Total System Levasole Planaria Kill Recipe

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13319220#post13319220 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisguy
I've decided to take the plunge. Been subscribed to this thread for a while and have read it multiple times. I have a flat worm population that has been growing rapidly as of late. I'm going to call my local TSC today to see if they have Levasole in stock. If not, where is a good place to order?? Livestock Concepts is out of stock.

Hey guys, I'm looking for a little help here. TSC does not have Levasole online or in any of the local stores. As I mentioned before Livestock Concepts is out. Any ideas where I can order this stuff online?? I've googled around a bit and only found it at a couple sites. I just don't know if they are trustable sites to order from.

Thanks in advance!!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13380972#post13380972 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisguy
Hey guys, I'm looking for a little help here. TSC does not have Levasole online or in any of the local stores. As I mentioned before Livestock Concepts is out. Any ideas where I can order this stuff online?? I've googled around a bit and only found it at a couple sites. I just don't know if they are trustable sites to order from.

Thanks in advance!!


+1
 
At what point(dosage) does this stuff surely kill AEFW's??

has anyone pushed the envelope in with some healthy sps along with a few infected ones and tried to see if they can make it work in a loaded reef with aefw's to beat them??

I have been trying to collect some aefw's...have even posted a few threads but have not had one taker who wanted to ship me any, on my dollar oif course. And I know a bunch of you have them. LOL

I have a spare system sitting around and would be willing to throw few corals I dont love in it for the sake of maybe figuring it out. I mainly wanted the aefw's to breed, take pics and do experimental dips on to make sure what i do really works......but if Im going to do that might as well take it even farther....

Personally, I have had great success with Saleiferts FWE, and the few times I have needed it it has worked for the common planaria. It too takes repeated doses and on the second and third doses when the risk of toxins is low, you hammer them with a quadruple dosage.....Thats just my experience.

Anyway...dont take that wrong. this info is great and I applaud the work that has gone nto it However, if anyone could figure out how to safely use it to get rid of aefw's in a loaded system....now that would be something
 
flyyyguy
Levasole doesn't work for AEFW.
And in another trial I was up to 5ml per gallon to treat monty eating nubranches and it didn't even phase them. I bumped it up to 15ml and it killed everything in a 20 gallon test tank. I had monty, some birdsnest and orange and green digita. (I had to edit I went down to my notebooks and page showed last entry level was 15ml per gallon not 5ml.)
Anyway, with AEFW others have done tests and I don't recall the levels or concentraions. But if I was at 15ml at my concentration and it nuked everything...well you get the idea.

See Melev's website for info to kill AEFW.

And some nice tried and true trials would be fantastic for that.

I'm building a fishroom and upgrading to the 700 to 800 gallon nieghborhood or I'd tinker with that myself...;)
 
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I didnt read the word close enough.

i though you said levamisole. sorry lol

it did surprise me that you were using it even in small dosages in a tank.

Ive never played with it. but remember hearing about it being used for aefw's in dips...but it was dangerous

anyway...sorry for the misread. Carry on :)
 
flyyyguy

levamisole and LEVASOLE are the same thing.
LEVASOLE is a trade name for it. Like Formica used to be for a particular brand of plastic veneer counters.

Levamisole Hydrochloride is the Chemical name for it.

Adds even more confusion. ;)
 
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I too have been watching this thread once I discovered these little boogers in my tank in July and thought I should relay my experiences.

First I do want to say a big THANK YOU to CleveYank for the experimentation and information. I'm sure I would have been several boxes of FWE into a treatment had someone not found an alternative.

First, I just want to let everyone know that it appears my flatworms are dead. I still have a few weeks of waiting and watching but I can't see of them alive. Second, my exerpience has not been as positive as others although I'm not blaming the treatment. If you want to hear the whole sordid tale, then read on.

I first noticed that I had flatworms in July. The population wasn't bad but there were enough that I could do manual siphoning and remove a decent number. Because it was summer and there were a lot of other things going on I just kept doing that to keep them in check until I could execute the treatment when I had time to watch over it carefully. Fast forward to Thursday 9/18 and here is where the real story begins.

Day -1: Water change on tank and siphoned out as many FL as possible. By this point the population had grown quite a bit as I had been out of town on vacation the previous week so the tank was a bit neglected.

Day 1:
Dosed the treatment as described on the first page of this thread at 1.33ml per possible system gallons (240 ml for 180 gal). I choose to do this because the treatment suggest 1 - 1.5 ml per possible system gallons and because the receipe mixed up 240 ml. Seemed like a good way to split the difference.

