Parasitic Nematode Treatment

[mh0ward]

Hi everyone, I recently lost a blenny that up until a couple of weeks ago was doing really well, then suddenly became very skinny, white stringy poop, then died within the next week. I have just noticed the past couple of poops from my male clownfish has also been white and stringy, so I syphoned it up as soon as it “let go” and looked at it under microscope. There were indeed nematodes within the feces/mucus.
This morning he had white stringy poop again and I was able to also get that sample before it could hit the sand bed, and same thing, nematodes.

So now I have some questions about treatment. It’s obvious now that there are parasitic nematodes in the tank. I’m aware of Fenbendazole as a treatment, but I’ve also read that it will kill other inverts such as snails and shrimp. I’ve also read that it will absorb into the rock work and take months to break down, so basically no inverts up to 6 months if I treat the main tank… not really something I want to do. Another option I’m weighing is to put the clowns in a separate, mostly empty tank, and treat with Fenbendazole there. But my concern there is that, although it might help rid them of current parasites, would they just become infested again once I put them back in the main tank? Or will their immune systems somehow fight them off once they’re healthy again? Is there maybe something else I can consider that would help within the main tank? I’ve read that Epsom salt might be effective, has anyone tried that and had success with these parasites? Right now it feels like any livestock that I might put in the tank would be at risk . Thanks in advance.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

mh0ward Welcome to the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Forum!

The #fishmedic team and other knowledgeable members of our community will do our best to help you resolve your questions. Please provide as much of the following as you are able:

• Brief description of the issue you are observing and answers to the following questions:
  • How long have you had the fish with the condition?
  • Did you quarantine with medication when you first acquired the fish? (If Yes, which medication?)
• Current water quality measurements
• Clear photos of the issue taken using WHITE light and/or a short video of any behaviors (post in your response or on YouTube).

If you can help us by providing as much of the above info as possible, it will make diagnosing and providing recommendations for treatment MUCH easier! The Fish Medic team will get back to you as quickly as possible. In the meantime, other members of our community may also share their experience with similar situations and advice that they may have regarding your situation.

You may also feel free to provide a more detailed description of the condition if you wish to share more info than the above list.

Additionally, these links may be useful while you await a response:

• CURRENT QT PROTOCOL LINK
• HOW TO ASK FOR DISEASE DIAGNOSIS HELP LINK

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi everyone, I recently lost a blenny that up until a couple of weeks ago was doing really well, then suddenly became very skinny, white stringy poop, then died within the next week. I have just noticed the past couple of poops from my male clownfish has also been white and stringy, so I syphoned it up as soon as it “let go” and looked at it under microscope. There were indeed nematodes within the feces/mucus.
This morning he had white stringy poop again and I was able to also get that sample before it could hit the sand bed, and same thing, nematodes.

So now I have some questions about treatment. It’s obvious now that there are parasitic nematodes in the tank. I’m aware of Fenbendazole as a treatment, but I’ve also read that it will kill other inverts such as snails and shrimp. I’ve also read that it will absorb into the rock work and take months to break down, so basically no inverts up to 6 months if I treat the main tank… not really something I want to do. Another option I’m weighing is to put the clowns in a separate, mostly empty tank, and treat with Fenbendazole there. But my concern there is that, although it might help rid them of current parasites, would they just become infested again once I put them back in the main tank? Or will their immune systems somehow fight them off once they’re healthy again? Is there maybe something else I can consider that would help within the main tank? I’ve read that Epsom salt might be effective, has anyone tried that and had success with these parasites? Right now it feels like any livestock that I might put in the tank would be at risk . Thanks in advance.

If indeed nematodes, Internally, metroplex added PRECISELT (.5 gram in weight) to food but if you are seeing these feces and weight loss, fish may have edema and feeding off its liver which happens with blennies.
Please post a pic and/or video under white light intensity( for best assessment.
Nematodes are free living and not parasitical. PraziPro May work as also may Flatworm exit

 

[mh0ward]

I’m not really noticing much, if any, weight loss in the clownfish yet. They don’t seem lethargic or anything, but they do seem to be a little less excited about food the past few days, though they are still eating some. I did dose the tank with Prazi about 9 days ago, before the blenny died, and it did nothing for them. The worms were still present after a day or two of treatment. I have not tried Metro yet, but I also thought that was primarily for flagellates and wouldn’t really do anything for nematodes? I’m probably the furthest thing from an expert, so it’s possible they are something else, but the closest “match” I could find when researching was nematodes.

