Levamisole In-Tank Treatment for AEFW

[James404]

***Special notice regarding this thread! Make sure you read and understand the following findings before continuing with treatments discussed within!!***

Originally Posted by James404

In summary I think we have concluded through this thread that Levamisole is not an effective in-tank treatment for AEFW. It may stun them periodically but the dosages required to kill them cause greater harm to our other inhabitants making it not worthwhile. I urge others not to try this treatment, you are risking a full tank crash!

***End Special Notice.***

So after some initial discussion in a different thread about using Levamisole for an in tank treatment for eradication of AEFW, I decided to make a dedicated thread to document my experiences and maybe some others can chime in with theirs.

First I would like to thank Bax for the help with this. His info was what got me to try this in the first place.

Quick backstory, I have been battling AEFW for about 2 months now and have lost some of my prized SPS pieces. Pretty heartbreaking. I have been doing dips every 4-5 days with Revive but they just keep coming back. Finally I have had enough and decided I'm willing to give levamisole a shot, I don't care if I wipe every SPS I have in my tank trying.

Levamisole, as some may know, is a dewormer. People in the freshwater side have been using it for a long time, especially discus keepers. Lately many of the products such as "Prohibit" that are used for pigs, goats and sheep have been very hard to find, due to some issues with the FDA. I managed to acquire it under the name "Vermisol" designed for birds. It comes in either a pill or powder form. I opted for the pills, which contain 23.6mg of Levamisole each, with a bottle containing 100 pills. The powder contains 7.5 grams of Levamisole but would require a little more work figuring out the dosage, but in the end it is cheaper.

I would like to say that I am merely documenting my experience and should not be held responsible if any negatives occur. Levamisole is much more powerful than something like Interceptor and you can definitely overdose it.

To get started I took some information from Bax's post:

Originally Posted by Bax

I just started replacing SPS to my display last week after a long battle with AEFWs.

To finally beat them here's what I did:

I fragged all my acro colonies tossing the bases in the trash (14" diameter tables right in the trash) ;

Moved the frags to one tank within my system (I had assumed I needed a systemic treatment at this point, so I gathered them together to remove FOOD for the AEFWs from the rest of the system and make it easier to dip and inspect SPS) ;

Dipped constantly for a few weeks to be sure all AEFW breedrers were gone; and

Treated the system with Levamisole at 5grams/300gal system water, once a week for three weeks to be sure all hatching AEFWs were vanquished. Buy a electronic scale to weigh the Levamisole it is worth every penny to be accurate! STAPLES sells them for like $15. I took one liter of RODI water and dissolved the 5 grams of Levamisole in it, then used this solution proportionately through out my system.

A treatment means this: Apply the dose at 5 grams/ 300 gallons system volume, keep all system water flowing as usual. You should shut down air to your skimmer, pull your GAC & GFO, as well as change any mechanical filters (socks or pads). Circulate for 4-5 hours, then you can fire the skimmer back up (be prepared for lots of foam) and add back GAC. In a day change the pads or socks again (They will be full of dead mini brittles, pods & AEFWs)

I'm still dipping to check as i am PARANOID! But so far, at least three weeks since the last treatment, I'm AEFW free!

DO NOT OVER DOSE THE LEVAMISOL!

I did at first and nearly killed the entire system.

A note on critters: SPS were just fine; The few zoas & LPS I have were fine; Fish were fine; I do not currently have a nem, so IDK; Clams closed up but were OK after a day or two; Fire Shrimp, hermit crabs & snails disapear & hide, but come back out after a day or two; Your mini brittles & pods take a hit, but mine have come back; Be very cautious about stars, I would remove Sea Stars & larger Brittle Stars during the 4-5 hour treatment and for at least a few hours following the restart of the skimmer and adding the GAC.

What would I do differently? If there is ever a next time, and now that I've established much better dipping & QT regimen for all incomming SPS, there should not be a next time, I'd go right to systemic treatment with the Levamisole along with dipping. I would not move right to chopping up my beloved colonies. However, I would treat for 4-5 weeks to be sure to out treat the life cycle of potentially hidden eggs, or the eggs that are layed after the first round of treatment by surviving adults.

