Levamisole

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batang_mcdo said:
following thread :)
I've only used it on arowanas and clown loaches .
if I'm not mistaken , i think it targets different type of parasite from Praziquantel?
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I believe that is correct with certain nematodes, but I am unsure what else beyond that. That's a question I need to ask and do some more research.
 
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jettefrances17 said:
I use it all the time on newly acquired rays in conjunction with prazi pro. 3 sessions minimum is what I practice with one week rest between each session. Might be a bit of an overkill but it helps me sleep better at night.
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Jeff thank you so much for taking the time to respond. The protocol I was given was a dose for 24 hours. Water change. Wait a week. Dose again one week later for another 24 hours, water change. Wait a week. Dose again for another 24 hours, water change. Done.

Does that sounds familiar. I figured it had to be ray safe as SE Asia uses Levamisole much more than Praziquantel in livestock and aquaculture.
 
I haven't used Levamisole on rays but I have used it a couple other aquarium fish. When initially researching it I found a couple things saying that the dose typically used by aquarists was many times higher than needed to treat for the parasites. Not sure if this might come into play on a more sensitive fish like a ray.
 
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Problems with prazi and most other parasite meds is it only targets certain pathogens. So if the pathogen does not fall under the scope of that particular medication then it is rendered ineffective.
And secondly it only kills the free swimming stage. Does not kill the eggs. That is why many aquarist run treatment cycles 2-3 times over a period of 4-6 weeks..
Run a full cycle 7-10 days. Remove from water. Rest rays for 5-7 days and start another cycle of treatments to kill any newly hatched pathogens. Then repeat 3rd cycle if you feel it necessary. That is why its very important to know what type of pathogen you are treating for. Most of us guess or try to make an experienced assessment from signs or symptoms.

Panacur (Fenbendazole) is a much stronger dewormer. It kills a larger range of pathogens but it must be used with cautions as it can kill rays if not used correctly. It usually will kick a ray off feeding if they haven't stopped already.
But I have seen Praziquantel do the same.
 
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Levamisole is safe with rays, but only when dosed correctly. Otherwise, all bets are off. I posted the following years ago, and again just yesterday in another discussion here on MFK. The correct manner to treat is treat using dosage stated below (2 ppm) for 24 hrs, wait 2 weeks, and treat again.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa091

One effective bath treatment dose is 2 ppm (mg/liter) levamisole for 24 hours, with a repeat treatment in two to three weeks.
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The scientific community considers 2ppm of Levasimole HCl to be an adequate dosage, which works out to 1gr per 100 gallons, not 5gr per 100 gallons as constantly reported on the internet.

The 5gr dosage rate originates from Charles Harrison, who is a chemist/ fish hobbyist, that sells (or used to sell?) Levasimole HCl, not a VMD that specializes in treating tropical fish. (such as Dr. Roy Yanong)

Dr. Yanong also suggests that the treatment duration be 24 hrs, not 3 days as currently suggested by Charles Harrison. It appears that Charles got his info from a killi hobbyist (Ken Laidlaw), that as far as I can tell has no real qualifications for treating fish for disease etc beyond the hobbyist level.


Dr. Roy Yanong's bio ......

http://sfrc.ufl.edu/people/faculty/yanong/


HTH
 
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I have used it in the past with my old hystrix ray and if the used properly, it does not affect rays much at all or at least it did not affect my guy. Loaches.com has good instructions that worked for me.
 
loaches online reference the same site and Dr. that I did.
 
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