# Does my shrimp have parasitic nematode? (VIDEO)



## t.doyle (5 Mar 2014)

Hi all,
Not sure if in right section, I brought a 'blue shrimp' back with me today and noticed some little wiggley worm things on its underside at the base of its legs, they seem attached. Is it part of the shrimp? I seem to think it's some sort of nematode... They are brown in colouration, about 4 of them.

I've tried to show them on this video.... It's the shrimp on the bottom. You can see these worms best at 0:28 ish. You need to watch it in 1080p to be able to see them properly. The wiggly bit of concern is above and left slightly of the bubble below the bottom shrimp....




Should I be concerned about this? Anyone have any experience in this? Am I just being silly? 

Please, any input is much appreciated!


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## Lindy (6 Mar 2014)

I don't know what that is but... Eeeww! Well done for spotting that.


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## kirk (6 Mar 2014)

I dread having anything attached to my little beauties other than eggs. I haven't been able to look at your clip, but I watching waitingfor someone who knows to answer your question. Fingers crossed what ever it is is ok or treatable.


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## t.doyle (6 Mar 2014)

Yeah its pretty gross. I don't think I'm adding him to the tank as I'm just too worried that it'll spread to all my other shrimp or fish!


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## t.doyle (6 Mar 2014)

kirk said:


> I dread having anything attached to my little beauties other than eggs. I haven't been able to look at your clip, but I watching waitingfor someone who knows to answer your question. Fingers crossed what ever it is is ok or treatable.


Does the link not work?


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## LondonDragon (6 Mar 2014)

Looks like planaria!! You can use panacur to kill them, usually kills them all in 24 hours

Or purchase this: http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/genchem-no-planaria-p-5606.html

I would keep that shrimp separate from the rest, might not stand a chance that one!


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## kirk (6 Mar 2014)

I don't know mate sorry I'm being I mizer, I must be nearly at the end of my gb of data and I have a lot more rubbish to post tonight


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## t.doyle (6 Mar 2014)

LondonDragon said:


> Looks like planaria!! You can use panacur to kill them, usually kills them all in 24 hours
> 
> I would keep that shrimp separate from the rest, might not stand a chance that one!


Panacur, not heard of it.. Is it safe to treat with shrimp? It seems my problem that most anti-crustacean treatments will harm the shrimp.


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## kirk (6 Mar 2014)

It's pet wormer mate I may have an equivalent you can have if you make a small donation to ukaps? I can post tomorrow? I had planaria in our last set up.


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## LondonDragon (6 Mar 2014)

t.doyle said:


> Panacur, not heard of it.. Is it safe to treat with shrimp? It seems my problem that most anti-crustacean treatments will harm the shrimp.


Any Vet will stock it in liquid or pill form, I tend to use liquid 0.1ml per 10 liters, but you can crush a pill and dump the powder in the tank.


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## LondonDragon (6 Mar 2014)

For those that say that planaria only attack dead shrimp to eat them, this is a good example to prove otherwise!


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## t.doyle (6 Mar 2014)

Thanks for your replies. Kirk - I'll poke my head into the vets  tomorrow but if I can't find any I'll take you up on your offer. These planaria are definitely attached to the shrimp. They seem to have their 'head' stuck between the exo skeleton plates of the shrimp..


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## t.doyle (6 Mar 2014)

The only thing that strikes me is that these planaria on the shrimp are brown rather than white. Can planaria be brown?


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## dw1305 (7 Mar 2014)

Hi all,
Due to the movement I think it's a leech(es), rather than _Planaria_ (they look similar, but Leeches loop and _Planaria_ glide). Pancur doesn't work on leeches, and I'm not sure what does, but I suspect some of the shrimp forums will have an answer. 

Cheers Darrel


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## t.doyle (7 Mar 2014)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> Due to the movement I think it's a leech(es), rather than _Planaria_ (they look similar, but Leeches loop and _Planaria_ glide). Pancur doesn't work on leeches, and I'm not sure what does, but I suspect some of the shrimp forums will have an answer.
> 
> Cheers Darrel


It could well be a leech, looking at others who have experienced them... It seems panacur or similar knocks them out also.


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## BigTom (7 Mar 2014)

Think it'll take quite a dose to hit leeches. They don't seem to even notice the normal 1ml/50l dosage of the oral solution.

Wonder if manual removal might be possible?


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (7 Mar 2014)

BigTom said:


> Think it'll take quite a dose to hit leeches. They don't seem to even notice the normal 1ml/50l dosage of the oral solution.
> 
> Wonder if manual removal might be possible?



Yeah, using the 'brick' method


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## Fern (7 Mar 2014)

Well done spotting it, this kinda makes me a bit paranoid now about buying/obtaining shrimp/fish. Where did you get your shrimp, a friend or shrimp retailer? (Don't mention where from if retail, just curious !)


