Merck Safeguard Goat Dewormer, 125ml

Arrived very quickly and well packaged. Works well and quickly

I ordered this up to help combat the start of a freshwater hydra (freshwater polyps) infestation in a planted shrimp tank. The type I had were the white/clear type, and they were all very small specimens, max size of 1/8 inch including tentacles. They hitchhiked into the aquarium with some plants I had purchased, and didn't show up visibly for over 3 weeks, which is about when I found them in numbers on a leaf of one plant and attached to the glass on 2-3 sides of the tank.There are many write-ups on the web about using the powdered form of Fenbendazole (Panacur,etc.), but there are significant problems with getting it to dissolve in water, as well as in dosing, so this made application much easier.This liquid Fenben made treatment much easier, with 1 ml of solution per 10 gallons of aquarium water. One thing of note is you will need a medicine dropper, it does not come with one.I started off by removing any activated carbon as well as removing my Purigen (figured it would probably strip this from the water column to quickly). I then dosed at 0.5ml per 10 gallons to play it safe and checked it two hours later. The larger hydra rag dolled fairly quickly but remained attached to the aquarium. The smaller specimens seemed for the most part unaffected. I evaluated my Neocardina shrimp and noticed them doing just fine with no changes due to the medicine. So with that in mind, I added an addition 0.5ml per 10 gallons to bring it up to the recommended dose.A day later, the cloudiness was gone from the tank (the medicine is chalky white), and I ran through another evaluation. Plants and shrimps were doing great still, no deaths or unusual behavior or appearances so that was a relief. Checked my Ammonia/Nitrate levels to ensure hydra/worm die off was not affecting my water quality, and due to it being a fairly new tank there was very little change but it was good to make sure. I then began my visual inspection of the areas with hydra, and noted that about 1/2 of the large dead hydra had fallen off, and the other half were obviously dead but still hanging on. With regards to the smaller hydra, all were doing the rag doll at this point, but still seemed to be hanging on.With that in mind I decided to do a 25% water change, and then added another 1ml dose per 10 gallons. Checked up on it several hours later and 9 out of 10 of the large hydra were completely gone from the tank walls, and about 1/4 of the smaller hydra were starting to detach. Shrimp and plants were still doing fine, so I decided to leave it as is for 48hours.I have another 24 hours to wait at this point, but there are only a few hydra attached to the walls at this point, and they look to be completely limp and if not already dead should be shortly. The plan is tomorrow to do a slow 40-50% water change, and to add some activated carbon to begin removing the residual medicine. A day or two after that has been in, I'll place the purigen back in, and I should be good to go, no more hydra!A few things of note I did not mention:- This will kill snails, especially of the nerite variety from what I've read, but with light dosing I've heard reports they can survive it. Also, there are reports that adding the nerites back in can kill them as the medicine may linger for an untold amount of time.- The older and more varied the fauna in your tank, the more I'd worry about a large ammonia or nitrate spike when using this type of treatment. There are older reports of shrimp or fish die offs after using, which confused the issue for a long time, but this seems due mostly to ammonia spikes caused by die offs of worms, snails, and other inverts affected by this. Imagine a large colony of detritus worms you never see dying off in your gravel bed and you can see how this could happen. So make sure if this could be you (established tank) that you are ready to treat spikes if necessary, with water changes, etc.-Water changes are not necessary when you finish, but for peace of mind and to help bring the chemical load in the water column down quicker, I recommend some sort of water change when done, and using some activated carbon for a few days. Again this also helps in managing Ammonia and Nitrates as well due to the worm die offs.Hope this helps!

Ok I have been using this a LOOOOOONG time, years and YEARS AND YEARS and YEARS AND YEARS (yes I am THAT old). Works with goats, horses, cattle, dogs but you do need to know your dosing amounts. I am not going to play vet and give dosing info, that is up to you, your vet and doing your homework and personal choices, but it is info easily found on the web or from your vet.I will tell you this...if and when you take your pups or brand new puppy to the vet and the vet tries to sell you a TINY little bottle of "special" wormer for 60 dollars or so, it is EXACTLY this stuff. Same thing, same brand, same manufacturer, they just dose it down to your puppy's size. Really, do not let your vet's rip you off. Tell them you know, discuss dosing, then buy it otc. Vet might hate you for showing your smarts, but most vets these days are really in the make- a- buck game more than honest help.Works great on livestock too, will fix a goat right up, and for those with a fear of ODing your animals, this is one of the SAFEST wormers you can use opposed to things like ivermectin where if you accidentally give too much, you could be looking at permanent blindness or death in your animal. You can get the paste tube wormer-same brand for your horses and a different type-same brand, meant just for cattle, but in a pinch, I would not hesitate to use on a calf.Very effective against giardia in dogs as well, in a 3 day dose.Now all this great stuff being said, this is one of the few things you can find MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper at places like Walmart, all the online vet companies like Valley Vet, etc. even direct from the manufacturer or you can just pick it up at your local TSC. It's rare that I have this happen on Amazon. I mean 1.00 more ok, but 6 7 8 10 dollars more I have an issue. I did contact Amazon customer service about pricing and once again their customer service was above and beyond and made it right for me, and I am as loyal as a puppy to Amazon due to their great customer service when every so often I have a problem. BUT...If you are seeing this 4.2 oz still listed in the 26.00-28.00 price tag, do yourself a favor, let Amazon know its cheaper EVERYWHERE ELSE, and then buy it somewhere else till they get the price more in line with other non-Amazon sellers. (Sorry Amazon, but this is just waaaay overpriced for anyone).Oh and if you are worried about the taste, yup, its like a white chalky liquid, DO HAVE SYRINGES to administer (buy separately) and then have a nice dog cookie or a handful of grain to make sure your critters don't hate you for more than 1 min. A spoonful of sugar....etc. I do NOT recommend adding to feed or food as then you are not sure of the dosing....syringe and down the hatch! Followed by a treat='s happy critter!