# Shrimp infection? ID help please



## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Hello, one of my orange sunkist shrimp (caridina propinqua) has been milky white inside for over 2 months now. I lost 2 earlier in the year to this same infection, also in my other tank lost most invert stock to something similar, if not the same. 
Hoping to find out what this is so I can take better action towards treating it.

Below is the female that has been white inside for over 2 months:
View attachment 13113


Another female noticed 5 days ago:
View attachment 13114


Water parameters:

pH: 7.0
GH: 5.6deg/100mg/L
KH: 2.8deg/50mg/L
Nitrate: around 20+-mg/L 
Nitrite & Ammonia 0 when last tested (2 weeks ago)
Temp: 76deg F

Water changes every 2-4 days of 30-45% for the past 3 1/2 months.
Tap water sat for 12-36hours, GH/KH boosters added, pH is 6.5-7.0 after adding minerals.
GH/KH has been stabile for just over 2 months, was fluctuating before I got mineral amounts adjusted.
Nitrates were very high (test kit maxes at 100mg/L) was at max for a couple tests 4 months ago, before I started more frequent water changes.
Vacuuming not as frequently as I should - once a week on average.
Filter cleaning every 2 water changes. (air driven sponge & foam canister filters)

Any thoughts as to what this is?

I suspect it is a gill infection / lack of oxygenation in the blood, due to high levels of nitrates/solid waste in the tank, also due to stock density in the tank.

If so how should I treat it?

Thank you.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Cant see the pics


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Shrimp1:







Shrimp2:


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

I have never seen this before and/or has happen to me but i have been researching and i found some things. I read that is rare case where you have recently received a female shrimp that had contact with the Okayama Parasite, or the Super White Tiger Shrimp parasite. It also says that the parasite is harmless, the white only displayed in the males, though females can carry the parasite. When an infected female creates a saddle the parasite infects the eggs and eventually the newborn shrimp.
U do have to quarantine the affected shrimps because it will spread, so pretty much u have to quarantine so they dont keep on breeding and carrying this parasire. Also sometimes when the shrimps are old they loose their color so i think it will b good if u search a bit more or maybe some of the experts in shrimps here might b able to help better


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Thank you for your research and advice, I did find similar information in my research, unfortunately it is far too late to quarantine. 

All species of shrimps in my tank have shown signs of this at one point or another. In my other tank that died off, most of the affected shrimp would "zombie" out before dying (like stop and go traffic, would swim, stop, float down to the bottom, then swim again) Due to that behaviour, I thought it must be something other than the benign parasite.

So far in this tank - I have found 5 shrimp dead with this infection (2 orange, 2 blue, 1 bamboo)
Currently when I look in, there are the 2 orange shrimps currently affected, the amanos (1m3f) are showing signs of it, 3 blues are a little white, 1 bamboo seems affected. (earlier in the year all shrimps in this tank were affected, started to clear with more frequent water changes/filter cleaning)

The blues had stopped breeding/producing eggs up until a couple weeks ago, now I have some more babies in the tank 

It seems to have 0 effect on the fish in the tank.

BTW, the only shrimp I have that do breed (in freshwater) are the blues, so I figure it must be transferred through the water column, either through the shell, or through the gills.

I would like to find out how to treat it, so I don't end up with another mass shrimp dye-off.


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Just tested Nitrates - 5mg/L
Doing a 25% water change today


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Any updates on this?


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Update:
Currently doing 30% wc, all is the same - one more orange is showing this, some more blues aswell.

I think the gravel is getting full....

Vacuuming on next wc, last wc not much came up though....

I'm am assuming gill blockage/infection causing lack of oxygen to the blood, causing white colouring, and eventually, death.

I'm hoping once I move them over to a bigger tank (15G to 20G), it may help some.
(Also adding more airstones and water flow to the 20G vs the 15G)


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Update:
Currently doing a wc with vacuuming - found the problem area (I think) 
I had a plant in a low spot in the gravel that I have not moved for 4ish months - needless to say the gravel underneath was..... 
Now rescaping/reorganizing plants/rocks/wood in the tank, also gravel levels, so it all funnels to the center/front of the tank for easy vacuuming. (This is still a temp measure until I move them all over to a larger tank)

Will update with results in a few days.


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Update:
The same shrimp are still showing this, however, they are much more active, and eating more now  
The few that were starting to show this colouration are now looking normal again.
Nitrates are below 5mg/L (finally), parameters are stable at: pH 7.0, GH 5.8deg, KH 2.6deg, 76Fahr.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Good to hear that they are doing better


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Thank you  I'm hoping they all fully recover.