Where to get Levamisole:
Levamisole hydrochloride is much easier to aquire than say, Interseptor is as it does not require a script. It is readily available on line through live stock supply web sites. It is the primary constituent of Pig, Goat, and Cattle dewormers. The one issue is, there are tons of products. You want a very pure, soluable Levamisole product. The one I used is called PROHIBIT Soluable Drench Powder. It was sold as a goat dewormer at a site called cattlestore.com, shipped for about $25 and ther's enough to treat your whole club's worth of tanks.

How did I overdose?!?!
A) I am stupid!
B) Levamisol has been used in the fresh water trade for a while to treat worm and fluke parisites and rid tanks of neusance snails. The dosage used in FW is tripple that for marine applications. Remember in FW most inverts are bad! I accidently dosed at FW rates, as I did not scroll down far enough in my reference article. I've posted the correct SW dosage here, follow it exactly.
C) I'm really stupid!

All this said, the best way to control AEFWs in this hobby is for everyone, that's all of us, who want to keep SPS to DIP AND QT ALL INCOMING SPS. Assume everyone you aquire frags from already has AEFWs, Red Bugs, Sea Spiders, cooties, and an STD or two!!!! Everyone! Your bestest fragging buddy, your local coral farmer, your favorite LFS, your Mom! Everyone!

I have discovered pests on frags from all of the highly respected LFS in my area. ALL OF THEM!

[James404]

So with the dosing outline of 5 grams of Levamisole per 300g, we did the math of:

1000 mg = 1g

Each pill has .0236g

I figured my water volume at about 75 gallons (I opted to go on the lower side, its probably a little more than that)

At 5 grams per 300 gallons
That's 5/300x75= 1.249 grams

1.249g/.0236g each pill = 52.9 pills it would take to treat my 75 gallon display.

So I crushed up 52 pills in a zip lock bag and dilluted it in about 2 cups of tank water. I shut off my carbon/GFO reactor and skimmer and proceeded to add in the levamisole slowly.

Within about 15 minutes I could see AEFW coming off a few montipora and my fish were gobbling them up.

After about 2 hours, I saw many dead bristleworms and pods, which is to be expected, this treatment may also kill star fish so be warned.

Around the 2 hour mark I also noticed my fish were starting to gasp. I am guessing the oxygen began getting depleted in the water. After about 4 hours I fired up the skimmer again, replaced my carbon with fresh and turned the reactor back on. I opted to do a small 6g water change to possbily alleviate some stress on my fish. By the next morning the fish were all ok and recovered, eating well.

[James404]

I will be repeating the treatment every Tuesday night for the next 3 weeks.

Some impressions after my first treatment:

1. I will be probably adding a large air stone during the first few hours of treatment and leaving skimmer on with no collection cup to increase oxygen levels.

2. My serpant star managed to live through it.

3. Some of my SPS were definitely ****ed off, polyps closed up, they opened back up by the morning. Some were sliming a bit.

I will update this thread again with the next dose Tuesday.

[gofor100]

Tagging along... I'm always interested in seeing what "new treatments" are out there and how they work out.

Good luck!

-Chad

[SPSEMPIRE]

Thanks for sharing! I've used levamisole to treat flat worms before but none were AEFW.

[LifeAquatic]

Can you tell us why you think levamisole would be a treatment option for AEFW? What is it in Levamisol that kills worms? Are the worms treated with levamisol related to AEFW? Will the levamisol kill the AEFW in the same way that it kills the pest it was designed for? I'm curious. I've never used levamisol but I would probably do all testing in some type of control tank and not in DT until levamisol is proven effective. Seems like it might harm your livestock?

[James404]

Originally Posted by LifeAquatic

Can you tell us why you think levamisole would be a treatment option for AEFW? What is it in Levamisol that kills worms? Are the worms treated with levamisol related to AEFW? Will the levamisol kill the AEFW in the same way that it kills the pest it was designed for? I'm curious. I've never used levamisol but I would probably do all testing in some type of control tank and not in DT until levamisol is proven effective. Seems like it might harm your livestock?

Levamisole has been effectively used as a dip for treating AEFW for a long time, there has been some mention of in tank treatments on wet web for a while as well such as here:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/vermifugefaqs.htm

I think the question isn't really if its effective, I think a more standard treatment plan still needs to be established, we know that it kills the worms (not the eggs).

