Remove carbon w/ Levamisole?

[MandaMunky]

Hi there,

I'm newish to loach keeping & I want to start out first by thanking the administrators/members of this page for all of the helpful advice!!

Second (& most important!), I'm currently treating my community tank/clown loaches with Levamisole because my little "cloaks" were looking very thin (despite eating like ravenous monsters), having some thin, stringy, white poo & also looking a little pale. Anyway, I dosed the tank for the first time last night, the lights have been off & I increased aeration, but what I didn't do is remove the carbon from my filter. Is it necessary? It doesn't mention it in the (very informative) article on this site (http://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/l ... chloride-1), BUT it seems like anytime you treat with anything else that removing the carbon is the standard? So, if anyone has any experience or info regarding that I'd appreciate it, thanks!

Thirdly!!! What's the best way to fatten these guys up?

Thanks in advance for your time,
Amanda

[starsplitter7]

Definitely remove the carbon. It removes medications from the tank. If I have HOB filters, I take the carbon out and use the floss. I add lots of aeration.

Follow the instructions. You will need to vacuum out the paralyzed parasites once they leave your fish (assuming it is parasites).

I feed my fish a variety of foods to keep them fat and happy. Zucchini, blood worms, thawed cocktail shrimp, shrimp pellets, massivore pellets, flake, algae wafers, Repashy foods, . . . I also do lots of water changes to keep the water clear from all the feedings.

[MandaMunky]

OMGoodness.. thanks so much for your reply!

Since I put the medication in last night (with the carbon filter in place - so dumb!) how should I proceed now? Just redose with the carbon OUT!?

Thank you for your time & patience & lack of judgement!

[starsplitter7]

I would wait two days, do a 20% water change and vacuum, and then redose the tank. Also make sure you keep the tank dark after you dose, even turning tank lights off, and I put a towel over the tank to darken it, and check it doesn't overheat. Lev is sensitive to light and dissipates. Also once you mix the Lev into a liquid, make sure you keep it in a dark container in the fridge. It will keep up to 6 months, but it must be in the dark.

I consider myself an advanced beginner even though I have been keeping fish for 7 years. I still learn so much. I still make mistakes, and it tears me up. Sigh! I was super lucky that a few people on this website took me under their wing and taught me how to keep fish.

What part of the world do you live in?

[MandaMunky]

We live in Yucaipa, California, USA!

Call me crazy but I'm starting to wonder if this Levamisole Tx that I did with the carbon IN actually worked a little bit. My 2 very thin clowns are actually putting on some weight & having normal poo, just over the span of a few hours... on the other hand... maybe I AM losing it!?

I would love to post a couple pics but... IDK how?

They're so cute & happy... I really just want to do right by them. I love it when they click their teeth & lay down to sleep!!

[MandaMunky]

I'm such a dope.... I browsed the Levamisole article from the forum again & there is one small section where it does say to remove carbon. Ugh. At least I got enough to treat 500 gallons!! Plenty left for mistakes & although it says you can't over dose I will still perform my regular water change (maybe a little bigger than normal) on Wednesday (tomorrow) then redose - AFTER REMOVING the carbon!

[starsplitter7]

You can overdose with Levamisole, but it is not easy. Just follow the instructions and you will be good.

If your carbon has been in the tank a while, it loses its ability to remove stuff. I only use carbon when I want to remove stuff from my water. Otherwise, I use floss and porous material. You will notice a difference in your fish.

[starsplitter7]

mattyd explains picture posting in detail in thsi thread

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23362

It is easier than it soudns just follow the isntructions step by step. AFter you post a couple, it is really easy.

[MandaMunky]

Something is going wrong this am... I'm not sure what it is?

My smallest & thinnest Loach is looking like his scales are standing up? I know they're "scaleless" but it's the only way I can describe it. They're extremely hard to see (I couldn't get a picture at all) but it's VERY UNIFORM little white/gray specs. I've had fish with ICH before & it doesn't look anything like that & he's not flashing/hiding. I'm wondering if he might have dropsy - but he's not swollen? He's swimming around & acting/eating normally.

