QT Shrimp?

[Sgt Jonny Cat]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone puts their shrimp/snails in QT before the display as I have heard the ick can come in on the shell? Is this accurate??

 

[mwilliams62]

Never heard that before but you never know so I am following.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

The thought is that these guys could carry unwanted hitchhikers that can cause problems in the reef tank. Although I've never done it, I've read of people doing and suggesting it.

if you want to err on the side of caution then by all means, quarantine them for a few weeks. But most of us, just toss them in.

 

[ramseynb]

I'm not sure about ich, but other pests can certainly hitchhike on a snail's shell. In fact, I have a snail that has a vermetid snail hitching a ride. I need to grab that snail and remove the vermetid before it spreads. One other big thing to watch for is pest algae on a snail shell.

I doubt you need to worry about a shrimp, but you never know. I would be more concerned with the water than with the shrimp itself. The water may contain free floating pest larvae.

Of course, I've never heard of anyone having issues QT'ing too much.

 

[nereefpat]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone puts their shrimp/snails in QT before the display as I have heard the ick can come in on the shell? Is this accurate??

You have heard correctly. Although unlikely, it is possible for anything wet to bring in ich, and some other pests. Ich doesn't infect inverts, but the cyst stage can hitch a ride on anything wet.

The risk/reward decision is up to you. There are a lot of folks who qt inverts for a month or two or more, and there are probably more folks who just toss them in.

 

[Uncle99]

Seen a recent post whereas poster has a 2.5 year old tank, no new fish for last 6 months, added to small frags three weeks ago and now has lost 9 of his 10 fish to Ick.

No proof that it came on the frags, but absolutely possible.

If you don't QT, then how bout a rinse in DT water, a brush where possible, another rinse and drop them in....

 

[Dmorty217]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone puts their shrimp/snails in QT before the display as I have heard the ick can come in on the shell? Is this accurate??

There can be the free swimming stage of ich brought in with the shrimp due to the water in the bag. The cyst stage will not form on the body of any invert or fish, just surfaces like rock, sand, glass, frag plugs ect. People do QT shrimp but it will involve you Qting for 72 days. I would rinse the shrimp off with new saltwater and put in the DT if it were me.

 

[Sgt Jonny Cat]

Sounds great thank you!

 

[nereefpat]

The cyst stage will not form on the body of any invert

My understanding was incorrect. Thanks, Dmorty.

 

[BrettDS]

There can be the free swimming stage of ich brought in with the shrimp due to the water in the bag. The cyst stage will not form on the body of any invert or fish, just surfaces like rock, sand, glass, frag plugs ect. People do QT shrimp but it will involve you Qting for 72 days. I would rinse the shrimp off with new saltwater and put in the DT if it were me.

Dr. Peter Burgess studied this and this chart taken from his 1992 thesis shows that it is possible for a cyst to form on the exoskeleton of a shrimp.

The study is available here: https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10026.1/2632/PETER JOHN BURGESS.PDF?sequence=1

 

[Dmorty217]

Dr. Peter Burgess studied this and this chart taken from his 1992 thesis shows that it is possible for a cyst to form on the exoskeleton of a shrimp.

The study is available here: https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10026.1/2632/PETER JOHN BURGESS.PDF?sequence=1

I was unaware of that, I knew things like frag plugs and snail shells could and do carry cysts. In that case anything less than 72 days in a QT will be useless and there are plenty of cases where even 90 days wasn’t enough. Thank you for the link

 

[nereefpat]

At some point, I read that it's best practice to wait until a shrimp molts before adding it to the display...thus shedding any cysts. That could be nonsense though, and I don't remember where I read that and can't find it now.

 

[shaginwagon13]

There can be the free swimming stage of ich brought in with the shrimp due to the water in the bag. The cyst stage will not form on the body of any invert or fish, just surfaces like rock, sand, glass, frag plugs ect. People do QT shrimp but it will involve you Qting for 72 days. I would rinse the shrimp off with new saltwater and put in the DT if it were me.

+1

I do this for inverts also. Personally I don't see it viable for the vast majority to QT inverts, chaeto, ect.

Fish... absolutely go into QT and corals get their own special treatment.