Brook - shrimp / urchin carrier?

[sasa]

Hi guys,

We run into Brooklynella with my friend from a shopping... I was lucky, the tank was empty so i could cure the fish.
He put the fish into a holder tank with l. Amboiensis and a few urchin in it. Fish are now in qt but what about the shrimps and urchin? Can it carry brook? If so what can we do? Will 6 weeks fishless system work for the shrimp s and urchin?

 

[Spare time]

The urchin and shrimp won't carry it (or at least I have never heard of them being a carrier or able to be sick from it). Just make sure the shrimp and urchin get fed.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes - the shrimp and urchin can act as "fomites" and carry protozoan diseases and flukes from one tank to another. This is simply by virtue of the water on them as they are moved, by chance, will have some parasites on it. Some of these parasites have a lengthy resting stage, so you need to leave the tank free of all fish hosts for a period of time. Brooklynella is mostly a disease affecting clownfish, and does not have a sturdy resting stage like ich does, so I normally just wait 45 days - HOWEVER, if there is any chance that you misidentified the disease, and it was actually ich, you'll want to wait 70 to 80 days to play it really safe.

jay

 

[Spare time]

The urchin and shrimp won't carry it (or at least I have never heard of them being a carrier or able to be sick from it). Just make sure the shrimp and urchin get fed.

I want to clarify when I meant carrier I meant that brook wouldn't live in them (like how reptiles can carry salmonella)

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I want to clarify when I meant carrier I meant that brook wouldn't live in them (like how reptiles can carry salmonella)

Reptiles "carry" salmonella, but they are actually infected, they just don't get sick from it like humans do. Urchins and shrimp do not get infected, but if they carry the resting stage into the new tank, that propagule can remain infective for some period of time without a fish host, and then when a fish host becomes present, they can infect them.

Jay

 

[Kiui1849]

Reptiles "carry" salmonella, but they are actually infected, they just don't get sick from it like humans do. Urchins and shrimp do not get infected, but if they carry the resting stage into the new tank, that propagule can remain infective for some period of time without a fish host, and then when a fish host becomes present, they can infect them.

Jay

A case of Brookynella just broke out between my two tanks. All I have left are 1 clown and 1 shrimp, maybe a baby goby but I haven't seen it in a few weeks. If I took out the fish and left the shrimp in for 4-6 weeks and treat the fish for brook will the tank be okay for fish later down the road or does the shrimp need a seperate set up? I don't want to treat the shrimp for brook since everythint has copper and I read copper is bad but I want my tank to be okay.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

A case of Brookynella just broke out between my two tanks. All I have left are 1 clown and 1 shrimp, maybe a baby goby but I haven't seen it in a few weeks. If I took out the fish and left the shrimp in for 4-6 weeks and treat the fish for brook will the tank be okay for fish later down the road or does the shrimp need a seperate set up? I don't want to treat the shrimp for brook since everythint has copper and I read copper is bad but I want my tank to be okay.

Copper isn’t “bad”, but it can’t be used with invertebrates.
Brooklynella can typically be eliminated from a tank by holding it fishless for 60 days.
Jay

 

[Lavey29]

I want to clarify when I meant carrier I meant that brook wouldn't live in them (like how reptiles can carry salmonella)

My kid got salmonella from her gecko when she was 6. 2 weeks in the hospital and almost died from the illness

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

My kid got salmonella from her gecko when she was 6. 2 weeks in the hospital and almost died from the illness

I kept lots of herps as a kid - I had more “stomach flu” than anyone else I knew, I now suspect at least some of those cases were mild salmonella - nasty stuff!
Jay

 

[TokenReefer]

My kid got salmonella from her gecko when she was 6. 2 weeks in the hospital and almost died from the illness

That had to be a really scary time for you. So glad that didn't happen

 

[Lavey29]

I kept lots of herps as a kid - I had more “stomach flu” than anyone else I knew, I now suspect at least some of those cases were mild salmonella - nasty stuff!
Jay

Yep just think about all the lizards and snakes we caught as kids. We used to sell them to the pet store. We caught tarantulas even rattle snakes with a tube and rope snake snare we made.

 

[Lavey29]

That had to be a really scary time for you. So glad that didn't happen

I stayed every night in the ICU with her. At first she wasn't responding at all to the medication but then the infectios disease doctor found the right stuff to help her and I took over gecko responsibility.

 

[TokenReefer]

I stayed every night in the ICU with her. At first she wasn't responding at all to the medication but then the infectios disease doctor found the right stuff to help her and I took over gecko responsibility.

Wow. I bet most people don't even know to consider this when they buy from the pet store. Scary stuff for sure

 

[Lavey29]

Wow. I bet most people don't even know to consider this when they buy from the pet store. Scary stuff for sure

So true, there should be warning signs in pet stores. I knew about salmonella with turtles but didn't know it was so prevalent with other reptiles and readily transferable to people. I used to take her to big reptile shows to and handle all kinds of stuff. I totally would never do that again unless just a spectator and not handing the animals.

We all need to be cautious with our tanks too.

 

[TokenReefer]

there should be warning signs in pet stores

Absolutely. I've never seen one. Yes people should research before buying but I bet lots of those are impulse buys and you can't always count on the best advice/knowledge from employees unfortunately