Can shrimp be a carrier for any fish diseases?

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Rhetoric

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Messages
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Hi. I have a friend who seems to have a sick fish. I don't know any more than that about it other than she will be treating the water with something. However, she says that the LFS told her to that this could harm her 2 cleaner shrimp.

She has asked if I could "shrimp-sit" for her in my tank until they clear up whatever the problem is in her tank.

I am a little concerned with this since everything is going so well with my tank right now. Is it dangerous to bring her shrimp into my tank for a few weeks? I would be careful not to bring any of her water into mine but could they carry the fish's disease?

Is there anything else I should consider before doing this?

Thanks for any help!
 
!st of all, if she is putting something in there that can harm inverts (my guess would be some sort of copper treatment) if it is copper, she won't be able to put any inverts back into her tank.
What is wrong with her fish and what will she be using?
Generally, inverts don't carry the same diseases as fish do (I am sure there are eexceptions to that). If you are talking about parasites, I would venture to say the same. Make sure you acclimate her shrimp to your tank for at least 2 hours.
 
Most times they dont carry disease or parasites. My only concern if you plan on keeping them is what is going to happen once you put them in your tank. You will never get them out unless you tear your tank apart. You might want to keep them in them in the sump so as to have easy acess.
 
Thanks for the responses. I believe it is copper that she will be putting into her tank. I am not sure what the problem is with her fish. Not sure what, if any, other inverts she may have. I'm not too familiar with her tank obviously. Just curious about how this will affect mine.

Catching them later is a concern. I may let them hang out in the sump like you suggested. Thanks again.
 
Well, if she uses copper in her tank, you won't have to worry about giving them back, since the copper will more than likely kill them and all future inverts.
 
You might want to tell her that you should never put copper in a main tank. As Scott said it will kill all inverts and you`ll never be able to keep any in the future. Use only in a QT.
 
Copper only treats Cryptocaryon and Amyloodinium, marine ich and marine velvet respectively. Neither of these fish parasites can use the shrimp as a host, but either could be in the water used to transport the shrimp and could therefore infect your tank/fish next.
 
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