Ich - Can snails & shrimp carry it or get it?

[Gramma]

I am treating my tank with Rid-Ich+ and have removed all snails & shrimp to another tank. Could they have carried it with them and therefore will they be bringing it back when I reintroduce them to the tank? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[CACAdmin]

Snails don't get Ich and I assume that it is the same for shrimp but maybe some of the shrimp gurus around here can give you a definitive answer about that.

Free swimming Ich can have been transferred to the other tank as they could have been in the water (on your hands, nets, snails). However, they will not survive in the new tank without a host. They should die off in 2 or 3 days. (as long as there has been no further cross-contamination).

And so, by the time you have finished treating the original tank for Ich, you should be able to safely return the snails and shrimp to the tank. (assuming shrimp cannot carry it either).

All the above is assuming the tank in which the snails and shrimp currently are residing does not contain any fish. If that tank contains fish, ich may already be thriving in there and my need to be treated as well.

In that case, I suggest you remove the snails and shrimp to a 'fish-less' temporary location for a few days (ie. a bucket) before returning them to the original tank.

[Melody]

Good answer! I don't know about Shrimp either, sorry, but someone around here should. Hope the fish are better soon!

[Gramma]

I had only seen 2 ich spots on the fish, but several were flicking against things in the tank, so felt that before it got out of hand I should treat with Rid-Ich+. Flicking seems to have stopped. However I did see the male sword do it this am. They have had 5 treatments so far. Water Changes, water changes, glad when these daily ones will be over.

Of course, there had to be 1 pregnant female and 5 fry in the tank that I put the snails and shrimps in. Can you tell that I am still new at this. Didn't think. Ooops!! No signs of Ich yet. Should I be treating it?

[Melody]

I wouldn't treat until there's a sign. Any treatment is hard on the fish in its own way, so its best to avoid it unless they're ill. Once you see it though, its best to act so ya done did good.

I still do that occasionally - move a plant or something and then go 'OOPS, forgot there's a sick fish in that tank'. Then I call myself names...lol.

[Katalyst]

Also something I found out the hard way, don't use the same siphon to clean other tanks. Cross contaminating a bunch of tanks accidently is the absolute worst and lots of other names I'll refrain from using on a family friendly site.

I'd potassium permanagate the siphon or bleach very carefully making sure to rinse it well with regular water and then dechlorinated water. I like overkill. :)

[Gramma]

The problem is when I got home with the fish, I did not have a quarantine tank, so that night (or shall I say early morning) I put them all into my 16 gal. In the next 2 days we moved the fish around to other tanks. Probably using same nets, etc. without thinking. I now have a system in place now that everything gets bleached and dechlorinated. So I will keep my fingers crossed that I will escape any further outbreaks of Ich. Live and learn, they say. Thanks for the input. Just waiting to hear if anyone has any knowledge as to whether shrimp can get Ich.