inkmaker
New member
Could you tell us what dosage rate you used ( 5 grams = ? much water) and how long did you leave the Levamisole in the water?
Charles H
Total System Levasole Planaria Kill Recipe
- Thread starter CleveYank
- Start date
Could you tell us what dosage rate you used ( 5 grams = ? much water) and how long did you leave the Levamisole in the water?
Charles H
dendronepthya
Premium Member
I used 17-18g (roughly) for every 1000 gallons. I probably left the levamisole in the water for 4 hours before introducing the carbon. I did not do any water changes. I used a total of 10 gallons of carbon powder for the systems.
inkmaker
New member
17 grams is 5.1 grams = 300 gallons and
18 grams is 5.4 grams = 300 gallons
Thanks for the information. Were there any other losses over night and how does the system look now?
Charles H
orthokardia
New member
What are folks using for a levisole source as it has been pulled? I saw the same question, but it was followed with a post b the mods about commercial selling?? I thought I had these buggers and thankfully it was just an alk spike, but the scare has me looking for some to keep on hand just in case.
-bart
-bart
poolkeeper1
New member
Pulled from Sale by the Feds
Pulled from Sale by the Feds
You can not by or own according to my Vet as the Gov't has pulled it off the market for sale. They claimed it was no longer effective.
Bill:fun2:
Pulled from Sale by the Feds
You can not by or own according to my Vet as the Gov't has pulled it off the market for sale. They claimed it was no longer effective.
Bill:fun2:
CleveYank
20 Years and Over
It is still effective in the Cattle Drench form.
And a vet can still get you the real pig and sheep stuff.
You can even legally order it from overseas vendors. It's not a controlled substance. They just made it harder to get. Which for the drug suppliers that were cutting their drugs with it, makes it just enough of a pain to obtain so they've moved onto something else more than likely.
So the recipe still works and the stuff is still available. There is also a freshwater fish use for this for clown loaches and a company with those articles will sell you the stuff too. Since the freshwater and saltwater hobbyist generally does not use it in the volume required in the drug trade, it's probably pretty easy for the government to monitor and enforce now.
Anyway, Google and you will find it.
daz the reefo
New member
I too started dosing today and boy how happy i was to see these little blighters squirming for dear life :bounce1::bounce1: i too thought i didn't have too many, boy was i surprised how many squirmed out of no where. i will be maintained attack over the next month to see them off good and for all :uzi::uzi::uzi:
dendronepthya
Premium Member
It's been 6 months since I did the treatment and I have not seen a flatworm. There was a nutrient spike after everything died (not just the flatworms) and some algae as a result, but it was not unmanageable. We had to scrub some rocks and clean corals individually to help eliminate the algae but once it was handled, everything returned to normal without the flatworm problem.
zachtos
Active member
I had Planaria/flatworms for about 2 years now. I treated them once with flatworm exit (FWE) once, and was not happy with the results because all my corals washed out for a month. I tried this Levisole/Levasole treatment (1tsp powder in 500ml water dosed at 1mL per tank water volume). It worked great. All flatworms dead in 2 minutes. I recorded the event since I was afraid I'd have a tank crash, but it turned out fine (3 days now). I left it in over night and did a 20% waterchange and put 8 cups of carbon in my 240G sump (450G w/ volume). Corals are still agitated, but they will survive. The skimmer pulled out a lot of awful red gravy that would make you vomit if you stick your nose in there. Gotta love the bubblemaster 5000 skimmer pump! I will repeat the process weekly for 1 month to be sure...
although, I am out of carbon now. Will it be a big deal to not do carbon for the next 2-3 followup treatments now that the mass killoff of the flatworms is over? It's $140 for another 50 lbs of carbon and I'm a bit short right now.
