Crayfish with fungus?

[Sannie]

I've noticed something weird in my shrimp and mexican crayfish tank...
Ik looks like fungus (also under the microscope, although it's not the best piece of equipment - read: childrens toy )
Some pictures i've been taken:

Female cambarellus montezumae montezumae who had just released her larves, but still has to molt..




This female is still carrying the larves


Also the crystal reds are infected...


Does anyone recognize these symptoms? And how to treat it?
I've read something about salt... but I think that my cmm and crystal red's don't like salt water that much [/img]

[CanadianCray]

What you have there is called external fouling. It is a protozian creature that lives on the crayfish, but thrives on organic material hidden in your gravel.
Do a siphoning of your gravel to get rid of the source, then just leave the cray alone and it will shed it off, unless it looks bothersome, and you can :
1) scrub it off
2) give the crayfish a formalin bath ( with areation )


Also crayfish should NEVER be kept with shrimp as shrimp carry desease that is harmless to them but could infect & kill the crayfish.

[Sannie]

Strange to hear that crayfish and shrimps are not a good combination, cause I know a lot of people who keep these animals succesfully together in their tanks...
Here, we have more problems with the spontanious dying of the cpo (patzies) even when they are in a special breeding tanks (maybe inbreeding problems or crayfish plague?)...
I've never had any problems keeping these shrimps and crays together, except the fungus I'm seeing now...
I've also read on German and Dutch site's that formaline is never to be used with invertebrates! Don't know what the US vision about this product is... They say it kills them, so I'm not going to try it
In the mean while I've got some tips on an Dutch crayfish and shrimp forum to get rid of the fungus. There are some medicine for sale here (mostly German products) that do not cause damage to shrimp and crayfish. The fungus is a waterfungus and should be easily treated. If not treated it can cause damage to the invertebrates organs.

[CanadianCray]

I don't know who told you formalin was dangerous. I have been using it for years with crayfish, shrimp & crabs that I breed. I also know many large scale breeding operations that use this. You don't put it in the tank just a small container & put the crayfish in it for a short time.

[CanadianCray]

External fouling

Protozoans frequently foul the exoskeleton and gill cavity of freshwater crayfish. Severe fouling is usually associated with poor water quality, but may be due to reduced preening which occurs when animals are diseased. Fouling itself is of little consequence to the health of the crayfish unless it is so severe that it causes improper gill functioning, and it can be managed by water exchange. Valuable broodstock may be treated by bathing in formalin or another disinfectant to kill the protozoans. Common fouling protozoans of freshwater crayfish include Epistylus, Zoothamnium, Lagenophrys, Vorticella and Acineta.

Crayfish Deseases
http://www.geocities.com/crayfishdiseas ... intro.html

[Sannie]

Thanks for the info!
Interesting that formaline could be used (German site's and forums advise not to, don't know why though)
I've also found a totally shrimp and crayfish safe medicine (can not treat al theses animals in separate tanks). The fungus looks likes it is getting smaller... After a water change with reverse osmosis and some mineral salt and a German produkt which contains a sort of salt which destroys fungus.
If the fungus is still there in a few days, I will try the medicine

Note: maybe you can tell me something more about the formalin, so I can explain it to Dutch forummers why it CAN be used?