The only thing that's different is that I fed them some frozen bloodworms for the first time yesterday & they were VERY excited! He ate 2 big ones on his own & you could see that he had a full tummy for a while. Could he have over eaten? The other two tend to bully him a little while they eat but I always watch to make sure there's enough for him to get his share. Is he injured?

Could it be related to the potential internal parasites that I'm using the Levamisole for to begin with? Does he have wasting/skinny disease?

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 10
Temp 79-80F

Sigh... I'm feeling a sense of doom for this little man. If anyone has any advice I'd really appreciate it, thanks.

[starsplitter7]

I am not good with diseases, but up scales often signals dropsey to me. What I would try to do is feed him some cooked peas on the off chance that he may have gotten blocked. Maybe he couldn't pass the parasites. Peas are a natural laxative. Take off the outer shell. I will cross my fingers for you.

Is everyone else doing okay?

[MandaMunky]

Yes, everyone else is fantastic! Looks like they're putting on weight & super happy & swimming all around. Even he's ACTING happy, which is good because maybe (hopefully) we've caught WHATEVER it is early enough to really do something about it... I think?

We preformed a 30% water change & we're going to let them fast until tomorrow eve. We don't want to let them go too long because they're so small & on the thinner side. Then we'll try some de-shelled, smooshed up peas (great idea). Then we'll wait & see how that goes & probably redose the tank with the Levamisole on Friday eve (which would be 5 days & 30% water change AFTER my first "go-round").

We're keeping a close eye on things for sure, trying to be paitent & not kill our cycle... or our fish for that matter!! I really appreciate your advice starsplitter7... thanks for keeping in touch.

[starsplitter7]

I would definitely do the peas while they are hungry. Cross my fingers.

Glad everyone else is doing well.

[MandaMunky]

So, my pleco & my black Molly were the only ones interested in the peas. =/

I looked at my little man (his name is actually "Baby Bear" we have three & they're sized small "Baby Bear", medium "Momma Bear", & large "Big Bertha") a lot closer this am & did a BUNCH more reading in the forum under topics that looked evem remotely related to what I'm dealing with & I THINK I might have Colmunaris/Saddleback & from what I've read it seems like Maracyn II & lowering the temp. is the best treatment for it. Thank you to Diana for all of her helpful posts regarding this condition.

However, I'm still just not sure how to proceed now with the Levamisole & Maracyn II?

I remember reading somewhere that these secondary infections are common along with heavy parasitic infections & that it's best to alternate between Levamisole & the antibiotic, but of course I can't find that same article again. =( I have a 5.5 gallon tank that I could set up as a hospital tank but it's not cycled & I don't want to stress him out - he loves schooling around with the other fishies. Do you think my other fish would suffer from treatment if I just left him in place & did my whole tank? I know it costs more but I don't care as much about that as I do about potentially hurting/killing my other fish who appear very healthy at this time.

Decisions, decisions... please, help!

Thanks

[starsplitter7]

Have you moved him to a quarantine tank? May help him to recover. I would also consider treating his tank and a quarantine tank, because col is awful. You may also consider MinnFinn. It zaps everything, including the bio filter, but the Maracyn will wipe out your bio filter too. If you only have one tank, make sure you have a friend to give you some gunk from their filter to reseed your filter, so you do not need to cycle again.

[MandaMunky]

Baby Bear is like 85% better this evening!!

SO STRANGE because all we did was change the water & add our regular dechlorinator & a little nitrifying bacteria. Also, we were gone for most of the day so I just left the lights off & let them fast & when we got home I turned the lights on to check him out & he was all excited & dancing around & most of the "stuff" on his side is gone!!! I'm so excited, but I'm going to keep a close eye on all of them to make sure nothing reoccurs.

I'm starting to wonder if maybe he just scraped himself? This is like dealing with small toddlers... you can tell something is wrong & they're screaming for help, but you don't know how, or what to do. It really feels like it's all just a big, stressful, guessing game!!

Tonight is our second dose of Levamisole. Send good jou jou & well wishes that it all keeps going well, thanks!!


PS - I followed the link to post the pictures but they're all too large, so I'm going to have to do some resizing when I get a chance.