inkmaker
New member
I had Planaria/flatworms for about 2 years now. I treated them once with flatworm exit (FWE) once, and was not happy with the results because all my corals washed out for a month. I tried this Levisole/Levasole treatment (1tsp powder in 500ml water dosed at 1mL per tank water volume). It worked great. All flatworms dead in 2 minutes. I recorded the event since I was afraid I'd have a tank crash, but it turned out fine (3 days now). I left it in over night and did a 20% waterchange and put 8 cups of carbon in my 240G sump (450G w/ volume). Corals are still agitated, but they will survive. The skimmer pulled out a lot of awful red gravy that would make you vomit if you stick your nose in there. Gotta love the bubblemaster 5000 skimmer pump! I will repeat the process weekly for 1 month to be sure...
although, I am out of carbon now. Will it be a big deal to not do carbon for the next 2-3 followup treatments now that the mass killoff of the flatworms is over? It's $140 for another 50 lbs of carbon and I'm a bit short right now.
Glad to hear and see a beautiful story about the worm kill and Levamisole HCl
Charles H
inkmaker
New member
The big issue is to get Levamisole concentration down a lot. Changing a lot of water is the best way. Carbon works but not as well as a water change. It is best to have several buckets of correct salinity ready to change out as much water as possible. Leaving some Levamisole in the water isn't a big problem. Those invertebrates which are less sensitive to the compound will tolerate it while those like the newly hatched flat worms to the compound will kill them.
Charles H
zachtos
Active member
I buy carbon in 50 pound bags for around $140 from general carbon. I use about 8 to 10 cups per month (lasts about 2 years or so at that rate).
Anyword on what happens if I dose #2 and #3 weeks at 1ml/gallon but do not have water for a water change? The major die off should be over now, so waterchanges would just be for removing the chemical. It's expensive doing waterchanges on 500 gallons and I'm down to my last 60G of salt.
chemisfun11
New member
I recently treated my tank with Levimasole HCL after reading this thread.
Day 1: I started treatment, siphoned out as many of the dead floating flatworms (red planaria) that I could see until they were no longer visible on my sandbed and water column.
I started running carbon 15-20 min after treatment and after some visible stress with corals and clams, changed about 20 gallons of NSW out of my approximate 180 gallons of water volume about 4 hours after initial treatment.
Day 2: Some corals, still seemed a bit stressed, fish, clams and inverts seem fine. There was some stringy brown algae (not sure exactly) on coral, glass etc. So I changed another 20 gallons of NSW just for safety.
Day3: My sixline wrasse is struggling to swim. I can only think that treatment may have been the cause, but all other fish, coral, clams seem like they are back to normal. No other losses besides the flatworms are noticeable.
I will treat once a week to ensure no return of the flatworms for 3 more weeks. I will probably change more water volume more rapidly to reduce stress. I know 50% was recommended, but I don't have the means to change that much NSW at once.
Thank you to all who have posted and shared your experiences. I certainly hope my sixline can pull through, it is my longest living fish at over 6 years, but I am cautiously optimistic.
Happy reefing!
Day 1: I started treatment, siphoned out as many of the dead floating flatworms (red planaria) that I could see until they were no longer visible on my sandbed and water column.
I started running carbon 15-20 min after treatment and after some visible stress with corals and clams, changed about 20 gallons of NSW out of my approximate 180 gallons of water volume about 4 hours after initial treatment.
Day 2: Some corals, still seemed a bit stressed, fish, clams and inverts seem fine. There was some stringy brown algae (not sure exactly) on coral, glass etc. So I changed another 20 gallons of NSW just for safety.
Day3: My sixline wrasse is struggling to swim. I can only think that treatment may have been the cause, but all other fish, coral, clams seem like they are back to normal. No other losses besides the flatworms are noticeable.
I will treat once a week to ensure no return of the flatworms for 3 more weeks. I will probably change more water volume more rapidly to reduce stress. I know 50% was recommended, but I don't have the means to change that much NSW at once.
