# Flower shrimp and ick



## Knucklesam (Mar 8, 2012)

So I recently(Thursday) added a flower(bamboo, singapore, etc.) shrimp, along with 2 black neon tetras, and a rainbow shark to my 40 gallon tank. At first, I was very pleased with the setup, and how well everyone was getting along. The shrimp would make his way all around the tank filtering with his crazy looking hands and no one even seemed to notice he existed. Fast forward to yesterday when I got home from work, and I notice that most of my tetras have ick! So I ran to the store and got some Super Ick Cure from API on the recommendation of the girl there. I began treating the water and noticed that my shrimp began to act very stressed and crammed himself between my breeder net and the side of the aquarium. I did some googling and best I could find was that it "may" harm my shrimp. That, paired with his reaction to the medication caused me to promptly set up an old 1.5 gallon betta tank and move him. With ALL of that said, I now have a clean tank with a filter fish in there who has nothing to filter. What is the best way to make sure he gets enough food to live?


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## Regalis (Feb 13, 2012)

They make foods specific for filter feeders, though anything I seem able to find is more designed for saltwater so I'm not sure it would help, but would be worth looking into. 

Worst case, I would take flake food, crush it up to a very very fine powder and try that. Maybe even try mixing it with some water while you turn it into powder so that it's more like a "liquid" sort of food. 

Another possibility is Cyclop-eeze. I've never dealt with the dry versions, but the frozen stuff is nice.

On a side note - a lot of ick medications are hard on tetras, as well.


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## Knucklesam (Mar 8, 2012)

Regalis said:


> They make foods specific for filter feeders, though anything I seem able to find is more designed for saltwater so I'm not sure it would help, but would be worth looking into.
> 
> Worst case, I would take flake food, crush it up to a very very fine powder and try that. Maybe even try mixing it with some water while you turn it into powder so that it's more like a "liquid" sort of food.
> 
> ...


I'll try the powdered flake food, thanks. And the tetras aren't really my main concern, it's my molly fry that I have. One of the two tetras I bought on Thursday brought the ick with them, and I didn't even notice. One of them has died today, and the other one looks okay for now. Hopefully I caught it early enough that my others won't die.


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## Regalis (Feb 13, 2012)

Make sure you raise your tank temperature. Get it as close to or slightly above 80 if you can. With Mollies, you can also add aquarium salt, though it may kill off other fish (tetras are especially weak to salinity).


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## Knucklesam (Mar 8, 2012)

Yeah, the temperature has been steady around 81-82 since it heated up here in Florida a couple days ago. I'm putting the second dose in today so hopefully that takes care of it.


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

Many medications are very hard on Inverts, like Shrimp. An old remedy for ICH, salt, usually isn't. This is probably safe around Shrimp and other Inverts (snails?). I don't like to use medications on my fish. The shock of the medication can be as bad as the disease being treated. Remember that ICH is usually brought on by your fish being stressed (sudden temp, ph or hardenss change).


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

This might help:
Feeding Filter Feeding Shrimps - FishForums.com

The biggest problem I can see in such a small tank is getting enough food to the shrimp without effecting water quality. A couple pond snails or RCS might actually help by eating extra food. If you have to keep it up for long I'd try Daphnia fry. That way what doesn't get eaten wouldn't mess up the water so fast.


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## Knucklesam (Mar 8, 2012)

NeonShark666 said:


> Many medications are very hard on Inverts, like Shrimp. An old remedy for ICH, salt, usually isn't. This is probably safe around Shrimp and other Inverts (snails?). I don't like to use medications on my fish. The shock of the medication can be as bad as the disease being treated. Remember that ICH is usually brought on by your fish being stressed (sudden temp, ph or hardenss change).


I don't like the medication since it seems like a pretty harsh substance, but I also read that salt can be hard on tetras. So I figured the medication would be the best solution. And yeah, the ICH came from the store. They had just gotten a shipment of fish. I'm still pretty new to the aquarium thing, but I'll definitely call this a learning experience. I know to be a little more cautious now when purchasing fish. And thanks snail, my shrimp seems to be eating now. He gets scared when I drop food in, but I've noticed him picking things up from the gravel rather than sticking his hands out and filtering the water. Hopefully he won't have to be in there too much longer.


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## frazier718 (Mar 5, 2012)

Try the tetra tablets for ich. I used super ich cure and it didn't work too well. I noticed immediate improvement with the tetra tablet


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Knucklesam said:


> I've noticed him picking things up from the gravel rather than sticking his hands out and filtering the water. Hopefully he won't have to be in there too much longer.


I think that's a sign they are not getting enough food, but if he's not going to be there for long hopefully it will tide him over.


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## Knucklesam (Mar 8, 2012)

So it's been nearly a week and the ick hasn't cleared up, and even seems to be worse on one tetra. I'm within my 14 days so I'm going to return the tetras and my rainbow shark to Petsmart. I hate to do it, but I think I need to cut my losses right now and get back as much as I can. I'm going to let the ick run its course without any fish in the tank. My question is: Is it safe to put my shrimp back in the tank? I'm going to do a 10 to 25% water change tomorrow and reinsert my filter cartridge. After that, should the water be free of enough of the medication to be safe for him? Shrimp don't get ick right?


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Shrimp can't get ich.


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## Mr_Pat (Apr 13, 2010)

i would give the tank a couple days with your filter cartridge back in and check the med package.. if it says carbon neutralizes it put a fresh dose of carbon in the filter .


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