# When is it safe to return a mystery snail to a treated tank



## BadFishDaddy (May 11, 2011)

Hi,

I have been treating a tank for Ick and I have removed my mystery snail (just to be safe). I have completed the treatment, put the charcoal back in to my filter and done around a 25% water change. 

My question is when will it be safe to return my snail to my tank?


Thanks for the help.


----------



## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

BadFishDaddy said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have been treating a tank for Ick and I have removed my mystery snail (just to be safe). I have completed the treatment, put the charcoal back in to my filter and done around a 25% water change.
> 
> ...


It's good you removed her, should would have died. I took mine out when I treated for ich, and I don't use charcoal, but did 2 tank changes of 30-40% before I put mine back. Watch the snail for signs of reaction, I believe they will secrete a silivia like substance in response to the salt. Mine was fine, and is still alive and growing today.


----------



## LasColinasCichlids (Jan 4, 2011)

The question is whether your ich treatment was using salt or a bottle/tablet medication. If salt its more about water changes to remove the salinity to safe levels for the snail. If its meds via liquid or fizz tabs then putting in a fresh carbon cartridge and a good second water change after the initial 25% as recommended by most bottled meds should do it for the snail's safety. As far as the carbon, I would let it run and pull all the access meds for 24-48 hours before adding the snail back to the tank.


----------



## BadFishDaddy (May 11, 2011)

LasColinasCichlids said:


> The question is whether your ich treatment was using salt or a bottle/tablet medication. If salt its more about water changes to remove the salinity to safe levels for the snail. If its meds via liquid or fizz tabs then putting in a fresh carbon cartridge and a good second water change after the initial 25% as recommended by most bottled meds should do it for the snail's safety. As far as the carbon, I would let it run and pull all the access meds for 24-48 hours before adding the snail back to the tank.


Thanks for the reply. I have salt inbthe tank, but I did not add extra salt for treating the ick. I have been using a disolvable powder from api. You are supposed to treat, wait 48 hrs, treat, wait 48 hrs and do the water change. The carbon will be in 24 hours tonight. I think I'll do another water change tonight and put my snail back in.

Thanks for the advice.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

LasColinasCichlids said:


> The question is whether your ich treatment was using salt or a bottle/tablet medication. If salt its more about water changes to remove the salinity to safe levels for the snail. If its meds via liquid or fizz tabs then putting in a fresh carbon cartridge and a good second water change after the initial 25% as recommended by most bottled meds should do it for the snail's safety. As far as the carbon, I would let it run and pull all the access meds for 24-48 hours before adding the snail back to the tank.


Funny, I just assumed it was salt. Good you asked those questions Amanda! 

Gwen


----------



## LasColinasCichlids (Jan 4, 2011)

@BadFishDaddy... you are welcome, and sounds like a plan. How much salt do you keep in your tank regularly and why? (If you dont mind my asking.)

@Gwen... lol Thanks.


----------



## BadFishDaddy (May 11, 2011)

I keep 1 tsp per gallon. I have heard it is good for the fish (especially the molly's which I have always had problems keeping). I don't tend to replace it when I do water changes because I have heard you should not need to. 

Does salt and increased temp usually treat ick?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## LasColinasCichlids (Jan 4, 2011)

BadFishDaddy said:


> I keep 1 tsp per gallon. I have heard it is good for the fish (especially the molly's which I have always had problems keeping). I don't tend to replace it when I do water changes because I have heard you should not need to.
> 
> Does salt and increased temp usually treat ick?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Yeah, the safest way to treat ich is a steady increase of aquarium salt and an increased temp over a period of time as you monitor your fish for any signs of stress that they might not be able to handle the temp or salinity.

I use to keep livebearers, well just mollies and guppies. I never put the full recommened dosage of aquarium salt in the tank as the other inhabitants usually arent as receptive to salt as the mollies and guppies are. Mollies and guppies dont actually need the salt. They just have a higher tolerance for salinity than other fish and can actually be slowly acclimated to brackish and on the rare ocassion I have heard of a guppy going marine (only read, never seen that! lol). 

Aquarium salt's main purpose is to assist in the ridding of parasites and diseases such as ich. A big reason a lot of chain pet stores (like Petsmart & Petco) use aquarium salt in their tanks is to hide the masses of sickness and attempt to prevent some of the sickness that comes with their overstocked and non-temp regulated holding tanks. Their tanks are a breeding ground for ich, and the salt helps hide it, but without the raised temps they arent treating it. (Another reason I prefer to buy my fish at petsmart on Fridays is because they JUST get them in and they have had less time in the ich-tanks! LOL)

With the aquarium salt, it is always in the tank unless you do a water change. Example being you put in 5 tsp... you do a 50% water change... you have taken out half the salt and left 2.5 tsp. And until you do another 50% water change that salt is still in the tank. Which is why it is always important to make sure you calculate it correctly before ever adding more aquarium salt to make sure you dont over-do it for the non-salt liking fish. I would probably lower that a lot for the safety of the snail in the long run. 

For mollies and guppies the biggest thing for keeping them is the need for hard water. And of course the right food... those tetra algae crisps (they are like regular tropical flakes, but have veggies in the middle) they make are GREAT for Mollies (as they are omnivores)!!! On the other hand guppies like insects and freeze-dried bloodworms are an awesome addition to their diet for natural color enhancments!!!


----------



## BadFishDaddy (May 11, 2011)

Hi Gwen, 

Sorry I didn't reply to your message. For some reason, I didn't see it before.

Thank you for your response. I do plan on doing a second water change before putting my snail back in. Of note I have some of those little snails that tend to sneak in to a tank (I'm guessing on plants). They are thriving even with the treatments. Of course they do better with warm water so that may have helped keep them alive.


----------



## BadFishDaddy (May 11, 2011)

LosColinas,

Thanks again for all the good information. I have done multiple water changes and never added salt back to the tank. It sounds like I could probably use some. I did add salt to my QT tank (but not much as I am using a 5 gallon home depot bucket).

Thanks again to both you and Gwen I really appreciate the advice.


----------



## LasColinasCichlids (Jan 4, 2011)

You are very welcome. And I see you just joined TFK this month, so welcome to the forum, we are glad to have you!!!


----------