Thank you to all who have posted and shared your experiences. I certainly hope my sixline can pull through, it is my longest living fish at over 6 years, but I am cautiously optimistic.
Happy reefing!
zachtos
Active member
I'm at day 19 after treatment from a severe infestation (corals starting to be covered). I'll do one final third dose at day 20 and do a waterchange a few days thereafter. I see no flatworms and lost no colonies. Several of my SPS and LPS colonies browned out severely, but they will recover in time. Small price to pay to hopefully have rid of the planaria flatworms I've had for 2 years. Now I just need the color to return in time for our yearly frag swap! (I only did one 20% waterchange and ran 10 cups of carbon for 450G of SW)
I did this in the past and it worked. But can't remember to leave the skimmer on or not?
terahz
1x10^12 Hz
Wanted to report my story as well. I found a few small (1mm) red/rusty flatworms the other day in my tank and immediately dosed about 2ml/G of 5g into 240ml levimasole (2x the recommended dose because my tank is just cycling and I didn't have to worry about fish or coral). Flatworms were nowhere to be seen within 10 minutes. I left the treatment in for 24 hrs before I turned my carbon on. 2 days later, it is like I never dosed. Tried again with 4x the dose. Flatworms notice it within seconds and start running around. This time it felt like they never really disappeared. Next day they were still there, but very very lethargic. They wouldn't move much even when disturbed. I removed as many as I could hoping that it just takes longer for them to die. Carbon went on again (same carbon that I used from previous treatment) about 20hrs after the treatment.
This morning - they are back, and I can even see little ones. Now, unless their reproductive cycle is less than 48hrs, I can say that for the small rusty flatworms with 2 "tails" (not 3 like most), this treatment is not effective.
I'm going to try FWE today and if that doesn't work - bleach!
This morning - they are back, and I can even see little ones. Now, unless their reproductive cycle is less than 48hrs, I can say that for the small rusty flatworms with 2 "tails" (not 3 like most), this treatment is not effective.
I'm going to try FWE today and if that doesn't work - bleach!
inkmaker
New member
FWE is just a solution of Levamisole. Ingredients on the label.
5 grams of Levamisole crystal powder should treat 300 gallons but it doesn't kill the eggs. They may hatch any time. That's why one must dose the tank more than once. The worms mature to reproduce in about 3 weeks and they do lay eggs.
Photos would be nice!
Charles H
Last edited:
terahz
1x10^12 Hz
Here is a photo:
Since I started treating, only the first time I saw the little buggers disappear. Since then I've now dosed 4 times (in 6 days), and they just sit on the glass in almost-coma. If I poke them, they move, but that's all.
On the other hand all bristle worms are RIP. The two frags I have don't seem to mind the probably 10 grams of Levamisole I have now in my 55G of water.
inkmaker, didn't know FWE is a solution of Levamisole. Too bad, I might have to kill everything again and restart the tank once more.
When I posted earlier, I put in 120 drops of FWE + 2.5g of Levamisole dissolved in about 100g of fresh water (again, total volume in my tank is 55G).
I might end up dumping the entire packet of Levamisole I have (40g left, I'd guess) and see how it goes
One thing I know, I'm not starting a tank with flatworms in it!
Since I started treating, only the first time I saw the little buggers disappear. Since then I've now dosed 4 times (in 6 days), and they just sit on the glass in almost-coma. If I poke them, they move, but that's all.
On the other hand all bristle worms are RIP. The two frags I have don't seem to mind the probably 10 grams of Levamisole I have now in my 55G of water.
inkmaker, didn't know FWE is a solution of Levamisole. Too bad, I might have to kill everything again and restart the tank once more.
When I posted earlier, I put in 120 drops of FWE + 2.5g of Levamisole dissolved in about 100g of fresh water (again, total volume in my tank is 55G).
I might end up dumping the entire packet of Levamisole I have (40g left, I'd guess) and see how it goes
One thing I know, I'm not starting a tank with flatworms in it!
