Can i keep a shrimp tank if i have food allergy

[Cardex]

I have an extra 10 gallon tank with sand bottom and driftwood that I am thinking about using for cherry shrimp however I am deathly allergic to shrimp and while I have no intention on eating them is there any risk from a reaction when cleaning the tank or changing the filter media ?

 

[patrickriley2010]

I have an extra 10 gallon tank with sand bottom and driftwood that I am thinking about using for cherry shrimp however I am deathly allergic to shrimp and while I have no intention on eating them is there any risk from a reaction when cleaning the tank or changing the filter media ?

I don't see why not

 

[Ian086]

That's a very interesting question. I'm no expert on the subject but I believe that for some people, anything that comes in contact with shrimp or seafood is a potential hazard??. It would probably be best to avoid it. I'm sure there are precautions you could take and that you have to take in general life... My friend has a allergy to seafood and he has to inform the restaurant when he goes for a meal. I'm sure there are many types and severities but he has to make sure that no cooking utensils or cutlery has been used with seafood, unless it has been thoroughly washed/cleaned.
aqua_chem is someone you could contact. He is a medical student, very intelligent and a very experienced aquarist. He's a very helpful guy and I'm sure he would have the answer for you.... I will be very curious to see what he has to say.....

 

[Cardex]

My moms a pharmacist and her reply was to buy them get an eppi pen and take a drink of the water they ship in while in the parking lot of the ER, not very helpful but I do know I can not go any ware that steams crab I break out in hives from the waiters walking by

 

[Ian086]

My moms a pharmacist and her reply was to buy them get an eppi pen and take a drink of the water they ship in while in the parking lot of the ER, not very helpful but I do know I can not go any ware that steams crab I break out in hives from the waiters walking by

Listen to your Mom, they are ALWAYS right. You'll discover that as you get older....haha.

 

[Ian086]

Or you could buy one of those full bio-hazard suits to use around the tank!!!

 

[Mogurako]

My moms a pharmacist and her reply was to buy them get an eppi pen and take a drink of the water they ship in while in the parking lot of the ER, not very helpful but I do know I can not go any ware that steams crab I break out in hives from the waiters walking by

Bless your mom for trying to help but that is about the worst advice I can think of. You shouldn't purposely ingest aquarium water because of the pathogens and chemicals it can contain.

It's hard to say if you'd come into contact with the allergenic protein Tropomyosin from the shrimp while performing any maintenance on the aquarium. If it were me I would go to a LFS or a friends house who had shrimp (epi pen in hand) and put a dab of water from the aquarium on my skin to see if there would be any type of reaction.

It all boils down to; Are you willing to potentially risk your health to find out of you can keep fresh water shrimp?

 

[Ian086]

Bless your mom for trying to help but that is about the worst advice I can think of. You shouldn't purposely ingest aquarium water because of the pathogens and chemicals it can contain

I think his mom was only joking....haha

 

[Cardex]

I think his mom was only joking....haha

I'm sure she was, it's the same thing she told me when we were trying to figure out if it was chicken or shrimp egg roll

 

[Ian086]

I'm sure she was, it's the same thing she told me when we were trying to figure out if it was chicken or shrimp egg roll

 

[54seaweed]

as long as your not touching them or coming in direct contact with them you'll be fine

 

[patrickriley2010]

My moms a pharmacist and her reply was to buy them get an eppi pen and take a drink of the water they ship in while in the parking lot of the ER, not very helpful but I do know I can not go any ware that steams crab I break out in hives from the waiters walking by

Lol that's hilarious

 

[jcolon]

I have an extra 10 gallon tank with sand bottom and driftwood that I am thinking about using for cherry shrimp however I am deathly allergic to shrimp and while I have no intention on eating them is there any risk from a reaction when cleaning the tank or changing the filter media ?

By allergic, I'm assuming eating shrimp? If so I'm in the same boat ... Can't eat crustaceans, but I've had an RCS tank for over 8 months with no allergic reactions ... And yes I've stuck my hands / arms in there plenty of times.

 

[Alyxx]

Interesting question. I agree that testing it in a controlled way like putting a few drops of the water on your skin (epi pen in hand and maybe the parking lot of the er is a good idea, lol) would be a smart idea. Just don't drink the water! If you break out from the steam coming off of crab in a restaurant, the shrimp water could have some effect on you.

 

[Mogurako]

if you break out from the steam coming off of crab in a restaurant, the shrimp water could have some effect on you.

That's what set off a red flag for me too, the vapor from the evaporation of the water has to go somewhere and there's always a chance it can carry the protein that you're allergic to in it.

 

[Cardex]

Bless your mom for trying to help but that is about the worst advice I can think of. You shouldn't purposely ingest aquarium water because of the pathogens and chemicals it can contain.

It's hard to say if you'd come into contact with the allergenic protein Tropomyosin from the shrimp while performing any maintenance on the aquarium. If it were me I would go to a LFS or a friends house who had shrimp (epi pen in hand) and put a dab of water from the aquarium on my skin to see if there would be any type of reaction.

It all boils down to; Are you willing to potentially risk your health to find out of you can keep fresh water shrimp?

I could be wrong I had my first reaction about 25 years ago and have just adapted to it but I think I was told the reason the steam affects me so much is the protein is either concentrated or released in the steaming process and is part of what gives crabs and lobster boils their smell. I never thought about it before but I do feed my fish frozen brine shrimp twice a week and have for years without any issue

For some reason it's making me thing about the wizard of oz, the witch knew she would melt if she got wet but she had a bucket of water sitting outside her bedroom just waiting for some girl that murdered her sister to dump it on her

 

[Mogurako]

t I do feed my fish frozen brine shrimp twice a week and have for years without any issue

If that's the case I would imagine you could keep shrimp with out any problems.

For some reason it's making me thing about the wizard of oz, the witch knew she would melt if she got wet but she had a bucket of water sitting outside her bedroom just waiting for some girl that murdered her sister to dump it on her

Obviously you've never seen or read Wicked,lol.

 

[Cardex]

Just a follow up got some ghost shrimp everything went well so now I have a new problem the LFS only had 4 of them I put them into the 10 gallon tank that I used for my quarantine along with 4 male platys I also got the only bamboo shrimp and algae eating shrimp they had for the 55 gallon main tank the bamboo shrimp has taken up a perch on a java fern leaf and seems to be very happy I think I will need to get a few more but before I do what kind of bio load do shrimp have compared to a fish of the same size

 

[patrickriley2010]

Just a follow up got some ghost shrimp everything went well so now I have a new problem the LFS only had 4 of them I put them into the 10 gallon tank that I used for my quarantine along with 4 male platys I also got the only bamboo shrimp and algae eating shrimp they had for the 55 gallon main tank the bamboo shrimp has taken up a perch on a java fern leaf and seems to be very happy I think I will need to get a few more but before I do what kind of bio load do shrimp have compared to a fish of the same size

That's alot of platty for 10g

 

[Cardex]

That's alot of platty for 10g

Is it? It's the first time that I have ever had them I checked it out with aquadvisor using the penguin 100b filter its at 85% stocking