Bit the bullet - levamisole flatworm treatment

[Alberta-newb]

Well it's been over 24 hours and my treatment may end up with one casualty This morning my streamlined rabbit "the brown trout" was looking pale and very listless, I also observed the foxface "Fluffy" capitalizing on the situation and harrasing him endlessly. Following some good advice I put a mirror in the tank to distract the foxface, this worked but by this afternnon the streamlined was looking worse, spending most of his time just laying on his side. I believe I stressed him out to much with all the mucking around last night, the 30% WC, and the toxicity of dead flatworms may have been to much for him. I moved him to a hospital tank after work today and I have seen some improvement but he's far from out of the woods. Fingers crossed I didn't kill him

Other than this problem, everything else is looking good. All corals are opened up, rest of the fish look fine, and even the snails pulled through (often a casualty with levamisole treatment). I can also confirm my pistol shrimp is alive and well and even engaged in a tug of war with me over a piece of krill today.

Bryan: I bought my levamisole from a killifish keeper in the states (used in FW tanks against parasitic worms at much higher dosages?) It now appears that it is getting near imposible to locate as it has been pulled from the shelves as a pig/sheep dewormer. Had my local vet try and get some without luck. It turns out it is going through human trials as some type of immuno modifier. Guess the drug companies figure they can earn a lot more from a few pills, then bottles full to farmers.

Pan & Borderjumper: Indeed I would like to have gone "natural" but I think my flatworm problem was too big and a single fish couldn't have kept up with the population explosion that was going on. I was looking into a coris wrasse at one time but had decided against any wrasses as they would be pod competitors for the mandarin I was hoping to get in the future. I hadn't gotten a mandarin yet as all advice says to wait untill your tank is well established and my reef has only been up 9-10 months...sigh..real bad timing.

On a positive note I was looking in my fuge today and can still see lots of pods so they came through ok as well. I should also note that I cannot see any flatworms anywhere so far.

Will keep you posted on long term results.

[Pan]

Sorry to hear fluffy is being bad, he only ever harassed my Atlantic blue tang defensively, he never initiated anything, but he was the only rabbitfish in my tank. Good to hear the flatworms are going/gone though

[Alberta-newb]

Originally Posted by Pan

Sorry to hear fluffy is being bad, he only ever harassed my Atlantic blue tang defensively, he never initiated anything, but he was the only rabbitfish in my tank. Good to hear the flatworms are going/gone though

Can't blame Fluffy, he's just doing what fish do! I've heard this many times that once a fish comes down ill, tankmates will be quick to finish it off. Natures own defence mechanism, "if it's got a disease..kill it quick before we get it too!" Not looking good now, will be surprised if he makes it through the night..and I though he was the toughest in the tank, certainly was the biggest.

Indeed, at least the flatworm horror is over.....I think

[Pan]

So next time someone sneezes on the bus I know what to do

[Chin_Lee]

Hey guys/gals
Found a source for Levamisole
http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/ItemsForSale.html
The prices are as follows:
$10.00 for 5 grams of the 100% powder,
2x 5 grams @ $15.00
3x 5 grams @ $18.00
4x 5 grams @ $22,
5x 5 grams @ $27.50

In Bulk, not packaged to treat:
100 grams is $110.00,
200 grams @ $190.00
300 grams @ $ 280.00,
500 grams @ $450.00.

He ships to Canada too but at higher shipping costs.
Enjoy killing your flatworms. I know I will be!!!!!!

[Chin_Lee]

Well I'm glad I got wind of this thread and a couple of weeks ago I bought my Levamisole from http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/ItemsForSale.html
Prices are very reasonable and I purchased a bulk amount that will be a lifetime supply for me.

I did my first application by
a) mixing 5 grams with 500 ml of RODI water.
b) siphoned out as much of the flatworms that I could see first.
c) shut off my sump return pump ( i didn't have any flatworms in my sump with inline skimmer and filter bags)
d) poured in 250 ml into a 165 gallon tank (1.5 ml of medication per gallon of tank water)
e) I turned on a canister of carbon in a phosphate reactor
f) within about 2-3 minutes the flatworms are hanging by a thread to the substrate. With the powerheads on, they released the thread about a minute later and start floating.
g) I put a Mag12 into the tank with a hose on the output. The I placed the other end of the hose into a filter bag on the side of the tank and turned on the the mag 12. Basically the Mag12 sucked out 90% of the floating flatworms into the filterbag and the water returns into the tank without the worms. This process doesn't stop the toxins but takes out the flatworms.

Best of all, no fish casualties! Its only day 5 after the treatment. I plan to add multiple supplemental doses at the same rate of 1.5 ml/gallon on day 10, day 20 and day 30.

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[Myka]

I wonder if they have to start decomposing before they release toxins or whether they actually do start releasing toxins immediately upon death...?

[JDigital]

Dosed my tank tonight... what a load of work that is... LOTS of worms died, but I also siphoned for the past 3 days. 20G water change, Carbon, and sump is back up and going with a filter sock to catch the worms I missed with the siphon/WC.

We'll see how the tank looks for the next few days.

EDIT:
1 hour later, my PBT and Foxface are huddling under a rock... SPS has little to no polyp extension, zoas are half out, rest of the fish are swimming around as normal... kinda odd... but prepping another batch of WC water for tomorrow...

[Chin_Lee]

Hello everyone, just wanted to update on my tank status after my levamisole treatement. Its coming up to seven months and I have not had any flatworms return to my system.
I"M FLATWORM FREE FOR SEVEN MONTHS!!! For those who have this problem, I strongly suggest getting some levamisole. I've tried Flatworm Exit 5 times (probably spent close to $150-200 on Flatworm Exit in the past 6 years when I had up to 800g water volume a few years ago) and the flatworms always returned. I knew this stuff would kill the flatworms but I was skeptical about it on the long term. So far so good.

I do have extra if you are in a pinch and not wanting to get it shipped so PM me if you want some.

[Myka]

That's great Chin Lee! I'm going to start dipping all my incoming corals in Levamisole.

In the hunt for Levamisole, has anyone come across any liquid Levamisole? If so, please PM me.