How long to quarantine cherry shrimp?

[jcrabbit]

Newbie here.

It seems like there is really no harm in quarantining rcs. I plan on buying about ten RCS from a local store. The first time I got shrimp, I ordered from Aqua Huna. I had no idea what I was doing and I just added them to my 5 gallon tank. They turned out to thrive well, lasting about a year until I caused their death from poor care.

This time, I am trying to do things right and avoid introducing pests and diseases. I will have a seasoned tank with just plants which I want to be their long term home. I can get another 5 gallon, un-planted tank for QT if they need to be quarantined for a prolong period. As a rule of thumb, I am curious how long to quarantine for. 30 days? 60 days? Somewhere in between? Do I medicate RCS during quarantine?

Thanks in advance,

John

[nabokovfan87]

Usually, at least 2 weeks.  Inspect them visually for shrimp specific diseases.  30 days is "best" but it all depends on what you can manage if you have a QT setup.

For med, yeah, I would treat them, but when they arrive give them a few days to rest / recover and then go ahead and dose meds.  You don't have to, but it's the type of thing where you might as well go through the effort fully. 

For shrimp specifically there's two mindsets for QT.  Quarantine them and monitor them for parasites / diseases.  The other mindset is that most / pretty much all shrimp diseases won't do any hard to fish, so people just don't QT them. 

If I had the space, I would get shrimp, let them arrive to my rack and monitor them for 7 days.  Then I would dose in at the very least salt, fungal, bacterial, and parasite meds (QT Trio + Salt).  After 7 days it would be a secondary treatment and then monitor them.  Overall time is about 21-30 days to get through that process.  There is a modified process I've been using for parasites which includes expel-p and paracleanse dosed in a specific way for 1 week, repeated for 3 weeks.  This handles internal and external parasites.

Edit: found it.
https://aquariumbreeder.com/understanding-dwarf-shrimp-diseases-and-parasites/

Edited November 23, 2022 by nabokovfan87
added link

[k0olmini]

I personally don't think you need to

[Remi de Groot]

Online time I might quarantaine shrimps is when they go in a tank that already has shrimp. Never had a problem with shrimp doing harm to a fish tbh.

[DaveO]

Temperature acclimate, then throw them in. That's it.

[Remi de Groot]

I found shrimp to be a bit more sensitive when it comes to changing water parameters. So I wouldn't "only temperature acclimate" them. Drip acclimating is more the way to go with shrimp (Def with caridina).

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/23/2022 at 11:54 AM, Remi de Groot said:

I found shrimp to be a bit more sensitive when it comes to changing water parameters. So I wouldn't "only temperature acclimate" them. Drip acclimating is more the way to go with shrimp (Def with caridina).

100%

[jcrabbit]

Thanks everyone! Love this forum!

[Guppysnail]

Shrimp do not carry disease that transmits to fish. Medication for them is unnecessary and hard on them and your wallet for no reason. They do carry their own issues that transmit to one another. A 30 day quarantine and careful observation is all you need.  That 30 days allows anything transmittable to fish that was in their water to perish from having no fish host. It will also allow any shrimp disease to become visible. 
Do not put them in a sterile( unseasoned) tank they need lots of biofilm and stuff that grows over time in tanks.  Wood and leaves I recommend highly if it is not a seasoned tank with lots of biofilm. 
Here is a quick overview of things to look for.  This site contains photos so you can identify issues easily. https://aquariumbreeder.com/understanding-dwarf-shrimp-diseases-and-parasites/

edit add.  Watch the qt tank. Planaria love to hitch rides with shrimp 

Edited November 23, 2022 by Guppysnail