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## DR1V3N (Apr 22, 2010)

You may want to contact Frank (jiang604), owner of ebi-ken (sponsor). If he's not too busy, I'm sure he'll be able to give you good insight and maybe even a positive ID. 

I've never seen nor heard of this type of infection. If it is parasitic, you straying from your usual WC regimen may be doing more harm than good.

Are you noticing any berries since the outbreak?


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## Smallermouse (Jan 28, 2012)

^berries??


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

DR1V3N said:


> You may want to contact Frank (jiang604), owner of ebi-ken (sponsor). If he's not too busy, I'm sure he'll be able to give you good insight and maybe even a positive ID.


Thank you, I will send him a message.



DR1V3N said:


> I've never seen nor heard of this type of infection. If it is parasitic, you straying from your usual WC regimen may be doing more harm than good.


My wc regimen has been the same for the past 4 months - outlined in first post. I just recently (one week ago) started pushing water changes apart a bit (moving to 1-2 times a week instead of 2-3 times a week) as the water parameters are now stabilizing.



DR1V3N said:


> Are you noticing any berries since the outbreak?





Smallermouse said:


> ^berries??


Yes and No. It's strange. The blue shrimp are breeding/saddles/berried. When the females (blues) get this they stop producing saddles. The orange shrimp (2 with it) are not berrying, although one is saddled, one is not. The other female orange shrimp (4) were berried until a couple days ago. They have not re-berried yet (maybe waiting for a molt) Also the largest female orange came out of hiding 2 days ago (was in hiding for 2 weeks) The amanos have been saddled/berried the whole time (whether or not they were showing this)


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Update;
Just found the shrimp from the second photo - r.i.p. The shrimp from the first photo is still doing good though....
Several female blue shrimps are starting to turn white. 
Also my larger internal filter quit a couple days ago - maybe related?
(I am currently moving the tank over as well)

Pic from 4 days ago


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

.... Just found a dead shrimp stuck behind the filter, looks like it's been dead for over a week , I should've noticed it sooner 
Not sure whether it's a blue or orange shrimp - based on the red colouration though, I'd say it was a blue.
I really hope this isn't a sign of things to come......


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

I've moved the healthy orange shrimp to the new tank, 4 altogether (2m2f). Left the infected female in the old tank. The one I found behind the filter was on orange shrimp, and I am missing one as well. (Had 8 - can only account for 7)


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Just pulled out the infected female and one female blue shrimp (r.i.p.) 4 orange got moved to the new tank, and 2 blues. That's all I'm going to put in the new tank - the rest of the blue shrimp are showing signs of this (20+-).
Not sure what to do, pretty sure the shrimp in the new tank will show this later on.......


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## jiang604 (Apr 21, 2010)

Sploosh said:


> Update;
> Just found the shrimp from the second photo - r.i.p. The shrimp from the first photo is still doing good though....
> Several female blue shrimps are starting to turn white.
> Also my larger internal filter quit a couple days ago - maybe related?
> ...


This white milky infection your getting isn't just bacterial. It starts off from a parasite. The picture you've shown in this post 4 days ago. Shows the rostrum(nose) kind of white. Looks somewhat like a parasite such as micro leech/ forgot exactly what the name was I believe it was vortecilla or something. Basically if you do some research, people will say treat with paraguard. I don't think that is going to help much. What I think is a better solution but I wouldn't really suggest anyone from doing this unless you've had experience is salt dip in very salty water for10-20 seconds. This will force any parasite thats attached to let go and fall off. Making sure that when you scoop the shrimp back up you don't carry the parasite as well. Then drop them straight back into tank water. The salt we use is aquarium salt not table salt. This should prevent any future progressions of bacteria infections. What kind of blue shrimps do you have? It might be a water quality issue. Even though some shrimps are milky colored or on the beginnings of it. It can still be reversed, however I need to know exactly what kind of blue shrimp you have.

Frank


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## Sploosh (Nov 19, 2012)

Hi Frank, 
Thank you very much for the info, I have salt dipped guppies several times. What concentration would you use (approx) I would probably have the salty water in a 500mL cup for dipping.
The female in the photo is no longer, there are 4 orange shrimp left total (2f 2m) 
I left most of the blue shrimp in the old tank. I am sure it is a water quality issue, gravel was too deep, not enough filtration, overstocked, etc.... As I have moved over the fish and plants, I have lost a couple shrimp (water went a bit cloudy when I removed the gravel)
The blue shrimp I have I'm not sure on species - I believe Neocaridina?
Here is a couple photos of the one blue female I moved to the new tank;


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