# Shrimp Fungal Infection



## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Picked up a couple of RCS from a "LFS" and the more I looked at one, the more "off" it appeared. Thought the shrimp was berried at first, but that's not the case. From what I can gather, it could be *ACHLYA*?

I have the two shrimp in a quickly setup quarantine tank, after confirming that something wasn't quite right with one of them and have not introduced either to my other tanks.

Seems to be either a death sentence, or, if you can get the right products, a deadly cure. Products such as Methylene Blue/Green, JBL Fungal, Permangranate, Formalin, Paraguard, Primaflix, Ick Guard....



Actual LFS (different store) said to try the salt dip or H202 methods first, prior to using one of those products. More specifically, only use them as a last resort.

And.... from what I've read, salt dips don't work. It's not a parasite, it's a fungal problem.

I have also read that things may "correct" themselves when water parameters have been improved. I did use water from two separate tanks (one established, one new) in the quarantine tank, added driftwood, almond leaf, heater and a sponge filter.



That aside... and I'm sure this may be rather pointless.... but...


*How often can salt baths be done? Or how many a day?*
*For how long can the shrimp remain in the salt bath?*
*If I attempt an H202 treatment (3ml/gallon), would I be doing this once, daily?*
*Or would I be better off dosing with Excel?*

I'm guessing I need to do the treatment for at least one week and hope I don't kill them in the process.


I've included pictures to hopefully show the issue. The first image taken with my cell phone and image cropped.










The next two images have been modified somewhat (color, contrast, lighting) to hopefully make it show clearer. First image resized and cropped, second image is original photo that was cropped.


















Here's some more info that I've found....

Systemische Mykose - Crustakrankheiten.de

http://i.gyazo.com/9d05c96272bb9c7fcda260be3ab8dd73.png


And I have searched the forum and read other threads on this topic as well as threads on other forums.



And one last thing.... I think the fungus was a neon green/lime green coloration when I first picked her up, but after doing an initial salt dip (>60s), it looks like it has turned a yellowish color now? And nothing has come off. I've tried a longer dip as well, however, no changes.


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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

You can try to treat it if you want, but be sure to keep the shrimp isolated and do water changes in any tank it may have been. The fungal disease is hard to treat and the treatments can kill the shrimp.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

I got the shrimp on the 15th, placed bag into new aquarium but did not add, nor remove the water or shrimp. They were, unfortunately (or fortunately?) inside the bag for several hours.



Wanted to do a water test prior to acclimating them to the new tank, so started on that. Didn't make it very far before doing more research on the fungal problem. At that stage, I stopped testing the water parameters and switched to setting up a quarantine tank. I used water from both an old tank and new tank for the quarantine tank, added driftwood, heater, sponge filter and then fished both shrimp out of the bag and dumped them (without acclimating them) into the quarantine tank. Did not use the water they came with.



Still alive a little over 24 hours later, plus two salt dips.







Yukiharu said:


> The fungal disease is hard to treat and the treatments can kill the shrimp.



That's basically everything I've gathered... so doing salt dips/H202/Excel treatments may do nothing, may kill them, or who knows.... but could be less stressful than using medications. (if I don't OD on anything...)

LFS that said to use medications as a last resort recommended salting the entire tank, but I'm not sure how long shrimp can live in salt water. I can't seem to find definite information on their natural habitat... i.e. pools, mountain streams, or streams that flow into the river where-in they live in both fresh and brackish water, depending upon tide.


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## Mango (Dec 12, 2015)

Try using EM Erythromycin


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Mango said:


> Try using EM Erythromycin


Any chance you've used this product to treat this problem?


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## Mango (Dec 12, 2015)

Zoidburg said:


> Any chance you've used this product to treat this problem?


No but people who treated this told me it worked.


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## Yukiharu (May 3, 2014)

I've heard malachite green and the like work, but if I recall they are poisonous to shrimp. Salt won't do anything. Immediately quarantine.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Mango said:


> No but people who treated this told me it worked.


Thank you. I will add it to the list of possible medications to try.




Yukiharu said:


> I've heard malachite green and the like work, but if I recall they are poisonous to shrimp. Salt won't do anything. Immediately quarantine.