I just started setting up a small separate tank today in case I need to use it to try treating the clownfish. I’m not sure I’d be able to get the watchman goby out without risking breaking something or hurting one of the other critters, but so far he seems fine and still has solid poops.

 

[mh0ward]

Here's a video of the clownfish, the smaller male is the one that had the white stringy poop. They have a love affair with the heater

 

[mh0ward]

And now I’m seeing white stringy poop from the female clown.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

There is another thread on this case. Here is what I wrote there:

Fenbendazole has some toxicity issues with some species of fish (flashlight fish, darters, catfish and perhaps some yet unknown species). It has been used for general marine aquarium fishes without many reported issues. Since it is typically used in a quarantine scenario, I don't know all of the possible effects it might have on invertebrates. I wonder if what you read about it killing invertebrates may be attributed to FLUBENDAZOLE? That is known to be toxic to snails, anemones and corals.

Some nematodes have direct development, and others require secondary hosts. The latter can be an issue if they then reinfect fish that have been treated and returned to the tank housing the original infection.

Levamisole is another option. It is dosed in the water at 10 mg/l one time.

Both Fenbendazole and Levamisole can be used orally, but dosing them is tricky - you must know the weight of the fish. Levamisole is dosed orally at 5 mg per kg of fish mass daily for 7 days. Fenbendazole is dosed at 25 mg per day for three days.

If you want to go the oral route, you'll need to use this thread:

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

We also have an oral dose calculator:

Fish Disease Calculators

During the course of caring for our fish, we often need to make calculations regarding several recommended treatment options. Most water quality maintenance steps are supported by calculations provided in the "Reef Chemistry by Randy Holmes Farley" forum. Taking it a step further, additional...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[mh0ward]

Thanks Jay. I’m making saltwater right now to fill a small QT tank, so I can try treating without worrying about effects on inverts. I’ve just had a lot of Trochus snails hatch and have baby trochus snails everywhere and would very much like to see them grow!

I think I will prefer to treat the entire QT if possible since it looks like dosing may be tricky with medicated food. I’m considering some form of Fenbendazole or maybe Fritz Expel-P to treat the QT tank.

This was one of the anecdotal accounts that I saw during my research: https://reefbuilders.com/2023/11/01/my-experience-with-fenbendazole/. There were a couple others I saw that suggested it may be harmful to inverts and I didn’t want to risk it, so I made the decision to set up a QT. I think I had also read that Fenbendazole isn’t suitable for bottom dwellers for some reason, so i may not be able to treat the agony, but so far he hasn’t shown any symptoms so I’m not too worried about him at the moment.

For the parasitic nematodes that spread via secondary hosts, do you know if there is a period without fish where they would die before spreading to the final host (reintroduced fish)? Thanks again!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay. I’m making saltwater right now to fill a small QT tank, so I can try treating without worrying about effects on inverts. I’ve just had a lot of Trochus snails hatch and have baby trochus snails everywhere and would very much like to see them grow!

I think I will prefer to treat the entire QT if possible since it looks like dosing may be tricky with medicated food. I’m considering some form of Fenbendazole or maybe Fritz Expel-P to treat the QT tank.

This was one of the anecdotal accounts that I saw during my research: https://reefbuilders.com/2023/11/01/my-experience-with-fenbendazole/. There were a couple others I saw that suggested it may be harmful to inverts and I didn’t want to risk it, so I made the decision to set up a QT. I think I had also read that Fenbendazole isn’t suitable for bottom dwellers for some reason, so i may not be able to treat the agony, but so far he hasn’t shown any symptoms so I’m not too worried about him at the moment.

For the parasitic nematodes that spread via secondary hosts, do you know if there is a period without fish where they would die before spreading to the final host (reintroduced fish)? Thanks again!

Sorry - I don't know of anyone who has estimated the clearing time for nematodes as a group. Since the individual species may have other hosts, or direct development, it will vary greatly between species. Some terrestrial nematode eggs have reported to remain viable to years. That would be an issue if that species has direct development.

 

[mh0ward]

The clownfish have been relocated to their temp tank. It ain’t exactly pretty, but I think it’ll do the job

Treatment probably won’t be here till Wednesday or Thursday, but at least in their QT I can keep an eye on what they’re eating, and easily remove what they don’t… and also quit over feeding my main tank trying to fatten them up. I had started “seeding” a small rock over a month ago in case something like this came up, not sure if it’ll be loaded with enough bacteria to keep up, but I figure it’s better than nothing, and syphoning out any food they don’t eat after 30 min or so should help too.

I’ll keep everyone posted on how treatment goes in case anyone else faces something similar.