cleaner shrimp white spots

[kpiotrowski]

my scarlet cleaner shrimp (2) have what looks exactly like marine ich and have had this for some months. My biggest concern is the tank has been fishless for two months due to marine ich and I am wondering is it possible that shrimp can actually be a carrier. which leads me to another question if my fish never had marine ich ( looks and acts exactly like ich) and instead they had what the shrimp have...which kills fish, just apparently not shrimp, then what could it be?

sorry don't have a camera or skills good enough to provide pics. cant' find any other info on white spot on shrimp. jsut black spots.

TIA!!!

 

[NC2WA]

moving to Lee's forum to get better coverage....

 

[leebca]

Hi.

Cryptocaryon irritans (Marine Ich parasite) doesn't affect invertebrates. It can't live with them, on them, or use them for their sustenance. I don't know that much about invertebrate parasites-diseases, but do know that what affects fishes are rarely what affects invertebrates, and vice versa. One thing they do have in common is that copepods (a certain kind of invertebrate) can attack both. What you might want to do is note the location of these spots on the shrimp. Pick out a few spots and watch them daily. See if they move around or disappear or stay there for more than two or three days. Generally, Marine Ich spots will 'come and go' over time, giving the impression the fish is healthy one day, then infected the next day.

Hopefully, the fish you thought did have Marine Ich have been treated for that and the spots are no longer present. If you followed the treatment process here: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/f15/curing-fish-marine-ich-50933/ and it was Marine Ich, then they are free of the parasite.

In any event, you want to get photos you can share with people that know invertebrate disorders. Good luck!

 

[kpiotrowski]

Thanks Lee for the assurance its not ich. I am certain the fish had ich and so it must be at least two differnt things I am dealing with. The shrimp seem to fine. hoepfully someone somewhere will have an idea of what it is on the shrimp. didn't know copepods with attack fish. very interesting!

my fish were in hypo for over 4 weeks at around 1.007 to 1.008. I went that low cuz my pbt had one last outbreak at 1.010. they I took about 8 days to bring them back up to 1.025 and have been at that sg for a week now. hopefully they are cured. will wait another 5 weeks to be sure.

 

[leebca]

Sounds like you're doing fine. Just be patient. The 'outbreak at 1.010' is very unusual. Maybe one spot, but that would be about a 1:100 chance.

 

[kpiotrowski]

the outbreak was very light compared to the previous and lasted 2 days, but he was covered head to tail with perhaps 40-50 spots total. sg was checked with both manual and digital refracometers calibrated with calibration fluid and rodi water and was 1.009 at one day and 1.010 when I noticed the spots.

if he breaks out again, and it looks just like ich...what then? copper? He was in hypo for like 6-7 week total and a solid 30 days at or below 1.008

 

[leebca]

That sounds very little like marine Ich. Since hypo only handles certain small group of parasites, it would be better to switch to a copper treatment, just to get the effect of a more broad treatment. I would be prepared to treat with Cupramine should you see the spots come back after you raise the salinity back to normal.

 

[MrKris]

I used to be worrying about this as well and I also thought it was ich, but doing much research ich cannot attach to inverts (that and my other fish had no traces of ich). After just letting nature play it out, it seemed to me that after your shrimps molt, it would be completely fine. The white spots seem to be attached to the shell itself and does not affect the shrimp (not that I know of at least). Check if the spots exist after it molts - I call them old age spots lol.