Cleaner shrimp at a LFS question.

[Neet]

There is this LFS store that sells cheap cleaner shrimp ($20), but the tank their in has some questionable health fish in them. Is it safe to buy a cleaner shrimp in the same tank with fish that have a possibility of having ick and other stuff?

[paneubert]

Ich will not host shrimp. So as long as you minimize the bag water entering your tank then you should be ok. Maybe net the shrimp when transferring it? The free swimming stage of ich is short lived. So that is also a plus.

 

Edit: Or.......if you can hold the shrimp in a separate container for a few days then any free swimming ich will die off without a host. Just make sure to clean the hell out of the container before you use it for fish just in case!