Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Has any one come across this on their shrimps and if so how have you cleared it? To me it looks like some form of fungus.
The orange cherry is in a nano tank which contains 10 orange cherries, 4 pygmy cory's and 3 otto's. Two of the cherries are infected, the others seem clear.


The what I think is a red rili but could be a young red cherry (came in a bag of blue jellies by accident) is in another nano, with 4 blue jellies and the same amount of cories and otto's as the other tank, this did have 10 gold back yellows but they have been moved to my 120l tank but there are a few baby yellows still in there. Only the one shown has the infection in that tank.

I have exactly the same symptoms but in orange, does any1 know what to treat it with plz??

marieroach wrote:I have exactly the same symptoms but in orange, does any1 know what to treat it with plz??

This might be a silly question but I don't know your experience of shrimp, you say orange, is there any chance you could be seeing eggs rather than a fungus? more like little round balls rather than frilly strands, if the answer is you know what eggs look like and this is the same as in the pictures but orange, it could be the same fungus but under different lighting to mine I suppose.

I ended up treating my shrimp with JBL's Fungol Plus, the treatment lasted 11 days, which is 3 doses of bottle one, every other day, followed by 3 doses of bottle two, again every other day, I lost one shrimp, which was probably too far gone in the first place and after I put this post up I noticed the fungus starting on a few of the other shrimp but it cleared the fungus on the remaining shrimp.

JBL also do one called Fungol (without the Plus) this is basically just bottle one but to be honest it was bottle one that cleared the fungus before I even got to the stage of using bottle two (but I'd still suggest finishing the full treatment).

If you decide to use this treatment, do not over dose, if anything very slightly under dose, as they do state some inverts, i.e. shrimps crabs snails etc. and scale less fish i.e. Loaches catfish etc. may exhibit intolerances, so be very careful if using with anything but neo's (cherries, yellows etc.) but having said that I have a few Otto’s and pygmy corries that showed no sign of it affecting them but maybe have enough water change water to hand before you start treating just in case.
By the way, it wasn't until I started the treatment I noticed there was a few baby shrimp in the tank too, and they was also ok after the treatment.

If you struggle to get JBL's Fungol plus or Fungol, the main ingredient of bottle one is Malachite Green oxalate and bottle two is povidone iodine but I'd suggest sticking to Fungol plus or Fungol if you can, as they do have other ingredients too, and have proven to be ok with Cherry shrimp.

Hope this helps and good luck

I would not treat with anything. It may screw up your tank's biological balance. Either the shrimp will lose these parasites after the next molting, or she may die (depending on how weak she is right before the molt).

Although this is an old feed, I found this by searching "Red Cherry Shrimp fungus" because I have EXACTLY the same as pictured here, especially the bottom of three images. That shrimp died. There were three others that came in this same shipment and one of those three died. The remaining two RCS are alive and doing well after API Melafix full treatment. Kent Garlic Extreme is now in use after water change recommended by Melafix instructions. These shrimp symptoms have changed. It now appears that this was a fungus, but these are females with eggs or the remains of eggs damaged during a long shipping travel here. I supposed that the other two shrimp were the same problems. I noticed the "Founder" responded to this feed as to do nothing, that a next moult should end this fungus or the shrimp might die. I am extremely hesitant to use chemicals in my aquariums but fungus is strange and there is little known about freshwater shrimp disease but the field is gaining serious attention with so many people purchasing/keeping freshwater shrimps. Honestly speaking, at this point, I am uncertain what next steps will be for me. Kordon Malachite Green was recommended by the dealer I purchased the shrimp from, but a second opinion, at the same dealer, recommended Melafix. They did not recommend combining Pimafix with Melafix, which is almost considered a "no-brainer" to use them both, but again, I am very hesitant to use chemicals especially combining anything together.
Although this feed is older - please leave this feed online, and any recommendations here will be greatly appreciated.
The image is from this morning 02-07-2015.

Thanks for the additional pictures and experiences. Melafix and Pimafix don't seem to affect shrimp adversely, but for treatment I would still separate the shrimp into a different tank. I've only seen this kind of parasite once or twice in the last 12+ years.