Levamisole

[Teitelbaum]

My neighbour gave me a bottle of Levamisole 100gm. for free and recommanded to treat all my fish to rid the source of the infestation and most of my fish now are carriers of nematode worms. He cannot tell me how to use it due to some code of his profession. Can someone show me methods of adminstration and the correct dosage if mix in food. Thanks.
Earl.

[Barb Newell]

Hi Earl, there is some info here.

http://www.koivet.com/html/articles/articles_details.php?article_id=37

Barb

[Teitelbaum]

Tanks Barb: The article is not much help to me. How much is 0.01%. How much do I need to add for 4oz. of food.?? gm. How much is o.5ppm related to gallon of water. How much should I put in a 65gal tank and how long should I treat the fish with the medication?.Much appreciated.
Earl.

[Chinaman]

i came across a web page that tell you how to calculate ppm, but i can't remember from where.

"Here's the secret formula for determining treatments in PPM "Parts Per Million"
.00378 grams in 1 gallon of water equals 1 ppm
So if you need to treat 300 gallons at 15 ppm, .00378 times 15 (ppm) times total gallons, 300 equals 17.01 grams.
If you are treating at a very low level and need a very small amount of a product, such as .001 grams, take a gram of the product, dilute it into 1000 mls of water and then take 1 ml of that solution. That will contain the .001 gram! No need to buy a really expensive scale."

[Teitelbaum]

For a 65 gal at 0.5ppm ---0.0378 x 0.5ppm x 65gal =1.2285gm. Is it correct? That's a very powerful meds. I have 100 gm. That's good for 5291gal. Thanks Chinaman. I'll go ahead for the treatment.
What is the duration of the treatment? 1 day or more? As my friend told me make sure to repeat in 7 days when the eggs hatch.
Earl.

[shalu]

The instruction I used was 1/4 teaspoon per 20gallon.

[Teitelbaum]

What do I expect to see during treatment. Will they stop eating? Should I feed them? Will the water stay clear? How long should I keep them in the treated water? Too many questions......
Earl.

[Teitelbaum]

I've just killed a RSG. Put 0.2gm of Levamisol in a 15 gal. which is under my calculation of the 65gal. Put in a RSG which is passing white feces. Went for dinner and a glass of red wine. Came and check the fish and he was dead. did I do anything wrong?. The label is 99% pure Levamisol.
maybe I should put in food instead. 0.1% is 1gm per kg. of beefheart?? right?.
Earl.

[Multiclone]

Hi Earl,
Sorry about the fish.
I am using levamisol for all de-worming of my fish ( thanks Al ). Dose rate is 2 ppm ( 2mg per ltr ) for 24 hours repeat 2 weeks later.
I have used it on fry without any problems. Your 15 gal tank holds approx 60 ltrs water = 120mg levamisol. It is fairly mild on fish they will go off eating a little while being treated but quickly recover. I doubt that the 200mg you dosed your fish with killed them.
How did you weigh out the 200mg.

Geoff

[brewmaster15]

Hi Earl,
that med is very powerful, and should be used very carefully. Most Discus will tolerate up to 6ppm as a 24 hour bath unless they are weak or very ill. ..the reccommended dose is usually 2ppm bath 24 hours. Loss of appetite is common.

A note on that medicine is it kills many worms , even those not in the intestinal track...this can lead to internal infections where worms are decomposing.

Please tell me exactly how you measured and dosed the med to that RSG. .2 grams is 200mg...

thanks,
al

ps..

I would also reccommend checking out this article in our websites Library...

http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/disease_medications/internal/nematodes.shtml


For intestinal nematode infections of ornamental fish, several anthelminthics (dewormers) are available. Two effective and commonly used dewormers are fenbendazole and levamisole. Fenbendazole can only be used as a feed additive at the rate of 1.14 grams per pound of food fed for three days, with a repeat treatment in two to three weeks. Levamisole can be used both in the feed and as a bath treatment. One effective oral dose is 1.8 grams of levamisole per pound of food fed once a week for three weeks. One effective bath treatment dose is 2 ppm (mg/liter) levamisole for 24 hours, with a repeat treatment in two to three weeks. However, be sure to consult with a fish health specialist before commencing any treatment and always follow their recommendations.

[brewmaster15]

whoops Geoff..didn't see your post :)

-al

[shalu]

I just realized I way overdozed based on "1/4 tsp per 20gallon", that's about 10ppm! I got 20grams and I measured about 2 tablespoon. Well, all my fish look ok, although they all quit eating for now. Now I know why ::)

[Teitelbaum]

Al:I used a Macdonald's coffee spoon which measures 0.08gm x 2 in a 15 gal. The adult RSG has been weak and passing out white cotton like substance for the last 3 months ever since I got him. Hasn't been eating properly for months. The recurrent infestation will never stop and that's why my neighbour recommanded to treat the whole system and every single fish with Levamisol. Last evening was just a trial run and ended up with a dead fish. I put him in the 15 gal. He extended all his fins fully that normally clamped and folded. After 5 min. He swam quickly dashing a bit. So I went for dinner and found him dead after half an hour. The dosage is over 2ppm.

It seems like my calculation is wrong for the 0.5ppm.(0.0378 x ppm xgal of water)Resulted 1.23 gm per 65 gal.

Based on your 2ppm. It's approx. 500mg in 65 gal. I have doubled the dosage. In addition with his weakened position. He was unable to tolerate the medication that had caused his death. I will try again in a reduced doasge today and see what happen. I have over 50 fish passing white feces on and off non-stop. Keep bugging my neighbour constantly until he got fed up with me and gave me the bottle without instructions. I was wondering if he wants me to kill all my fish with it and get rid of me for good. ;D. just kidding. he is a good guy.Thanks again.

One more question. Does it affact the bio-filter in my central system? Should I by-pass the filter when I'm treating the whole system approx. 500 gal.

Earl.

[brewmaster15]

Hi Earl,
The biofilter will not be affected. This medication is specific for worms, not bacterias.

If you have a bad worm problem.. be prepared, you may lose fish to internal infections and bloating caused by dead worms inside the fishes body tissues.


I might suggest trying something like piperzine first if you are sure that capillaria is the problem.

How do you know thatn worms are an issue in your tanks?

Good luck,
al

[Teitelbaum]

Hi Al:It's been an ongoing proglem since day one I have discus and it has been a a couple of years. Every single fish will go through series of hunger strikes with white fluffy feces. I have at least 2 -3 fish in the hospital tank every week for that problem. Soon after they have recovered and will go on hunger strike again within a month. I've never had a day without seeing white fluffy substance lying at the bottom of the tank when I siphone the debris. It's very frustrating until my neighbour who is an expert in tropical fish suggested that I should clean out the whole system and continue doing it once every 2-3 weeks for at least 3 months to clear out the nematodes eggs. That's the route I'm taking now and it's a do or die situation before I quit discus altogether.
Earl