Can Cleaner Shrimp Get Internal Worms

[SomeReefGuy]

Hi all,

I have a clownfish that has internal worms. I will be treating it next week, as getting med's in Canada is so hard. This is a dumb question but since worms passed from one fish to my other clown, do I also need to treat the cleaner shrimp?

Thanks in advance

 

[Slocke]

The more different a creature is the less likely they are to host the same parasites. Fish and shrimp are anatomically and genetically very different. Also as far as I know most parasite medications would seriously harm a shrimp. My thoughts at least, not a fish medic.

 

[lulubap]

Not sure about the answer to your question, but inverts don't typically respond to the medications we give fishes. So even if this were a possibility, I don't think you could treat it.

 

[AydenLincoln]

No because most medication meant for fish are not invert safe especially copper based medication! And many fish diseases and parasites like velvet and ick do not infect invertebrates.

 

[SomeReefGuy]

The more different a creature is the less likely they are to host the same parasites. Fish and shrimp are anatomically and genetically very different. Also as far as I know most parasite medications would seriously harm a shrimp. My thoughts at least, not a fish medic.

Thanks for the help! If cleaner shrimp is in the tank with the clownfish with worms, is there anything I can do to treat the cleaner?

 

[SomeReefGuy]

Not sure about the answer to your question, but inverts don't typically respond to the medications we give fishes. So even if this were a possibility, I don't think you could treat it.

Thanks for the heads up

 

[SomeReefGuy]

No because most medication meant for fish are not invert safe especially copper based medication! And many fish diseases and parasites like velvet and ick do not infect invertebrates.

Thank you, so the worms would not impacted the cleaner shrimp?

 

[AydenLincoln]

Thank you, so the worms would not impacted the cleaner shrimp?

They shouldn’t. Can you post a photo? So you want to remove the clownfish and treat them in a separate quarantine tank. Here’s some helpful articles: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/fish-disease-index-pictorial-guide.199/

How to Quarantine

How to Quarantine The purpose of this article is to present an argument for quarantining saltwater fish, and then show the reader how to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT) and discuss quarantine protocols. Why quarantine? Setting up a QT does not...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Slocke]

I wouldn't worry about it. Honestly we're more closely related to a clown fish than a shrimp is to a clown. The chance of interspecies spread on that level is very low.

But yes, you want to treat the fish in a quarantine system as said above.