Within 1 minute (probably less as I didn't time it) of dosage flatworms were visably dieing. I started siphoning them out as quickly as possible but before long many of them started drifting around the tank making it impossible to capture. (I left all circulation going to ensure continued gas exchange and water flow over carbon. In retrospect, I probably should have turned it off for few minutes.

My blue cromis and percula clowns were eating some of the dead FLs. At somewhere between 5-10 minutes into the treatment some corals were closing up but all the fish seemed to be fine. Within 1/2 an hour after initiatial dosage all the corals execpt a kenya tree appeared very stressed, including my clam. It was time for dinner so I left the tank as is assuming that some stress was to be expected and the fish looked fine.

After dinner the corals were still visibly stressed and I began to wonder about the fish as the chromis looked to be darting around the tank when they weren't hovering in place. Not their normal behavior. At this point I still left things alone as I expected some stress would ensue but nothing looked like it was life threatening. The multitudes of mini dusters that are in my sump were still fully open but a few mini brittle stars and bristle worms were floating around the tank, clearly stunned at the very least.

At about 2.5-3 hours after the initial dosage all corals (again exect the kenya) and the clam were completely closed up. Most of the fish were not acting normal. They weren;t bad, they just weren't normal. My Sunburst Anthias was darting around and attemping to scratch against the rocks. I decided a water change was in order. I didn't know if it was an overdose or flatworm toxins but clearly I needed to get it diluted.

Unfortunately I only had 20 gals of salt water on hand. I just don't have room to keep 90 gals available. I did the water change and it did seem to help. I was also running carbon (although it was not fresh becasue I didn't want fresh carbon to remove the Levamisole as I was putting it in) and GFO. I did attempt to feed the fish and they did it. At this point it was late and I went to bed hoping everything was going to be OK.

Day 2
Got up for work and checked on the tank. Everything was still very closed up but the lights weren't due to come on for several hours. I would just have to leave it and hope for the best until I got off of work.

When I got home, corals (especailly soft and LPS) and the clam were a little better but only a little. However, all my SPS had browned out overnight. I found that strange as no paramaters were out of whack and the temp was fine. The fish were clearly not right (except for my Mandarin, he kept cugging along through all of this as if nothing had happened). The cromis and my copperband were huddled under an overhang and seemed to be twitching occasionally. My anthias was not any better and my Blue Jaw Trigger was not his usual self either. I decided to change out one of my bags of carbon for fresh and that seemed to have an effect quite quickly. After a couple of hours the fish seemed visibly better although not their normal selves by any means. Once again I did feed them and they did eat. This was after the fresh carbon.

I did not add the maintenance dose on day 2 as suggested. I just wasn't sure which toxin was still in play here, the Levamisole or FW juice.

Day 3
Everything is much improved. Soft corals, LPS, my LT anemone and my clam are open, if not fully, then nearly so. SPS are showing some polyp extention and so far no mortality so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

What isn't doing so well. Blue mushrooms are still shrunken. My anthias has not been seen all day. I hope he is just hiding out but I fear the worst. My trigger appears to have a bacterial infection on his pectoral fins. They are frayed with a white edge.

I am planning on doing another water change and will change out my other bag of carbon for fresh tomorrow. I may change out my GFO as well.

At this point I don't plan on another dose in a weeks time unless I physically see more flatworms.

Things I learned:
1. If I have to do it again, I will dose at the 1ml/gal and no more. This will likely provide some margin of safty if total system gal estimation is off.
2. As others have said, don't underestimate the toxin of FW and don't underestimate how many you may have because you can't see all of them.
3. Be hypervigilant. I don't have the space to set up a quarentine tank but I will institue a dipping procedure for all new corals before introducing them in the tank. The FW did not come from my live rock as my rock is 100% aragocrete. They came in on purchased livestock (or the rocks attached).
4. Again, I'm not blaming the treatment as I can't say for sure there was an overdose. My execution of it just hasn't worked out as well as it has for others.

I'm sorry this post is so long but I felt it important to include as much detail as possible. Good luck to everyone else that has to deal with these boogers.
 
Thanks for being part of the total learning curve and proof of what's been done before yee and after. So no need to apologize.

Also your slight increase dose put my conservative dosage amounts of 1 or 1.5 ml at 1/2T to 240 ml DI water concentration into perspective that they really are the proof positive limits to stick with to prevent issues. Really high flatworm concentrations due to the possible toxic impact can in fact raise possible coral mortality/stress. But given the average population density and the average positive results from the 1 to 1.5 ml per gallon being a reasonable dosage amount. Success rates ( noone has killed their tank with these controlled dosage amounts) have surely offset the possible risks. Again thank you for your trust in our experiment and your contribution to our hobby CyclistMT.


