Can Shrimp carry disease

[Shirley]

I have a ghost shrimp and Nerite snail that were in a tank with a Betta that had advanced Swim Bladder disease. They have been in a quarantine tank since December 28. Can they infect other fish or shrimp if I put them back in a community tank. Is  there any medication that is safe to use to make sure they will not transmit any diseases? Should I be concerned? Can I go ahead and put them in the tank with healthy fish and shrimp?

[jayc]

The answer is not a straight forward "Yes".

There is always some risk of any newly introduced fauna that will carry a disease.

The shrimp and snail in the quarantine tank will have a higher risk of carrying a disease. Will they infect something else in the main tank, is anyone's guess. Then again they might not. 

Without knowing what they might be a carrier of, just use a multi purpose medicine in the quarantine tank for a week before moving the shrimp and snail. But follow the medicine's directions for invertebrates. 

Why were they in the quarantine tank in the first place?

Only sick fish, shrimps or snails, should be in the sick tank.

I have culled shrimps and hardy fish in my quarantine tank to keep the bacteria alive, so that the hospital tank is ready to go at any moment. But those will never get reintroduced back into any other tank. 

 

Personally,  I wouldn't risk moving them. Can they stay in that tank?

Edited January 8, 2018 by jayc