RE: Deworming

[Scot Gillespie <Scot.Gillespie@epsedin.co.uk>]

Levamisole hydrochloride is available in any number of commercially branded
sheep and cattle worming products, the branding on these products will tend
to vary from country to country. The manufacturer of the Levamisole
hydrochloride itself will tend to be a third party, rather than the product
brander, and again there are numerous sources. In all cases go for the
indictable form if you can get it, as this is totally water soluble, drench
and oblets tend to have insoluble components. The indictable form tends to
have around 13% Levamisole hydrochloride as its contents.

I am not familiar with Praziquantel the manufacture/distribution may follow
the same route as above, however it may be under patent control in which
case the manufacture/distribution may be limited to one source.

Diagnosis of intestinal worms at the general observation stage may be by
emaciation but vigorous feeding and worms hanging from the anal vent.
Emaciation but vigorous feeding however may be caused by many other factors.
Worms, and flukes affecting other internal areas will have little general
visible indications which would pin point them as a sole diagnosis, unless
in the case of some worms they make an external eruption.

Positive diagnosis could usually be considered via autopsy, with a
microscope, a good textbook, and a lot of good skill and practice - I
wouldn't really attempt this myself. Attempting to pulling any worm from a
live fish is not really recommended, you would probably not get enough of a
worm out of the fish to be of much use, you would probably cause the fish
more harm. Secondary infection may commence, in the remains of the worm and
in any damage you did to the fish. 

The thing to remember is that in the wild all these nasty  critters are all
part to the environmental niche in which the fish inhabit. To an extent they
will be an everyday occurrence to the life of a fish, and will only become a
problem to the host when they are weakened. A parasite would not be to
successful if it was so efficient it wiped out its food supply. It is only
when fish are confined to an aquarium that parasites become a problem.
Generally only wild fish tend to bring these problems to the aquarium, as in
most cases commercial breeders go to great, and some would say too great,
measures to eradicate these parasites and other afflictions from their
stocks as it could commercially ruin them.  




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