Snails from lake

[Califedjsbewkf]

hello! So my sister brought home some snails from Black Lake, as far as I can tell, they are healthy and I’m in the process of moving them to chlorinated tap water from the lake water they were in. I have 2 fish tanks already, one with a Betta, some cat fish and shrimp, and the other with one baby female Betta. Would it be ok to put the snails with one of them? Could they be diseased right now and hurt them? Or could I maybe get a tank and just separate it so I can have my baby Betta on one side and my snails on the other?

 

[FishGuest5123]

Yes, they can be carrying things not good for your fish. Don’t add them to your tanks.

 

[Colin_T]

You need to quarantine the snails for at least one month and deworm them while they are in quarantine.

Snails can carry parasitic worms that can infect fish and deworming the snails will help to get rid of the worms.

Another option is to leave the snails in the quarantine container and when they breed, move the babies into the main tank. The babies will be free of any worm larvae and won't cause a problem to the fish.

If you can post pictures of the snails, we can identify them for you and possibly offer more information.
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

 

[Califedjsbewkf]

You need to quarantine the snails for at least one month and deworm them while they are in quarantine.

Snails can carry parasitic worms that can infect fish and deworming the snails will help to get rid of the worms.

Another option is to leave the snails in the quarantine container and when they breed, move the babies into the main tank. The babies will be free of any worm larvae and won't cause a problem to the fish.

If you can post pictures of the snails, we can identify them for you and possibly offer more information.
If the pictures are too big for the website, set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting and take some more. The lower resolution will make the images smaller and they should fit on this website. Check the pictures on your pc and find a couple that are clear and show the problem, and post them here. Make sure you turn the camera's resolution back up after you have taken the pics otherwise all your pictures will be small.

Ok so how can I deworm them? I will try to send pictures asap

 

[Colin_T]

Praziquantel, Levamisole or Flubendazole.
Praziquantel treats tapeworm.
Levamisole treats thread/ round worm.
Flubendazole does both.

The snails could be harboring round or flat worm larvae so you should treat them for all. And check the directions, Flubendazole might kill snails, the other 2 don't.

You treat them once a week for 3-4 weeks and change 75% of the tank water 24-48 hours after treating.

Remove carbon from filter before treating otherwise it will remove the medication.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

DONT ADD TO TANK!!

Not only do pond snails have parasites, they can also take over our tank SUPER fast. If you are looking for some hardy snails, I suggest getting some Nerite snails. They are very pretty looking, and they eat dead plants, calcium build ups, and algae.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I simply wouldn’t do it either. Too high a risk. Snails are cheap. Just buy some.

 

[Byron]

I concur fully with Deanasue. Snails from your local ecosystem should never be added to a tropical fish tank. If you live in the tropics, that is different, as you can do the quarantine/deworming etc, but this is not sufficient with any living organism from a different region. The reason is that there are pathogens in any environment and the fish that live in that environment build up immunity to these pathogens, or ways to deal with them, so they (the fish) are not eradicated. Each environmental region is unique in some of these pathogens. So fish from tropical regions will not have immunities to pathogens from temperate regions, and vice-versa. This is why we must never release any aquatic organism into the local ecosystem.