Vorticella Parasite (white mold/fungal) Treatment on Cherry Shrimps

[mukyo]

Bro the dipping is 1min perday?
So after 1min does the fuzzy thing gone straight or later?


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[14litre]

Bro the dipping is 1min perday?
So after 1min does the fuzzy thing gone straight or later?

Sorry for the late reply as I am less active these days after giving up this shrimp hobby.

Yes bro, 1 dip (for 1 min) per day.

It depends on how bad the infection is.
For those minor ones, 1 dip is enough.
If you still see the parasites, then you may give it another dip the next day.
I gave all my infected shrimps the dip for 3 consecutive days and it survived even weeks after.

That was in Sep 2012. Now (Jan 2013), sad to say, I have 0 shrimps left.

I maintained my tank the "old-school" way, just top up with water (after dechlorination) whenever necesary.
I do not check the water parameter with any test kit, no chller no fan, just a plain tank with mosses/ferns and of course, a sponge filter at minimum.
I guessed all my shrimps died because of the water parameter. Other shrimps (not the ones that underwent such salt treatment) that were introduced later also didn't survived till today.

If it is a low grade shrimp, you can give this method a try, probably with 1 shrimp first.
If it is a premium shrimp, then it is your call.

During my research then, I read somewhere that the parasites will disappear after sometime (probably after moulting). But there are people disagree to this. Some method applies to one case but not another, it seems.

Whichever method you decided to go for, please share your ending experience with us.
It will benefit greatly the next person reading this.

Good Luck bro, and Happy New Year!

[mukyo]

I thought i replied this. But my post is gone.

I dip 3min in azoo fungal solution. Green color. For my infected yellow mama.
After that i rinse in another tub. Notice they still not gone yet. Then i put back to tank.
And now she is gone.
As in i cannot tell which yellow is the mama. I have all females and the mama had since fully emptied her babies. Hahaha
So cannot confirm if cured.
Now i got bunch of transparent baby shrimps.

So at least it helped in delivering babies lol
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[koji™]

I encountered this on a bag of green shrimps I bought from LFS before. 5 pieces are affected with the cotton looking thingy on their heads. So I removed them and keep them in another tank of mine with other fishes. After a week plus or so, the cotton looking thingy on them are gone even without medication. Water reading in that tank is zero for ammonia and nitrate. Ph at 6. No salt or medication used in there for there are plants in there.

[nicholasliao]

Thanks for sharing. This is an interesting read. Will check this information against the community of shrimps i have.

[shelfishman]

My experience with Seachem Paraguard and vorticella.

Heavily planted, low tech, 4 gallon tank. No heater, temperature 68-72F, pH 8. Plants - Dwarf Sag, Crypt Parva, Anubias, Ludwigia Repens, Rotala, Fissidens and a carpet of HC. Red cherry shrimp.

The problem began with food particles and waste that fell into the carpet of HC, and remained out of reach of shrimp and vacuum. This was beneficial to a point, the waste became fertilizer for the plants. But after the shrimp population increased to over 20, the excess detritus led to an increase in bacteria, which fed the vorticella. The bacteria showed as cloudy water. A salt dip treatment removed vorticella from the shrimp, but the tank would infect them again.

Paraguard was used, at recommended dosage, for 3 applications, with no reduction of vorticella.

Paraguard dosage was increased by 30% for 2 weeks, no reduction in vorticella. No negative effects on RCS, they seemed active and reproduced normally. No effect on plants. A slight reduction of planaria on the glass. Water changes of 20% per week during medication. Paraguard treatment stopped. Then 2 weeks of 50% water changes every 3 days to remove medication. During this time a few adult shrimp deaths during molting.

Paraguard instructions had a dip strength usage. Since the tank was small, the dip strength was used for the entire tank. Recommended time was 1 hour for dose, longer if no signs of distress. Continued the treatment for 3 hours, monitoring the shrimp, no noticeable ill effects. Then 80% water changes, and carbon filtration to remove medication. This eliminated the vorticella. No harm to the plants except the dwarf sag, the leaves wilted. Some adult shrimp deaths during molting. BGA became evident on the Anubias, Ludwigia Repens, Rotala, and rock decorations.

After 2 months no signs of vorticella. The copepods were gone, a few planaria remained. The water parameters were off in nitrate, 10-15. A month later the nitrate was 5.

The medication did eliminate the copepods, ostracoda and daphnia. Since copepods lived off the decaying HC, they usually surrounded the shrimp. The copepod elimination made the shrimp more active, less irritated, they spent more time on the HC. The lack of copepods was a problem, because they broke down old organic material, and could be a food source for fish.

Months later, after some plants were moved, which disturbed the soil. A few shrimp were noticed with vorticella. Vorticella may have slowly returned, because the Paraguard did not kill the larva, or the vorticella was dormant in the soil.

The HC was eventually removed and the soil throughly vacuumed . This kept vorticella to minimum, on a few shrimp, noticeable only with magnification.

After 5 months, still no copepods. There must have been remnants of medication in the substrate.