Possible Camallanus infection in Betta

***full tank photos before symptoms arise

Hi all!
I noticed this morning that my Male Betta had a slightly swollen stomach with a red spike like “thing” coming from his anus (only one). After some research I’ve discovered that these symptoms seem to match a Camallanus worm infection!! Of course being the obsessive fish-mom I am, I have freaked out and ordered nemarid and Aqua-dox medicated fish food in order to try and save his life (he means a great deal to me). I have also performed a 90% water change and set up a separate tank for my zebra snail in preparation for treatment.
With all this being said I was wondering what the possibility of survival is? And if I am right with the diagnosis? (i have included the disease questionnaire to help with further explanation)






General

Where do you stay?

Pretoria east

How long have you been keeping tropical fishes?

2 years

How long has the tank been running before you added fish/this fish?

4 weeks, although tank is also fully planted (no CO2)

What fish do you have in your Tank (type, number and size)?

1 small Betta male


When did you last buy any new fish?

I got a zebra snail about 5 months ago (2 months after my Betta was introduced)

Which food are you feeding and how often do you feed?

Hikari Betta-bio gold
2 x per day, 6 pellets each time


Disease
Describe the problem that the fish is having (behaviour, breathing, excretion (droppings), food intake, colour)?

Swollen stomach with barely noticeable pine-coning, red ?worm? Protruding from anus
Other than those two things the fish is behaving normally (highly active, eating healthily and brightly colored)
Poop is a light brown and not stringy, more clumpy
Breathing is perfectly normal

Is the fish eating?

Yes

Has the problem occurred before?:

No

Have you treated the problem and how?

No, but have ordered a dewormer (nemarid) and medicated fish food (Aqua-dox)

Have you had any other problems in the past?

Yes

What were they?

Minor tail biting

Did you treat for these problems?
How?

Yes, moved fish out of direct sunlight (worked like a charm)

Your aquarium & Maintenance
How big is the tank. (L x b x h)?

52 x 29.5 x 19 cm

How many litres of water?

19L

What type of filter do you run?

Fluval 3 stage filtration

What is IN the filter?

Sponge, biomax rings and carbon but I removed the carbon because I have Indian almond leaf in the tank

How many litres per hour is the filter rated for?

Not sure

How often do you clean your tank?

Do a partial water change very 1-2 weeks due to the tank being heavily planted
Full water change every 4 weeks

How do you clean your tank?

Use gravel vacuum to remove the water and as much debris as possible
Then remove algae from plants
Put new water in
Dechlorinate it

How much water do you take out for Water change?

50% partial
90% full

Do you prepare your water for water changes? How and what do you add?

Yes I use dechlorinated tap water and some plant fertilizer

What water do you use. (Tap, bore hole, RO)?

Tap

What substrate do you have?

Aquarium plant soil

What else is in the tank (Rocks, plants, fake plants, shells, anything else)?

Live plants, 3 river rocks, 3 shells and a zebra snail

Water parameters in your aquarium
Describe the water (smell and colour?)

Strong smell, smells like decaying plant material but not as bad-I always though of it as an ecosystem smell
Clear

Temperature of the water?

27C

General hardness (GH)?

4•d

Carbonate hardness (KH)?

6•d

Ammonia:

0

Nitrite (No2-)?

0

Nitrate (No3-)?

0

pH?

Around 6.5-7

How did you test these? Have you checked the expiry date on the test kits?

Not expired
Weekly use a tetra strip test
Monthly use profi test

Lights
What light do you have?

Fluval spec v light with LED

How long is the light on for?

About 5-6 hours to limit algae growth

Do you have lots of plants in the tank (real or fake)?

Yes lots of real plants

How do you fertilize the plants?

I use a liquid fertilizer

If possible, can you post some pictures of
(1) The sick fish

Will post soon

(2) A close up of the sick fish, and/or effected area

Will post soon

(3) the full tank.
Done.

 

Sorry to hear your fish is not well- it is however possible he can be saved with proper treatment. You’ll see a recent thread ‘Quarantine medication’ under diseases where the routine was described- have a read?