See Here ---> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8...1609-shrimp-fungal-infection.html#post9134409






Here is the quick setup for said two shrimp. The over-flow container hanging on the inside of the QT tank is the salt dip water. (obviously probably not going to work)










Still alive...

As an update, decided to go to a store and pick *something* up.... but only one store was open and the only thing they had was Pimafix... Picked up a small bottle that should last for 3 weeks, or longer.



First dose, just started slowly adding it to the tank and it caused the other shrimp (one that doesn't appear infected) to drop off of the driftwood (both hiding underneath it), fall on it's back onto the glass, momentarily struggle like a poor bug that can't figure out how to right itself because it's upside down, then quickly righted herself and shot back up to the driftwood.

Pretty sure that this particular shrimp is *NOT* happy with me since I've been treating both and she *appears* fine. 



Guess I'll find out if this is snake oil or worth getting. There are other options available when the other stores are open.




Side Note: Both are currently still underneath the driftwood and it looks like the uninfected female is "hugging" the infected female. (or just "resting" her head on the back of the other female) Looks a bit odd since I haven't seen the other shrimp behave this way. She's even moved a little bit, then gone back into that position.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Posted about this green "fungus" on shrimps before.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8.../1003737-moss-growing-shrimp.html#post8925001

Here's another older thread
Green "fungal" infection on red cherry swimmerets. - Care, feeding and breeding - The Shrimp Spot

Definitely separate any shrimp will any green "fungus"/moss.


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

WaterLife said:


> Posted about this green "fungus" on shrimps before.
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8.../1003737-moss-growing-shrimp.html#post8925001


Didn't read this one yet. Thanks for the link! Although I don't see anything new that I haven't come across yet. :|




WaterLife said:


> Here's another older thread
> Green "fungal" infection on red cherry swimmerets. - Care, feeding and breeding - The Shrimp Spot


Already came across this post.




WaterLife said:


> Definitely separate any shrimp will any green "fungus"/moss.


Read previous posts. 




Called the shop that I picked the shrimp up from and they basically said not to worry, if she's strong enough she'll shake off the fungus. :eek5: It was my first time visiting this particular store, and I doubt I'll be going back...


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

Accidentally came across someone who used a salt method to get rid of the "fungus".



https://www.petshrimp.com/discussio...7&sid=c90dd29aaadf2f8658b61b2ede1030e9#p11157



As a short update, 6 days of Pimafix, no changes. If it is a parasite, it's interesting how some people have had good luck using antibiotic and/or antifungal meds to get rid of this parasite. Was hoping that with new water, the female would molt, as many of the other shrimp have been molting after moving them into a new, 20g setup. No such luck with this one. (or the other female in the quarantine tank)


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## Zoidburg (Mar 8, 2016)

As an update... the infected shrimp died last night. One remaining shrimp left and she's still alive, still no signs of infection. Did a 100% water change and cleaned/rinsed just about everything in the tank (after the death of the other one) to try and get rid of the Pimafix. Did a pwc on the 20g and moved 5 gallons from there to the 10g quarantine tank. Used tap water for the rest of the water required to refill the QT tank. This caused the remaining shrimp to molt and she still appears fine/healthy, if not probably pretty stressed out from getting moved around and water completely changed a couple of times...



I did send a message out to a few companies that make medications for aquariums. Received two replies back so far... a little too late but figured I'd share regardless. 





> Dear ______,
> Thank you for inquiring at API. We would recommend to using Fungus Cure. It is safe for shrimp and helps with fungus infections.
> 
> Thank you,
> ...





> Hi ______,
> 
> Ellobiopsidae can be difficult to get rid of. There are some reports of treating it with ParaGuard with mixed results. The medication was developed for use with fish, not shrimp, so I don't have specific dosing instructions, but feed back from shrimp breeders is that they have used it successfully with shrimp. I would start with a quarter dose and experiment with increasing it. The shrimp with the parasites should be separated from the other shrimp to prevent spreading of the disease. If you do have success, please let us know as this disease has started showing up more frequently and currently is quite difficult to treat successfully.
> 
> ...


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