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## Jafooli (7 Mar 2014)

How did you even notice that, I had to watch the video a few times to even see it.

I'm not sure If I can post a link from another forum, but I tried to Google it for you, and the closest I found was this guys blue shrimp.

I had to link the cache page as it don't load well, http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:dlcasrxVR_wJ:www.crustaforum.com/board/showthread.php?307-Shrimp-leech &cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Maybe a mod can delete that If we ain't allowed to link forums, and in his thread he links this youtube video.



I noticed yours is brown and not white, but maybe its similar, I'm not an expert, but he seemed to get his to drop off the shrimp by his tap water, looks even more scary when it drops off lol... especially in that video. I personally wouldn't want to put my hand in a tank with one of them around  but dam I'd want to kill it before it finds what its looking for!


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## t.doyle (7 Mar 2014)

Jafooli said:


> How did you even notice that, I had to watch the video a few times to even see it.
> 
> I'm not sure If I can post a link from another forum, but I tried to Google it for you, and the closest I found was this guys blue shrimp.
> 
> ...



Yes I'd say mine looks very similar but have not seen it move around like that off the shrimp. I did see that guys post and wondered how tap water killed it off...


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## t.doyle (7 Mar 2014)

Fern said:


> Well done spotting it, this kinda makes me a bit paranoid now about buying/obtaining shrimp/fish. Where did you get your shrimp, a friend or shrimp retailer? (Don't mention where from if retail, just curious !)


From a retail shop


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## t.doyle (7 Mar 2014)

BigTom said:


> Think it'll take quite a dose to hit leeches. They don't seem to even notice the normal 1ml/50l dosage of the oral solution.
> 
> Wonder if manual removal might be possible?


I tried picking them off with five tweezers but it seems when I get near they disappear... Is gen-chem no planaria made of the same stuff as panacur do you know? (Fenbendazole)


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## Fern (7 Mar 2014)

t.doyle said:


> From a retail shop


Have you contacted them about this?


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## Jafooli (7 Mar 2014)

I googled leeches and chlorine, it seems they are sensitive to chlorine and other things in tap water. So I would say chlorine probably kills them and that's how the other guy managed to kill them. I don't know what to do from here, but I guess someone who knows what there talking about will let you know. But if you can learn about leeches then maybe your have a chance to learn what kills them with out harming your shrimp. I definitely got a lot of results backs saying they hate chlorine.


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## Maximum (7 Mar 2014)

No Planaria appears to be a herbal extract and on another search it said betal nut palm extract! Highly unlikely to be fenbendazole which is a well used dog/cat/horse wormer. I do hope you find out what it is and manage to get rid without destroying the shrimp


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## Maximum (7 Mar 2014)

t.doyle said:


> From a retail shop


Is the shop near enough to just take the shrimp back? Guess you won't be using them again in a hurry?


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## t.doyle (7 Mar 2014)

I might try a dose of chloramine-T, that stuff stinks of chlorine and is used for internal bacteria in fish. I don't think the shrimp in my tank liked it that much last time I added it...


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## dw1305 (7 Mar 2014)

Hi all,
Leeches can be a lot  of different colours, I usually (always?) have some in the tanks, and they range from white and translucent through to pink and brown. They don't attach to the fish, but they definitely scavenge live fish eggs etc.

I've never tried to treat mine (I have Blackworms (also Annelids) in the sand), but I have some bits of  flat ceramic tile on the substrate that I pick up every few days and dispose of the leeches that have clustered underneath. 

Leeches are Annelid worms (Annelida, Hirundea), so they are closely related to Earth worms etc, but only distantly related to Planaria, Tapeworms or Nematodes. 

A link here:
<http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=337514&highlight=snails+leeches>.

Cheers Darrel


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## Jafooli (7 Mar 2014)

Yeah I have used Chloramine T for my pond a few times as a precaution. 

However as your dealing with a shrimp I would probably wait and see what an expert has to say, as I have not much experience with shrimp and there obviously really sensitive so it might kill your shrimp as well.
Even salt is meant to be good for killing leeches, so I guess its about finding that level / dose which the shrimp would survive and the leech wouldn't.

But as shrimp are so sensitive, the possibility might be that the shrimp is more sensitive than the leech. So I'm not sure what the best approach is. Sorry.


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## Fern (7 Mar 2014)

Could it be an anchor worm?


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## Lindy (10 Mar 2014)

Surely if it was a leech it would feed and then drop off? I have an outdoor tank that has plants and snails etc and leeches appeared in there so either the 

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## Lindy (10 Mar 2014)

They may have arrived as eggs on pond plants I bought.

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