RE: More on the nematode worms (long)

[Ken Laidlaw <kl@roe.ac.uk>]

My comments begin ***
Ken. 

> 
> I jumped the gun a bit--I read the archives at the Krib and will try
> to find some levamisol when I get home on Monday.  A more appropriate
> question then becomes: how do I reliably estimate total water volume
> in the tank?  Capacity is 56 gallons dry, but I couldn't even begin
> to tell you how many pounds of gravel are in there.  I think a safe
> assumption would be to measure the square inches of water above the
> gravel surface, add a little more for the interstitial water
> (although that water really isn't actively in the water column, so
> should I include it?), then subtract a little more for tank
> decorations.  

***The doseage probably isn't critical as long as you add enough.
Levamisole is as far as I know harmless to fish even if slightly over-dosed.

Will the levamisol harm the 2 scraggly live plants that
> I have in the tank?  

***NO

Is it safe to assume it won't harm the
> nitrifying bacteria?  

***I don't think it will

Also, given that I don't know how the infection
> came in, I should probably treat my other tank.  No one is showing
> any symptoms, but there has been some net sharing and one fish moved
> from the infected tank to the "uninfected" tank just before I noticed
> the worms in the H. bimaculatus.  While I'm not too concerned about
> "saving" the fish in the infected tank, I am concerned about the fish
> in the "uninfected" tank: pygmy cory cats, A. cacatuoides, lemon
> tetras, and a couple of oddball catfish.  Has anyone had a negative
> experience treating these types of smaller fish with levamisol?

***Yes, best to treat this tank too.  I have not seen any side effect with
this drug in treating tanks containing dwarfs, killies and catfish.
> 
> Finally, can anyone suggest guidelines on the total number of doses I
> might need to give?  The krib archives seem to suggest that in its
> aqueous form the levamisol is effective against every stage of the
> nematode lifecycle--is this true, or will I need to re-dose the tanks
> in a few weeks?

***I only did one treatment and never saw a return.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@listbox.com.
For instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help,
email apisto-request@listbox.com.
Search http://altavista.digital.com for "Apistogramma Mailing List Archives"!