# Treating Internal Bacterial Infections



## creature55 (Apr 3, 2014)

I think internal bacterial infections are slowly taking out my Blue Diamond (Neocaridina davidi/heteropoda) colony! I currently have one shrimp dying every few days and the only sign of disease is that the antennae and legs get whiter. I think normally you'd see be able to see the flesh of the body turn cloudy, but because the shell is so thick/dark on these guys you can't see that.

I wanted to see if anyone has some *suggestions for treating internal bacterial infections* other than beta glucans, which I can't really afford to buy right now.

Thanks!!


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

Treating shrimps already that are already sick is hard. Beta Glucan and similar products work the best as preventing measure. 

Without using any medication or health boosters, I find lowering the water temperature works very well. Most notable with OEBTs, high temperature (over 22C) for these shrimps is prone to bacteria infection.

Key point is, stress brings out these infections as healthy shrimps have enough ability to fight against "normal" environment (bacterias are everywhere). Shipping, high temperature, overfeeding, bad water quality all result in stress.

Indian Almond Leaves are said to have anti-bacterial effects, however I don't think it will be strong enough to cure the infected shrimps. Doesn't hurt though as they are much cheaper.

I can give you a couple IAL for free if you can come pick them up in Markham. I can even give you small amount of beta glucan if you want to try those. PM me for logistics.


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## creature55 (Apr 3, 2014)

Yup, I think it's definitely a water quality issue. Filtration was not adequate up until about a week ago because the sponge on the intake filter was impeding flow. Swapped it out and the filtration is much better, but shrimp keep dying. 

I have an indian almond leaf in there (it's only 10g tank), but I could add more.

I don't have much control of the temperature in terms of lowering it, unfortunately. It swings between about 72-76 daily. No A/C in my apartment and landlord controls the temp!

Would water changes help at all?


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## Mykuhl (Apr 8, 2013)

I have safely used both Paraguard and PolyGuard made by Seachem with my Neos(the treatment was meant for the fish in the same tank). These are both anti-parasites and anti-bacterial medications, although PolyGuard is considered stronger and contains antibiotics while Paraguard doesn't. PolyGuard is hard on plants and may end up killing them, so consider that if you have plants. Both treatments that I did with these medications were carried out for about 3 weeks each. You might want to consider using either product to treat your shrimp, but I would start with Paraguard since it is more gentle.


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## Shrimp Daddy (Mar 30, 2013)

Try using kosher salt, but not too much.


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## Tamtep (Jun 20, 2013)

I personally found antibiotics such as Tetracycline worked really well, had some great results before. Also try to keep water clean, feed a little less is the key not to get any unexpected infestions...

Beta Glucans is more as prevention, not to cure the disease...



emathieu55 said:


> I wanted to see if anyone has some *suggestions for treating internal bacterial infections* other than beta glucans, which I can't really afford to buy right now.
> 
> Thanks!!


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I know this is a bit old, but I have your temp problem too. No control over it. Fans help a LOT ! An inexpensive clip on fan,, aimed at the water surface, can drop temps up to ten or more degrees. I put,them on a timer so I it is easier to control how much fanning there is vs how hot it is in the room. You will have to top up more, even daily, but it beats having your shrimp become soup.

You can meddle with fan speeds, how close it is to the water, how directly the air is aimed at the water, as well as how long the fan runs. Stick around and keep an eye at first, you can over chill pretty fast until you figure out optimal positioning, etc. 

If you are handy, little 12 V computer fans work very well too.


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## jumpsmasher (Oct 1, 2012)

I only have experience using Paraguard and Hydrogen Peroxide to treat bacterial infections. 

First off, I have yet to see either treatment would save an infected shrimp (cloudy, missing limbs) - once they are at that stage I don;t think there is much you can do to save the shrimp so I would remove them from the tank and than focus on preventing it from spreading to the other shrimps in the tank.

To this end I had pretty good results with using Hydrogen Peroxide to prevent it from spreading to the other shrimps after the initial infection - more so than using Paraguard. I also always have a premade solution of 6% hydrogen peroxide around as i use it for my oxydators as well.

To make a 6% solution, pick up some food grade 35% hydrogen peroxide at a health food store and mix 5 part RO / distilled water with 1 part hydrogen peroxide. I would that treat my tank daily using 1ml per gallon and continue to do so for two weeks until there is no sign of infected shrimps.

Again, I find it best to remove any dead shrimps as soon as possible to prevent it spreading. Also take care to wash all nets and tools you use to handle infected or dead shrimps and if you have several different tanks use separate sets to avoid spreading it to other tanks.

I also tend to do larger weekly water changes and increase the oxygen level in the tanks during the summers in addition to active cooling (i.e fans). Be proactive and always looks for signs of infected shrimps to prevent it from spreading


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