# De-worming snails and shrimps of internal parasites.. Can it be done?



## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Like the title suggests, is it possible to de-worm snails and shrimps of internal parasites? Thing is, I have a TON of ramshorn snails, MTS snails, scud gammarus shrimp, dwarf shrimp culls in a tank that I use to collect a whole lot of them when they overpopulate my planted tanks; it's a tank without fish, by the way, and I would LOVE to feed them to my clown loaches and other big fish, BUT I fear that they may have nematode parasites in them such as callamanus worms; you know, those nasty, disgusting, deadly killer parasitic red worms that infect fish inside of their gastrointestinal tracts, and then hang out on a fish's anus.. :icon_mad: Ugh. So, here's my plan.. I have a good number of de-worming medicated fish flake food with deworming active ingredients medications such as: praziquentel, levamisole, fenbendazole. And I also have powdered prazi, powder fenbendazole, powdered metronidazole to dose in the tank too, and my idea is by feeding them the deworming medicated fish flakes and in conjunction with the meds in the water column would help them de-worm, defecate, purge themselves of the worms and be killed by the medications that is in the water? Or would I be risking it and end up killing all of my snails and shrimps? If the snails and shrimps have internal parasites, is it too late, it's inside of them forever, and I shouldn't even bother trying to de-worm them? I have a ton of ramshorns that are ready to unload that I want to feed my loaches, but I am sick-to-the-stomach worried I might infect them with worms and have to deal with parasites. I've been putting some thought about experimenting with one small cheap healthy fish eating one of the scuds, and crushed ramshorns I have in the tank to test to see if they would contract any worms.. Should I give it a shot? Or try my idea of de-worming the inverts with the medicated flakes and then killing the worms that come into contact with meds in the water, OR just going with only one kind of med treatment without the other?

What do you think, guys? What would work? 

I'd really appreciate any input.

Thanks, all.

-William


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Don't try No Planaria. It is supposed o be for Planaria and says safe for fish...
But I just used it to kill the Planaria in one of my 10g tanks and it also killed all my snails. Since I smash pond snails whenever I can I didn't have any full sized ones of those but many smaller ones which I'll never see to remove are dead and all the full grown ram snails also. They were not as hard to find. Also killed the Nerites.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Check out API's General Cure.
I have also read that dog de-worming could work?

v3


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## aquariumhobbyist (Feb 18, 2014)

fenbendazole kills snails. It's actually one of the ways people tell the medication is at the right dosage... If it kills snails, it could kill the shrimp too... 

Also, I had no idea shrimp could carry callamanus worms or other parasites? Is there any source for your concerns that you can share?


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

Fenbendazole does not kill snails at the correct dosage! I used it in my snail breeding tank to kill a hydra infestation. It only takes away tiny amount, half a pinch.


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

aquariumhobbyist said:


> fenbendazole kills snails. It's actually one of the ways people tell the medication is at the right dosage... If it kills snails, it could kill the shrimp too...
> 
> Also, I had no idea shrimp could carry callamanus worms or other parasites? Is there any source for your concerns that you can share?


Yes, shrimps can harbor some parasites..

Ghost shrimp is one.

:confused1:



















And thanks for the responses guys.. I'll make sure when I plan to medicate fenbendazole, that I don't overdose. And as for API General cure, hmmm it's for fish, and API doesn't state on package if it harms or doesn't harm invertebrates; so, still not so sure about dosing it. And I heard dog dewormers contain levamisole and sometimes kill snails.. Hit and miss.. Shucks... :help:


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

General Cure did not kill snails several times that I've used it. Never tried it with shrimp.

v3


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Really?? Hmm! I guess it's worth a try. I'll see if I can incorporate it in the tank water along with medicated food for them. I might put a few snails and shrimps in a smaller tank to experiment. Don't want to run the risk of losing the whole population of them.

Thanks for your input, OVT.

Any more of you guys have any thoughts on my current situation?

Thanks, all.


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## Monster Fish (Mar 15, 2011)

The active ingredients in API General Cure are metronidazole & praziquantel. Both will not kill snails.


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Sounds good. It is definitely worth medicating with API's GC then. I heard prazi is really safe, but I didn't know if metro is either. Now I know.. Thanks. I'll see if I can keep this thread updated on how well my shrimps/snails tolerate the meds. I'll let you guys know if things go good, or bad..


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I recommend bumping up your surface agitation during treatment.
Looking forward to your results, friend.

v3


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

> I recommend bumping up your surface agitation during treatment.


Will do. Thanks. :thumbsup:


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## Bingo (May 26, 2014)

Fenbendazole does not kill snails or shrimp if dosed correctly; I have sucessfully eradicated an influx of hydra from my tank by dosing 0.01g Panacure deworming granules as it's fenbendazole in it's purest form, my Ramshorns and shrimp colony survived to tell the tale


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## wheatiesl337 (Mar 30, 2011)

Praziquentel will also eliminate some pests and is shrimp and snail safe. I have used it to treat headworms on dwarf shrimp with success. I found fenben, in shrimp-safe doses, to be safe for snails excluding nerites.


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## mayanjungledog (Mar 26, 2009)

Bingo said:


> Fenbendazole does not kill snails or shrimp if dosed correctly; I have sucessfully eradicated an influx of hydra from my tank by dosing 0.01g Panacure deworming granules as it's fenbendazole in it's purest form, my Ramshorns and shrimp colony survived to tell the tale
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I've used half your dose for hydra and it killed about a dozen nerites in my tank. Ramshorn and pond snails were not touched at all and did well.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Just did this. Used .1g of dewormer in a 13g tank. Only did one overnight dose followed by two large wc. Safe to say all my shrimp and snails survived. They didn't want to eat for a few days thought. And one of my females molted it's eggs.


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Well, that's great. Now we can somewhat be certain that dewormers may work and help to fight off worms. 

I haven't started deworming my shrimps and snails yet, but here's my big plan guys.. I just got a small red platy fish about a week ago, and he is going to be the guinea pig test subject to see if he will contract worms first. I'm currently quarantining him prior to feeding him the shrimps/snails, so he's clean, disinfected, and healthy right off the bat.. After a week or two of feeding my possibly infected scuds/cull shrimps, I'm going to observe if he got gets any worms after a while. If he doesn't, okay then looks like I don't even have to bother deworming my shrimps, however if he DOES get worms, okay I would know that the shrimps are carrying the parasites. 

Next, I'm going to try to feed my snails and experiment.. the same thing like with my shrimps. If both shrimps and snails give my platy worms, it is deworming fish food and medication in the water time.. After deworming the shrimps/snails after a few weeks, if done successfully without massive die-offs, it's time to feed my platy and test again.. I can only hope for the best that things work out.


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## James He (Sep 17, 2009)

I dosed 0.1g fenbendazole from Panacure in my BMS/CRS 10G tank to kill hydra for three days now.

No ill effect noticed with BMS and CRS.


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Sounds good.


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## aquariumhobbyist (Feb 18, 2014)

devilduck said:


> Fenbendazole does not kill snails at the correct dosage! I used it in my snail breeding tank to kill a hydra infestation. It only takes away tiny amount, half a pinch.


The question I have yet to find an answer to is, what is the correct dosage? One that does not kill shrimps or invertebrates, but cures the worm infestation in fish like corydoras.


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