Can snails carry disease?

kroch3rd

kroch3rd

Member
i just bought my first snails for my soon to be reef tank. i have 1 clown and a frag of zoos in my 75g. my question is can snails carry diseases? eg: ick or anything else that will get my fish sick.
i have a qt set up and was wondering fi i should quarentine them first.
any advice will help. thanks
 
sly

sly

Active Member
ICH does not affect snails. I have never quarantined mine... I have never heard of a snail carrying a disease but maybe I'm wrong.
 
payton 350

payton 350

Member
i don't think many people QT their invertabrates, but this is a very slight chance of ich being on the shell of them, not likely but possible.....
i don't qt my snails
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Parasites can be carried on inverts, coral, and live rock. While it is not as likely as being carried on a fish, it is still indeed possible. Back when I first got into this hobby, I brought marine velvet into my tank via live rock...
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by kroch3rd
do you recommend putting snails in a qt?
Yes. The first thing I would do is look at where you are getting the snails. Are they ANY fish in the system that the snails came from? If so, then you definitely have to quarantine the snails. In the end, I would still recommend you quarantine everything.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Yes. The first thing I would do is look at where you are getting the snails. Are they ANY fish in the system that the snails came from? If so, then you definitely have to quarantine the snails. In the end, I would still recommend you quarantine everything.
Yes, absolutely
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by kroch3rd
can i give snails a freshwater bath? to get rid of any parasites
No, you can't dunk the snail. You can, however, rinse the snail without allowing the freshwater to get into the shell. Just run the back of the shell under luke warm water and rub it realy well with your hand. That should be just fine.
 
kroch3rd

kroch3rd

Member
do you mean take the snail out of the saltwater and into the air and pour freshwater onto his shell or do you mean leave the bottom of the snail in the saltwater and pour freshwater onto his shell and let the freshwater mix with the saltwater?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by kroch3rd
do you mean take the snail out of the saltwater and into the air and pour freshwater onto his shell or do you mean leave the bottom of the snail in the saltwater and pour freshwater onto his shell and let the freshwater mix with the saltwater?
Something I should have asked before, what kind of snails are these?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by kroch3rd
they are trochus snails (the ones with cone shaped shells)
They pull their entire body into the shell leaving very little opening. You can pull them out of the water and rinse their shell in freshwater. Don't allow the water to flow into the shell opening and be sure to rub the shell VERY well. Were the snails in with fish at the lfs? Where are the snails now?
 
kroch3rd

kroch3rd

Member
they were in a tank with only sea hares and other snails but im pretty sure that that lfs has a central fitler system so wouldn't ick from another tank go into all the tanks?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by kroch3rd
they were in a tank with only sea hares and other snails but im pretty sure that that lfs has a central fitler system so wouldn't ick from another tank go into all the tanks?
It is remotely possible, but not as much as if the fish were right in there with them.
 
kroch3rd

kroch3rd

Member
so im going to take the snails out of the tank their in. then pour freshwater onto their shell and scrub with a toothbrush. and then i can put them directly into the dt?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by kroch3rd
so im going to take the snails out of the tank their in. then pour freshwater onto their shell and scrub with a toothbrush. and then i can put them directly into the dt?
Yes, that should be fine. Actually if you are going to use a toothbrush you can do it right in the saltwater so you dont risk getting freshwater into their shells. Don't scrub aggressively, but scrub the outside thoroughly.
 
S

streamer

Member
I know a fellow reefer that has a 220 gal tank w/ a 125 gal sump. state of the art equipment ( very healthy established tank) and he added some snails to the tank and wala, the tank suddenly popped up with ich. Prior to adding the snails everything in the tank was doing great, lost all of his livestock..I had never thought of qt snails but I will be in the future...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top