Treating internal parasites with Fenbendazole

I recently ran into a camallanus infestation in my fish which seemed resistant to levamisole (Discomed) which is usually what I treat it with. I did tons of research and finally concluded that I would try treating with Fenbendazole, which is available as a dog dewormer. The brand names in the US are Panacur and Safe-guard. They are both the same thing (22% fenbendazole) but only Panacur requires a prescription from a vet. I picked up the Safe-guard at Petsmart for about $15 (Petsmart is horrible, but my LFS didn't carry it).

I dissolved 1/8 teaspoon Fenbendazole in Garlic Guard, Entice and Vita-Chem (fen. is nasty tasting, gotta add flavor enticers to convince your fish to eat it). Then I added 2 cubes of beefheart. I added a teaspoon of Focus (by Seachem) which binds the medication to the food. Then I let it all soak in for an hour or so. I fed the food and within the hour my Bolivian Ram (the only one displaying worms protruding from his vent) passed a dead worm. I fed the food for three days to be safe, and fed the same recipe again a week later.

It all worked perfectly. The fish displayed no discomfort (aside from mild annoyance with the taste of their food) and it has not come back. Most of the fish didn't appear to ingest much of it, as they spat out most of the bites they took, but I guess they got enough in their system. I had a nightmare of a time finding detailed dosage instructions online, so I wanted to make sure I shared mine. I didn't notice any snail die off (I've got tons of MTS) and I treated plecos, cichlids, cyprinids, a betta, cory cats and a few others, who all appeared to tolerate it equally.

Thanks for the info!! Hopefully I'll never need it but if I do it's nice to know you've done all the research for us. As for me, I'm off to go deal with some ICH....

Did you observe any of your inverts eating the medicated food, or did you just remove whatever was uneated by the fish as quickly as possible?

Didn't observe any eating, but I'd be surprised if they didn't, as I didn't clean up, and a lot landed on the bottom for the scavengers.

My scientist friend the other day explained to me how it was invert safe, but it was very complicated, and I kinda blocked it out. I'll make him write it down for me tomorrow and post it.

Awesome. Then, I'll get my biochemist girlfriend to translate whatever you write into The King's English so I can actually understand it. Good to know it's invert-safe though.

Wow, thanks. Parasite Clear doesn't seem to be doing it for me, and I can't find anywhere to get medicated food. I do have dewormers though, so I'll try that. I just didn't know the dosage, but thanks to this I do now! Thanks :)

Thanks for the info! I am still treating my Clown loach for some type of IP. Changed his meds twice now, and no improvement. I will try your cure next.

Hey cool, I was just looking into a de-wormer for my Nichols mouthbrooders, and was researching discomed.
then I was looking at medicated foods and found medicated flake at Angels Plus with Fenben in it - so of course I started researching fenben -- and found this post - small world !

I'm thinking about mixing up a batch of a shrimp paste food with discomed in it, and if that doesn't work, I might try the fenben flakes (alot cheaper than buying fenben that I won't need later, and less worry about overdosing...)