[Bax]

Levamisole hydrochloride is a braod spectrum dewormer commonly utilized on farm animals you eat for dinner! It is well documented as a agent agaisnt all sorts of internal and external worms. It has been utilized in the freshwater trade fro many years. The fresh water dose is MUCH higher than the acceptable saltwater dose as we like some of our invertibrates to survive in SW systems!

[LifeAquatic]

Thanks for the info on levamisol! I'll take a look at your link after work. I hope one day there is a viable in-tank treatment for AEFW! Thx for all your help looking for the solution.

[Atomikk]

As soon as I get my packets of Levi, I will be documenting my progress on my blog and here.

[Bax]

Atomikk

Definitely let us know how it goes!

LifeAquatic

Same bud. Nice donut in your avatar!

[James404]

Thanks for joining in guys, look forward to seeing your results.

[edandsandy]

I wish you great success... Having AEFW is like

(Could you take before and after pictures please.)

[clowndude]

I will be treating my tank at the end of the week. I had to move unexpectedly so I want to let the tank settle down. Will most likely be dosing the tank Friday. I will post my results and findings after.

[cham]

Originally Posted by LifeAquatic

Thanks for the info on levamisol! I'll take a look at your link after work. I hope one day there is a viable in-tank treatment for AEFW! Thx for all your help looking for the solution.

If someone comes up with an in tank AEFW treatment they will have single handedly made one massive step forward for the reef hobby.

AEFW's are reef cancer, you find a cure for cancer and you've done something.

[Atomikk]

This is why we need to work together to find a solution for AEFW. What kind of North American community are we if we don't share our trials and successes?!

[James404]

I just want to warn everyone please be careful, this is a risky treatment, you can minimize this risk by doing the treatment in a QT tank, leaving the corals in for 4-6 weeks. I could not afford this at the time so opted for the whole tank treatment. If you are willing to take some risk, then we appreciate the feedback.

[cham]

I had a previous tank that had AEFW's that started killing all my corals. I eventually had to take the tank down.

Now I'm hyper paraniod when I get a new coral, especially the maricultured ones that have a large rock base.


With my experience with them, the bigger risk is allowing them to live. I don't have an extra QT that would be big enough to hold all my corals. I'd love to see more experiences with this. I don't currently have them (knock on wood) but I would sleep better at night knowing there are options if I get them.

[Bax]

I tossed away 3 or 4 five gallon buckets of SPS skeletons because of these bastages!

[cham]

Originally Posted by Bax

I tossed away 3 or 4 five gallon buckets of SPS skeletons because of these bastages!

This is what I'm talking about. If you get AEFW's you're in desperation mode. A "risk" is worth taking at that point.

[SPSEMPIRE]

Melvs Reef has a write up on levamisole treatment. I remember reading that the biggest risk when treating for the normal red planarias is the toxins that they release when they die, not from the medication itself. You should remove as many inverts as possible before treatment b/c they will not likely make it. Since you are treating for AEFWs and not the normal red flatworms, which are usually in plague portions, I don't think you have too much to worry about as long as you go by the recommended dosage.

[Denadai]

Another option is melafix.

Melafix also kill aefw and you can add in the main tank

Good luck

[edandsandy]

Originally Posted by Denadai

Another option is melafix.

Melafix also kill aefw and you can add in the main tank

Good luck

Are you sure you can add Melafix to a reef tank?
You must be talking about a dip of some sort..

[Bax]

Sandy

I am SURE you can add the Levamisole to your reef at the 5 grams/300gallons dose.

I know as I did it several times. The only crtitters that really worried me were my brittle stars, so I pulled them out for the doses. It was nail bitting, but OK. Every thing survivied.

My main concern, and something i want everyone who tries this to look for, is AEFW rebound from eggs.

Dips, in tank systemic treatments, nothing, but physical removal beats the eggs. So, if we don't treat long enough, they can come back again and again!

This is why I'm suggesting a 4 week treatment. I'm even considering a follow up dose to my system 3-4 weeks after the 4th treatment. These things are the most persitent pest I've ever encountered!

[myaerica]

Where do you get levamisole? The place I use to get it dosent carry it anymore.I dont know if its because its the number one cutting agent in cocaine is why they got rid of it, but I need to find some.