Posted by Chris Lewis ·
You spot white specks on a fish, you order a medication, and then you remember the mystery snail and the nerite hiding somewhere in the scape. Here's how to handle it.
First, make sure it's ich. Ich looks like grains of salt sprinkled on the body and fins, each one raised and roughly the same size. It usually spreads to more spots and more fish within a few days. If you see one or two spots that fade by the next morning, or fuzzy patches rather than grains, it may be something else (see ich in the glossary for close-up signs). Watch for 24 hours before you dose if you aren't sure.
Are snails safe with ich medication?
- Malachite green and formalin products (the most common ich meds) are labeled by most makers as safe for snails and shrimp at the normal dose. Stay at the label dose; don't double it "to be sure."
- Copper-based meds are not snail-safe. Copper kills snails and shrimp. Check the label for "copper" or "cupramine" before you buy.
- Salt at treatment levels stresses snails and many plants.
If you'd rather move the snails anyway: a bucket works fine for a week or two. Fill it with water from the tank, add a small air stone or a piece of filter sponge, keep it at room temperature, and do a small change with dechlorinated water every couple of days. Feed lightly. Nerites and mystery snails handle this well.
While you treat:
- Remove carbon from the filter. It pulls medication out of the water.
- Keep the temperature steady. Many keepers raise it slightly, but only if every fish in the tank tolerates it.
- Keep treating for several days after the last spot is gone. The parasite has a free-swimming stage you can't see.
- Test ammonia and nitrite during treatment, since meds can stress the bacteria. Our Water Check tool tells you what your test numbers mean and what to do about them.
Once it's over, a quarantine tank for new fish is the best way to keep it from coming back.