Ich, Heat & Salt with Vampire and Bamboo Shrimp

djinn · Post by **djinn** » Fri May 19, 2006 8:07 am

I have a small showing of Ich in my 29g which includes, besides ghost shrimp, 4x Vampire Shrimp and 4x Bamboo shrimp.

I'd rather not use medications, and have been looking into the heat and salt method of treating it.

My question is, will a temperature of 84* and 1 tbsp of salt per gallon for a week to a week and a half hurt my shrimp?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri May 19, 2006 11:30 am

What has ich? I don't think shrimp get it. If it is a fish, isolate the fish & treat it. After a few weeks the tank will be safe with no host for the ich.

Ghosts, bamboo and vampire shrimp can handle 84 degrees. I don't know about their salt tolerance. bamboos are supposed to be able to tolerate brachish water, but I don't know about vampires. Some ghosts do fine in brackish water but I can't say about yours.

djinn · Post by **djinn** » Fri May 19, 2006 11:59 am

The shrimps do not have it, I am just worried about the 'cure' affecting them negatively.

Isolating the fish does not cure ich. If you see it on a fish, it's in the tank, and the tank has to be treated, as it is only killable in its swimming form, and not when it is on the fish.

It will die with no host, but that's not feasible with a tank occupied by many fish.

I read that both of these species live in brackish waters in one of their life-phases, but I was not sure if this ability carries on into their adulthood.

The salt is mostly what I'm worried about hurting the shrimp.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri May 19, 2006 1:26 pm

I don't think I made myself clear, but I didn't understand your situation either. If a tank has no fish, ich will cure itself. If the larval stage finds no host, it dies without treatment.

If there are too many fish to remove, then remove the shrimp. They will be OK in a smaller tank for a little while as you treat the other tank. Even better, set up a shrimp only tank. My experience is that unless the fish is destroyed that has ich, it will just keep comming back. You can control it, but not really get rid of it on a fish that is infected.

The larva of these filter feeders need salt, but I can't tell you how tolerant the adults are.

carbon etc · Post by **carbon etc** » Sun May 21, 2006 2:51 pm

You might be able to take care of the ich using temperature alone. Where those shrimp come from there must be some week of the year where their water is 84 deg.

I also think it's more sudden changes in salt content rather than salt alone that do harm to ich (has to do with its ability to adjust to osmotic pressure changes I think). But don't quote me on it.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Mon May 22, 2006 4:19 am

All of those shrimp can handlle 84 degrees, but all the temperature does is causes the ich to morph faster to a stage where it can be killed. Unless the fish are removed or the tank is treated, the cycle will continue, only faster.

I think the best bet is to set up a separate tank for the shrimp while the fish are treated.

carbon etc · Post by **carbon etc** » Mon May 22, 2006 2:57 pm

It's definitely not foolproof, but just that temperature alone has the potential to kill them off. The hotter it is the faster they develop, but there is a ceiling to what they'll tolerate, and it isn't very high.

But I'd agree, if you want to be sure it's going to take a little more work.

demented_lullaby · Post by **demented_lullaby** » Tue May 23, 2006 5:57 am

Errr ick is ALWAYS in our system, sometimes it's dormant of course. Usually fish have a strong enough slime coat to fight it off but not always...QT and treatment is always the best method.

Heat doesn't kill ick, it speeds up their life cycle making them fall of the fish faster. When they aren't on the fish it is the only stage they can be killed. Salt or meds will kill them here.

The more ya know

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Fri May 26, 2006 2:03 pm

Thanks for that information.

I treated my tank with aquarium salt 1tbsp/5gallons and the ich no longer shows on my fish. afterwards I did a water change so that the salt concentration is diluted by fresh water.

P.S. what do vampire shrimp look like?

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri May 26, 2006 2:11 pm

Check the shrimp varieties page under "Giant African Filter Shrimp"

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Fri May 26, 2006 8:08 pm

Wow, Scary!

and they grow to be over 6"!