitrite such as Prime and hope it doesn't decrease you oxygen too much. Just let it ride and let those poor fish suffer even more.

Personally, I would go with big water change including gravel washing followed by adding more med. You want to get the dead snails out as they will keep on fouling the tank.


----------



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

Awesome, thank you for the quick reply. I was definitely leaning towards the water change but wanted to run it past everyone in case it would be a terrible mistake.

Thanks again!


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

What is important is keeping the med conc. up. That is prob. why they tell you not to change water. You have to replace what you take out, so if you change 50%, you give the tank a new half dose of med.


----------



## DigzTheBeatz (Dec 6, 2010)

I hate to resurrect this but what happened? I am having the same problem myself now.


----------



## DigzTheBeatz (Dec 6, 2010)

Sorry for bringing this back up, but I am curious what happened with your tank. I am having the same issue with mine. 

I am currently using Prazi Pro, which my LFS suggested, and it doesn't look like it is working that great. Did you get the levamisole? If so, did it work? How much was it?


----------



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

Hey, sorry about taking so long to get back here. I don't have access to a computer at home until the weekend.

Anyways, go with the levamisole from Aquabid. It cleared the tank up within a week. The Prazi-Pro didn't seem to do much of anything.


----------



## DigzTheBeatz (Dec 6, 2010)

I'm using prazi-pro now and Jungle anti-parasite food, but no changes. I'm going to buy the levamisole. I found it on eBay as well. 

How much did it take and what process did you do? I've heard a few different things.


----------



## Earthsiege (Apr 20, 2010)

Well, I got mine from JoeGargas on Aquabid. I bought enough to treat 500 gallons, so I'm not sure how much that ended up being. He actually slapped the instructions on the bottle that he sent me. I'll type out what he put:

"Levamisole HCL: The product is in the bottle and is pre-measured to treat 500 gallons of aquarium water. Fill the bottle to the shoulder (white dot) with distilled or R/O water. Treat at 4 drops per gallon. Keep the lights off and 36-48 hours later, do a 25% water change. Refrigerate after use!"

It worked well though. I was impressed. Also, if you have a big tank like I do, I suggest you google how many drops are in a tablespoon. I'll be damned if I was actually going to count out 400 drops, lol.

Good luck with your fish!


----------



## DigzTheBeatz (Dec 6, 2010)

I got my levamisole, but it's a powder in a packet. I'll have to look online to see what dosage I need. I know I saw it somewhere. Wish me luck!


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

5 grams treats 100 gallons

Of course, this assumes your product has the same amount of active ingredient.


----------



## DigzTheBeatz (Dec 6, 2010)

I've heard a few different amounts. I've tried and it's not working. I have already lost several fish. I have some Panacur coming in the mail to try next. Someone online who tried it said it actually kills the worms instead of just paralyzing them. It will also kill all the snails in my tank, but my fish are more important.


----------

