The Puffer Forum

I got some "nuisance" snails from a local pet store. They came from a large tank of feeder Comet goldfish. I hadn't had goldfish in a while, and I had an unoccupied cold water tank ready to go for the snails, so I got a few Comets with the snails.

It very quickly became apparent that the Comets had ich, so I treated them accordingly. All but one of the Comets died before the week was out so I am guessing they were well infected before I got them, it just hadn't become apparent yet.

Now I have one healthy goldfish and a few apparently healthy snails, though I haven't seen an increase in their numbers yet which makes me wonder.

It has been over two weeks, and many water changes, since finishing the ich treatment.

Are the snails okay to feed to my GSP now, or soon, or should I start over with a new bunch of snails?
I am hesitating to do that since every store I have seen snails in seems to have dead fish in with them and I'm afraid of starting the problem all over again!!!

What treatment did you use?

Ich has a life cycle of 4 weeks. If you don't treat for the at LEAST 4 weeks after the last visible sign of ich, you don't kill all the stages of the life cycle and the fish is likely to just reinfect (medication only kills it at the free swimming stage).

So no, personally I would not feed those snails to your puffers right now, or use the same net, or siphon, or stick your hands in either tank without washing between.

For what its worth, if you aren't familiar with goldfish, comets grow to up to a foot long, need 30 gallons each and can live over 30 years.. hope you're prepared!

Thanks Myaj!!!

I guess my first mistake was stopping treatment after a week, especially since further reading suggests it takes longer in a cold tank than a warm one. (I'm just getting back into this and I guess I don't remember as much as I thought!)

I used Maracide.

Is there any medication that you know of which is preferable for the purposes of curing a tank with feeder snails? If I am going to change meds, it seems like this is a good time to do it!

Sorry!!!

Not sure how I double posted that!!!

No worries. It's been fixed.

I agree that ich is a big nuisance. If there are only a couple of snails left and no fish, I'd just clean the tank and start over (especially if they're pond snails). I've never treated cold water fish for ich, so I'm not sure if the process is the same or not.

Its pretty much the same.. only standard treatment is to raise the temperature and comets won't be able to handle it (higher temps shorten the life cycle).

When I treated my goldies for ich years ago, I used Coppersafe. It didn't hurt the loaches or the snails and did a great job on the ich, never saw a sign of it again.

Can snails carry ICH?

Myaj: Thanks again!!! I will try the Coppersafe!!

StormySkiez: I haven't found a clear answer to that question, so I'm going with the 'better safe than sorry' approach. I really don't want to lose my puffer!!!

I agree 100% SkWsdm. For reference I would like to know if snails can carry ICH. I know you need to get the tank healthy but to make it clear, copersafe can be harmful to "some snails , plants and invertebrates without an exoskeleton from the aquarium".

Ref: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/a ... CatId=4721

if it is the same as marine... which i'm guessing it is...

snails cannot 'host' ich... the parasite cannot feed off the inverts like it can fish...

BUT the ich can be carried in and on the shell of the invert, even if one tiny free swimming parasite is in or around the shell/body of the snail, it can transfer to your other tank with the snail...

now, more interestingly, could the ich parasite survive the sudden change in temperature, from the cold water tank, to the tropical tank...

is your GSP in brackish water? If so, what SG... if it's high enough then the ich (should) be killed off by the salt..

Gotcha T1ger. I wouldn't chance feeding the snails personally.

That's a good point, ich can't handle big salinity swings.. but if its not a higher salinity, I wouldn't risk it.

As was said, ich can not live/feed off a snail, but it can "hitch a ride" on the shell, in the water, on your nets, hands, etc...