Levamisole, Prazi and Discus Fry

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi,

Out of interest I asked my vet the other day at what age is it safe to use Prazi on fry for general worming and as Capillaria is passed from parents to fry I also asked the same question about Levamisole.

The answer I received is that no one really knows and especially regarding Levamisole as there is no research whatsoever. Do any of the long time breeders out there have any opinions/pesonal experience with these drugs on fry from say 1 month to 3 months old?

We are going to begin our own tests on a cull tank over the next month or so so hopefully we might just get a few answers/opinions of our own over time. Would be grateful for some feedback.
Cheers
MAC

[Dave76]

Hi Mac

I'm not a long time breeder, but I used prazi successfully at recommended doses at one month of age - levimisole I read somewhere shouldn't be used on fry younger than two months so that's the age I use levi at.

Will be interested in your findings :)

Cheers

Dave

[mistakes r crucial]

Thanks for the feedback Dave. We'll start doing something with the culls over the next month so we'll see what happens.
MAC

[samir]

Mac, I've used prazi at three times the recommended dosage on three week old fry. They all turned dark and the weakest 10 odd were laying on the bottom of the tank breathing heavily. did not get any fatalities and they all perked up after a water change. Levimasole I did not try because the more I use it the more I'm convinced that it knocks the Sh1t out of the fish. In my case it was only the culls that were really affected by prazi, so if you're only using the culls I dont know how accurate you're results would be.

[Merrilyn]

I've tried prazi on a tank of 6 week old fry suffering from gill flukes, with success.

Never used levamisole on anything under 4 months of age. I worm the parents before putting them in to the breeding tank, so rarely have problems with worms in fry. Not to say that they don't have worms, just that it doesn't seem to become a problem.

Sorry I can't be more help on that one.

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Samir,


Levimasole I did not try because the more I use it the more I'm convinced that it knocks the Sh1t out of the fish.

I thought I was the only one!

Our vet wants to work with us to try and find a way of establishing if a fish has worms/nemotodes and what type without the need for autopsy. If she can achieve that she says the use of very harsh drugs can be limited to known cases instead of a blanket approach. I'm not sure how helpful that would be to breeders with hundreds and hundreds of fish hanging around but she's the one with the Phd not me.

There is also an alternative to Levamisole that she wants us to trial at some stage so when we get around to it I'll let you know how we go.
Cheers
MAC

[chris]

Hi Mac, last year I had a batch of Turks that developed some sort of illness, they stopped eating had thick hair like poo brown, not black, At two months I tried Prazi no results, a week dose of metro, lost plenty of babies so far, last result Levamisole. Back then Levamisole was hardly talked about, 100 percent result remaining fry survived still have 7 left.

[mistakes r crucial]

Hi Chris,

There's no doubt it works mate, that's not my issue with the stuff. It's what it does to the fish on the way through that I have a problem with. IME it knocks the helll out of them, they go off their food for days at a time and more importantly there is absolutely no research on the effects of Levamisole in the longer term. According to my vet it is capable of all sorts of long term problems including being a cause of sterility.

I use it but as seldom as possible.
Cheers
MAC

[chris]

No worries Mac, that was my experience with levamisole on young fry it queered there ailment quick and rapid. Ive only used it twice with a follow up dose. The batch are now just over a year.
As far as being infertile I have perfect specimens to find out, I will have to wait and see.
With the lack of rain in Adelaide our tap water is still at a high PH.
Hopefully soon I should she some action. With the recent little bit of rain we have had.
Ive heard that as well Mac.(sterility) with fish that have been exposed to levamisole.
I might find out soon, got to admit Mac never thought about it till I read this thread. I forgot I had to this to my fry.

[samir]

my fish take 4-6 days after levimasole to start eating again.the last time i had perfectly friendly fish, that let me touch them,darting and smashing into things within 24 hours of using it. i put one group in a new tank and they were fine the next day. the others i did 50% wc every day and they took nearly a week to get back to normal. some others that target nematodes are metrifonate, fenbendazole, mebendazole and ivermectin . do you have any experience with them ? also if you have the time could you have a read through this http://www.fishvetsociety.org.uk/common/acrobat/fvsjournalissue4.pdf pages 33-37.

[flaggy]

i dosed my community tank with Big L (levamisole) for slightly more than 24 hours, as i had a confirmed case of internal worms. all seemed ok, but the panda corydoras seem less active and the female curviceps seem noticeably shy-er than usual, although still eating ok, and lost its colour

the one fry (about 2 months old and probably no longer considered a fry) did not seem to be affected

certainly would be taking it easy on the levamisole in the future, and not sure if i would use it purely for precautionary measures.