Cleaner shrimp for fighting fish parasites
 

Came across a study on using shrimp to eat parasites in the fish farming industry.

Excerpt on findings
The effectiveness of shrimp in reducing parasites on farmed fish remained unexplored until now. We tested four cleaner shrimp species for their ability to reduce three harmful parasites (a monogenean fluke, a ciliate protozoan, and a leech) on a farmed grouper. All shrimp reduced parasites on fish and most reduced the free-living early-life environmental stages – a function not provided by cleaner fish. Cleaner shrimp are sustainable biocontrol candidates against parasites of farmed fish, with the peppermint cleaner shrimp reducing parasites by up to 98%

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32293-6


Worth the read

Thanks for sharing.

Never thought of peppermints as cleaners, more so for aiptasia eradication.

I do keep 2 pairs of cleaners though, scarlet and blood.
I just plain like to keep them, the cleaning relationship is cool to see too!
Also having them clean your hands when in the tank is neat too lol.

Yeah, as well, thanks for posting. Enjoyed the read
I love it too when they go on your hand. Except for one time. I had a 1/4 inch scab on my hand and the skunk found it. He hunkered down and with all his might tore it right off. Too fast for me to pull the hand out. Bleeding after.
Laughable now.
I get my guests to wash their hands and place one into the tank. Mixed reactions
lol

Ouch!

Ouch with a little 😂

Yes, beware if you have an ouch.
Seriously though, the read was quite informative.
I think the sales of peppermints will go up

to buy a cleaner for 70 bucks and a blood shrimp for 80 is sad considering that peppermints were going for 16 before a 29.99 for a cleaner seems all distributors are gouging like frags that are 1/4' and sells for more than a 3 " piece sad

the whole hobby has gotten sad to be honest

Prices are definitely getting out of hand.

I posted the original finding because i was looking for reasons why i feel older systems didn’t have the pest and problems we encounter currently in the hobby. Ive had a few conversations with people and my old tanks parasites were there but always managed in the system by the system without doing any quarantine or treatments etc

Findings # 2 next post

Excerpt on findings of viruses being eaten

In a series of experiments in the lab, the researchers examined how a range of these non-host marine organisms fared at removing viral particles from their aquatic environment – either via active predation, or via passive mechanisms, such as filter feeders and organisms that create physical barriers between viral parasites and their hosts.

Of the 10 different animal species tested, crabs, cockles, oysters, and sponges turned out to be the most effective at reducing viral abundance.

"In our experiments, the sponges reduced the presence of viruses by up to 94 percent within three hours," Welsh explains, although after a full 24 hours, that figure reached even 98 percent virus removal.

"Another experiment showed that the uptake of viruses happens indeed very quickly and effectively. Even if we offered new viruses to the water every 20 minutes, the sponges remained tremendously effective in removing viruses."

https://www.sciencealert.com/marine-...study-suggests