[HeavyUser]

I believe I may have a bacterial infection in my tank. I house Red Cherries and Crystal Reds, when I first bought the red cherries many of them has parasites, I believe since I have clean water the parasites had nothing to feed off and died(I have not seen anymore parasites for a few weeks), a week later I saw fungal infections on 2 and removed them(little green like protrusions coming off the body), and today I found one dead shrimp.....It wasnt milky just standing up dead...I also saw a second shrimp that was super milky I was thinking it was be close to molting but I won't know till I get home and check on it tonight.

Today I purchased Mardel Maracyn 2 and API Melafix. From my research the Maracyn 2 is the cure and the Melafix is for prevention. I'm hoping these take care of the problem.

The main thing is I cant understand why the shrimp are constantly being plagued by one thing or another. I do water changed once a week to 2 weeks, the water is always heated to match the temp of the tank, I use distilled water re mineralized with GH+ to GH 6*, my nitrates never reach above 10ppm, my ph is a constant 6.4, ammonia and nitrites are non existent, and my TDS ranges from 160-200(water change once it reaches around 200).

I recently came up with the theory that it may be not enough water flow reaching the bottom of the tank. When I feed the fish there is enough water movement on the top half of the tank but when the food reaches the bottom section its pretty much suspended in the water and doesn't move. Could it possibly be the fact the bottom half of my tank water is almost stagnant allowing bacteria to flourish?

I also purchased a Hydor Koralia Nano Aquarium Circulation Pump 240. It will be pointed towards the middle of the tank to increase flow on the lower half of the water column.

Any input from you guys would be appreciated. I think I pretty much nailed all possibilities down but as I'm new to this I could be missing something.

 

[alcimedes]

The green protrusions that look like a fungus are actually a living organism (not a fungus). It's contagious and last I'd checked people had had very limited success with treatments.

The general consensus is any shrimp in that tank are likely exposed now and there's a good chance they won't make it.

It's an Ellobiopsidae protozoan. If you search for treatments for Ellobiopsidae you might find something. I know when I was looking into this a month or two ago someone had a new product they thought might work and still be shrimp safe, but I never saw the results post.

Sorry for your tank.

 

[HeavyUser]

Yea I didn't think I could cure the green stuff based on my research so I just disposed of the shrimp and I plan on disposing of whatever others I see pop up that have it.

I guess I was just more concerned with the one dead shrimp I found this morning, it had no green stuff on it at all. In fact I didn't really even notice it was dead until feeding time and I saw it wasn't moving. It was almost like it was frozen. Then I saw a very milky looking one. This is what led me to believe I may have a bacterial infection potentially.

Oh well.....I guess we will see what happens with time.

 

[randym]

I have heard some people have had success treating this with a total blackout. Like, 2-3 weeks of darkness.

Would probably have to be a quarantine tank, or it would be brutal on the plants.

 

[HeavyUser]

Yea, that would be a no go for me as I don't have a hospital tank :/.

Thanks Though!

 

[Yukiharu]

One of the worst things that can happen for shrimp keepers. It's becoming more prevalent as sellers import cheaper sources from overseas where the infection is more common. Unfortunately I do not know of any effective treatment method that doesn't also kill shrimp, but a blackout as randym suggested may work. In the worst case, you may have to euthanize them and dispose of them, in which case please do not put them in your toilet or down your sink, but rather in the trash in a bag.

 

[Zoidburg]

I'm not entirely sure about Maracin, but Melafix can kill shrimp. I saw two posts that people have used it to cure the green fungus/parasite (whatever it is), but it does say on the bottle to not use with inverts.