Nemarid can be combined with Aqua-dox and administered as indicated on the packaging, although that is more a preventative/ early infection stage solution (with low Levamisole concentration) as opposed to a more advanced infection, which is when the worms are visibly protruding. Worth trying though if he seems otherwise ok and is still eating well? With treatment the worm/s should fall out, paralyzed, and then need to be vacuumed out.
Thankfully the tank is small and so the thorough cleaning regimen isn’t too taxing. Once he’s cured the Nemarid every 3 months should prevent them reappearing.
Good luck and hope he recovers strongly.

 

I don't think your Betta has worms. Camallanus worms protrude as, due to no better wording, a paint brush. They are very small worms and will protrude as more than one at a time.

I thing it might be a prolaps of the intestines, only one red bump showing. This might be caused by constipation even if does poop. Feed him a skinned pea to help with the constepation, if that is the problem here. What I understand is that it might or might not repair itself.

Sent from my SM-A720F using Tapatalk

 

@pierreschoonraad the thing isn’t a bump but instead a rather long small thin thing, that looks like a bristle of a paint brush but it’s only one, it is also changing length like it will stick quite far out for a while and then I’ll look and it’ll just be sticking out a little bit

 

@Cale24 thanks for the message he is acting perfectly healthy and has a very healthy appetite, he’s just slightly swollen and has that thing sticking out...I hope the nemarid does work as it’s the fastest treatment I can get him on...I really hope he will be ok

 

No problem. I saved two out of three fish that had symptoms (a single brush like red worm protruding, although more than one can stick out at a time). If you can't find Dovaworm then try the Nemarid, possibly with Aqua-Dox.
The worms usually retract into the fish when they move, although bettas tend to stay quite still. The worms usually protrude more and more after treatment until they fall out and need to be removed from the tank.

Hope the treatment goes well.

 

Good luck with the treatment @CourtneyW

Hope the little guy will be ok

 

Thank you everyone for the kind support

 

@Cale24 May I ask you how long after you first administered the medication did the worms fall out? I administered it yesterday and have noticed a definite decrease in swelling and the worm is protruding out more however it hasn't come out yet...was just wondering when I should clean the tank again to remove the worms that have fallen out (i don't see any yet)

I just want to thank you again for the advice and support

 

Yeah they will protrude more and more until they fall out, usually over 2 - 4 days. I would do a large water change (as much as possible) on the weekend, making sure to check everywhere for worms. If you see any lying on the substrate before then, just siphon them out if possible.
Try not to dispose of them down the drain - bin or lawn, etc.

Happy to help! Remember to do a follow up treatment, same routine, in 2-3 weeks (important as more will hatch in that time).

 

@CourtneyW levamisole was the only thing that worked for me. I had over 20 fish infected and everything else I could find didn't help. I got the levamisole from a small pet shop that sold pigeon meds. I cant remember the dosage I used but dosed the whole tank and soaked the food. As @Cale24 mentioned, siphon the substrate while doing water changes.

 

thank you for the advice, I am going to the vet tomorrow to get levamisole, hopefully in the form of Dovaworm, do anybody know how to work out what dosage I need and how I must administer it?

My fish is pooping ALOT but the worm is still very much attached and he’s really unwilling to eat the dewormer food, he’ll eat normal food but I think he doesn’t dig the taste of the dewormer

 

Have a look at this thread - dosage is in there: https://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/threads/quarantine-medication.33037/

 

@Cale24 thank you very much!

 

update to this thread:

The worm protruding from Noodle (my betta) has fallen out and his swelling has reduced, although his underbelly is still very much swollen, I gave him a pea yesterday as he was constipated and I was struggling to get him to take his meds...after the pea he definitely released waste (hopefully with some of those little devils in them), I picked up some garlic and added that to the food soak and I haven't had a problem with him not eating them since! I also added some Nemarid to the water using @Cale24 workings out from the thread "quarantine medication" and I definitely think this is what has helped the most.

I wanted to ask if I can give him another pea to help him expel the worms and reduce swelling (I'm worried about rotting worms in his tummy killing him) and if the swelling afterwards is normal?

 

Glad you are seeing progress! Just make sure to remove any worms- a thorough clean and gravel vac in case any are not easily visible.
And yes more peas are fine and are a good thing to feed once or twice a week in general- most of my fish enjoy them too