[Aftermath of columnaris in guppy/shrimp tank]

Thanks so much, I appreciate it!  Just read your other post, and I must say that I'm in awe of how well the post is put together.  Between your knowledge, clear explanations, and concise direction is just  amazing.  Thank you again Colu!!! 🙏🙏🙏

[Aftermath of columnaris in guppy/shrimp tank]

On 5/29/2022 at 9:08 PM, Colu said:

Columnaris can survive for 30 days without a host just to be on the safe side I not put fish back in that tank for a minimum of six weeks and I would run a UV steriliser

Thanks for the advice Colu!  I've never used a UV sterilizer before.  I imagine since it's sterilizing it's going to kill off the beneficial bacteria... meaning I'd need to re-cycle the tank?

[Aftermath of columnaris in guppy/shrimp tank]

Hi there!  Hoping to get some advice after a columnaris outbreak....

I will admit, I took in a guppy from a trusted aquarist friend and took a total risk.  I usually quarantine but I didn't do it this time and ended up with a columnaris outbreak.  Getting past totally kicking myself, the only casualty (thank the universe) was my friend's guppy.  My other 3 guppies and thier fry were moved to the hospital tank and are being fed medicated food now (kanamycin + metronidazole + nitrofurazone).  All seem fine with no worsening symptoms 5 days into the 10-14 day treatment period.

My question is, what do I need to do with my tank, if anything?  I have read that columnaris is ubiquitous and exists in practically all non-chlorinated bodies of water including cycled aquariums.  However, the tricky part is that I have many neocaridina shrimp and thier fry in my heavily planted tank.  Been doing small (10-20%) water changes every other day for now.

Any advice would be great, or if anyone has been through this before... either sterilizing your tank or otherwise.

Thanks!

[Help me troubleshoot shrimp deaths]

On 4/8/2022 at 10:41 AM, Hanks Tanks said:

I use tap water. Our local water is extremely soft so I usually have the opposite issue. It doesn’t fluctuate which is really nice because I can kind of learn what works from a stable base. I still have made a lot of mistakes though, the first time I saw how stressed out they got when I didn’t match the temperature on a water change made me feel real bad. I haven’t specifically tested for copper though. 
 

thanks for the food suggestions, I think it’s time to spoil them a little. The changes I’ve made seemed to have really helped. No losses in the last few days and everyone seems perkier!

Indeed!  The water temp on water change makes a big difference.  Sometimes all the little things add up!!  Good luck, hope your shrimp start doing better!!!

[Help me troubleshoot shrimp deaths]

On 4/7/2022 at 9:15 AM, Hanks Tanks said:

Woof thanks for the nightmare fuel!! 😆 I’m sorry you’re dealing with that, it might be the sort of thing that would make me take a break from the hobby a while. 
 

at the risk of grossing myself out, what does something look like after it’s been leeched? Were things just disappearing?

Aw man, I'm so sorry!!!!  I didn't mean to totally gross you out and fuel disgusting nightmares!!! 😱  If it's any consolation, the leeches aren't that big (especially if they're young, they're the size of detritus worms), and they aren't like the ones you'd find in a lake or anything.  I found a narrow gravel cleaner off Amazon and use that to siphon them out when I find them so there's minimal handling.  Won't deny they're pretty gross tho!

So, my shrimp were mostly just disappearing one or two at a time until they were all gone.  On occasion I would find dead adult shrimp but I'd never find any dead fry.  

When my shrimp were at their peak, I fed them Glasgarten Shrimp Dinner and Betaglucan + Immunoglobin.  Just a pinch went a long ways but  found they were more active when I started these foods.  My snails appeared to be more active and grew a lot faster too! 

Are you using RO water or tap?  Our local water fluctuates like crazy and I started losing shrimp at the beginning because of this.  I needed to switch to RO water with Seachem Equilibrium... our tap water is insanely hard (sometimes over 400ppm, or 27 drops using Seachem's GH and KH tests) and found there was quite a bit of copper in it (sometimes as high as ~0.6mg/l).  Maybe test for copper if you're using tap water - stresses shrimp out if there's enough copper in your water and can slowly kill them too.

Good luck... hopefully it's not leeches!

[Help me troubleshoot shrimp deaths]

Maybe check for crawlies on the glass and in the tank late at night?

I had the same thing happen to my neo shrimp and couldn't figure out what was happening.  My tank has been established for a year and half, neos were happy and breeding too!  Parameters were good.  All of a sudden they started dying off and I started losing fry (1 to 2 at a time) until they were all gone, along with the adults too.  

Long story short, I think asian leeches (barbronia weberi) were killing my shrimp.  I also didn't see any crawlies on the glass, but I was looking during the day or when my tank light was on.  It wasn't until I so happened to be checking something in my tank in the middle of the night that I saw 5 of these leeches (2-3cm) stuck to the glass!  One of them was attached to a snail!!  I've read various blogs that these leeches are of no danger to shrimp and snails, but I'm not so sure since I witnessed one of them sucking away on a small snail.

Leeches are distinct in that they move like an inchworm.  They have suckers on both ends and can curl up into a little ball when disturbed.  I'm not sure how to get rid of them, but I've been siphoning them out every night with a noted population decrease.

Won't get any new shrimp though until I know the leeches are gone.