One biggie that we do not or rather can I take a leap hear to say no matter what treatment is used. This or flatworm eixt, density of liverock, system volume error, gas exchange influence, skimming, actual flatworm concentration per gallon and the fallout per gallon of their toxic release when they die make either erradication chemical a risky business. (There's no flatworm population measuring device nor flatworm toxcin test kit.) The limits we have been testing so far appear to be the most cost effective and pose the lowest overall risk all things considered.
 
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Seems as though I am having some trouble finding where I can order this stuff from. Anyone have a clue where I can get it on-line?
 
I just ordered some from Grab Cart (see link a couple posts up). Seems like it's hard to find so I had to pay a little more than what it's listed for on other sites.

Thanks to all for the information and feedback. I have my LEVASOLE on the way and will have lots of fresh saltwater and carbon ready when I take the dive.
 
Flatworms are back in my system... I guess this method isn't any better than Flatworm Exit. It just costs less to delay the inevitable.
 
Sorry to hear that.
It's worked on most.
I know mine are clear.
Are your running something like a xenia or anthelia filter? Maybe they absorbed the Levasole before it can do it's job on the flatworms? :confused:
 
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I just found one after doing the treatment some time ago. However, I have added a frags from two different sources since the treatments and I stopped at two treatments. I still feel it worked better than flatworm exit at a fraction of the cost. I had enough left to do atleast 4 more treatments.
 
For those that have been looking for more pig dewormer. Most of the websites show back order or out of stock. Must coincide with slaughter runs for the pigs??? Any pig farmers out there could help us out with that answer?
 
If anyone needs some, I readily picked it up locally for something like $19 for the bottle. PM me if you want me to pick some up for you and send it your way.

And believe it or not, it is not called Pig "Dewormer", it's Pig "Wormer". Weird huh?!?
 
Mr James
lol I thought I've seen it as both...so I guess the Dewormer just stuck in the ole nerve bundle. Or I invented terms again. Thanks, what a great offer for those scrounging to locate it til stocks get back up.
 
If you have a Tractor Supply store near you, here is a way to get some:

I had a very hard time finding this stuff. Every store I called and every internet site I went to is out of stock. The only place I have been able to find it is at Tractor Supply. Their internet site says they are out of stock. I called a few local stores and they were also out. I ended up calling a few Tractor Supply’s in Florida and a couple stores had a bottle or two left of their shelves. I don’t know which stores have any as of today, but this is how you can find out.

This is what you’re looking for. Durvet brand Levamisole Pig Wormer. Print it out or write down the SKU number which is: 2202519 http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp...0551_10001_49324_-1______?rFlag=true&cFlag=1

Then, go to the top of the page and put your zip code in the Store Locator window. Print out that page because you might want your closest store’s Store number later on (see below).

Call that store, give them the sku, and ask them to look on their shelf to see if they have any on hand. If not, ask them to look (via their computer) at the on-hand stock level of other stores in their district. “Does any store show that they have any?” If so, “What store?”

Then, you use the Store Locator and you call that store and go through the same process. “Do you have any sku # 2202519 on your shelf?” For whatever reason, Tractor Supply (other than your local one) will not sell it to you. So, ask them to mail it to your local store which is “store name” “store number.” Tell them to write your name and phone number on the bottle.

Next, you call your local store, tell them what you did, tell them a bottle is coming to them, give them your phone number, and ask them to call you when it arrives. Ask them to also notify their receiving section that it will be coming.

If no other stores in your district have any, ask if they can look at the stock levels of stores outside their district. If they can, great. If they can’t, go back to the Store Locator, enter your zip code, then click on View Stores By State. Pick a store from a state you think might be in another district and call them. Ask them to look at all the stores in their district. . .

If you end up having a distant store send a bottle to your local store: About two days later, call your local store and ask them to verify that the distant store did mail it. They can look in their system and tell if it is on its way. A store that was supposed to send me two bottles never did. I’m glad I checked as I was able to locate another store that had some and have them send it.

Tractor Supply is open Saturday and Sunday.

Ps. The store in Plant City, FL had one as of the other day.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13401327#post13401327 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisguy
I just ordered some from Grab Cart (see link a couple posts up). Seems like it's hard to find so I had to pay a little more than what it's listed for on other sites.

Thanks to all for the information and feedback. I have my LEVASOLE on the way and will have lots of fresh saltwater and carbon ready when I take the dive.

Wanted to give an update, my order was cancelled by Grab Cart. Apparently the manufacturer is out of stock/back ordered with no ETA on supplies. So once again I am looking for an online connection to this stuff.
 
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