Everything but my snail died...what now?

T

triciajoy

Registered Member
Oct 7, 2005
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Fairview Heights, IL
I have a little 2 gallon hex tank that I got solely for the purpose of my Betta nearly a year ago. Perhaps 6 months ago, I added a large snail. (I believe he is an "apple snail" if I can believe the pics I find on the net. He is approximately an inch in diameter and a light tan color.) Everything was going along pretty well (regular water changes, everyone seemed happy) until about 3 weeks ago when I added a rubber nosed pleco to the mix. I was told at the pet store that they do not get as large as a regular pleco, and should do well in my small tank. Well, about a week later, I noticed a few spots on Max (my betta) and instantly knew I had an Ich outbreak. So I got some Ick away, kept the light off, turned the heat up. He just kept getting worse and worse. He was scratching himself on some fake coral at the bottom of the tank and tearing up his fins. I couldn't see the Ich on the Pleco, but he was a very, very light brown spotted color, so I assume it was there, just not visible. I tested the water and my nitrates were HIGH, I mean, like 160ppm. I'm surprised ANYTHING was alive. Well, I started doing 1/3 tank water changes every other day, and its down a bit, but still HIGH (80ppm). The pleco died a few days ago. I was sad, but since he's a catfish and was probably infected when I got him, I figured that was par for the course. Well, today Max died. Broke my heart.
So, all that is left is the snail. So now what? I obviously don't want to bring any fish in to this awful tank, but what do I do with this snail? If I move him to something else and empty the tank, clean it & everything in it etc, what do I need to do to the tank I have to make it safe again? And I can't see any Ich on the snail, but do I keep treating whatever he is in? I don't want to get the tank cleaned up, then add him back into it at the right time and start the whole thing over again.
I haven't had a tank since I was a kid (dad took care of everything) so I'm REALLY green and would appreciate any help/advice anyone could give. I'm willing also to take any scolding for anything I did wrong. I just don't want to make the same mistakes again.
 
Can't say whether the ich parasite can be carried by the snail.

Ich needs their foodsource (fish) to survive, so leaving the tank empty without fish for 2 weeks should be enough to remove the threat.
 
Snails don't contract ich. If you leave the tank running for about 4 weeks, temp around 86, all the ich parasites will die without a host and you can safely restock the tank.

I would avoid adding more than just one fish though--2 gallons is pretty tiny, and way too small for any herbivore. Even those that won't outgrow the tank will be hard pressed to get enough food in such a small setup, and they all produce copious amounts of waste--tough to deal with in smaller volumes. If another betta doesn't interest you, look at paradise fish. They do well solo in smaller setups.
 
I'm not 100% but I'm pretty sure the snail can't get Ich. I may be wrong there so someone else may correct me.

When you have any reading in your water above levels like that, whether it by ammonia, nitrite or nitrates what you want to do is like back to back 75% or 50% water changes until the readings are acceptable. You don't want to leave them in that dangerous water for any period of time, other then as quickly as it takes you to get the toxins clear.

Adding the pleco overstocked the tank and could have been a big contributor in the nitrates becoming so high like that. In a 2 gallon your betta and the snail are about all you can have if you want the water to stay healthy.

Hope that helps,
Curtis
 
Thanks guys..I really wasn't sure if the snail to harbor anything or not. I was considering a larger tank (don't have a LOT of room, but could probably pull off a 30G or so) but am scared now. I definitely need to do some more reading before I'm willing to risk more fish. I will probably get another betta in a month or so. It kills me that I lost Max. Everyone tells me I'm too attached, "it's just a fish, they die" but he was MY fish and I killed him. I definitely won't add another fish with him. I was really trying to keep down the algae on the walls of the tank (wasn't bad, but made the glass look spotted) and the lady at the store said he'd be fine.
I should know better than to listen to the people at the store.

Anyway, thanks again!
 
Unfortunately, anytime you introduce new fish to a tank (unless you quarantine), you risk introducing disease along with it, so blame the pleco!! Seriously though, sorry the betta died, I would go with OG's advice and leave the tank running at a high temp for a while, the ich will be gone, the snail should keep it cycled, and you can then get another betta.

Also, how often and how much were you doing water changes? The high nitrates might have just been the plecos fault (they are HUGE waste producers, another reason why they are not a good idea for smaller tanks), you might have just needed to do them more frequently.
 
this is definitely another case where inch per gallon comes in handy as an indicator of overstocking - if you have more inches of fish than gallons of water, then you know you're doing something wrong.
 
I was doing once a week 25% water changes. When everything got all out of wack, I was doing three times a week water changes. I was afraid to do it more often than that because I really couldn't find much on how often I could safely do it.
I used to do 50% changes, but am pretty sure I killed my previous pleco that way, so I took it down a bit. I figured with such a tiny amount, 50% was a lot.

I think I've pretty much decided to just not use this tank. I'll let the Ich cycle out and then get a little bit bigger tank. I can just use this little bitty one for quarantine or something.

Also, for a newbie, if I then want to use it to quarantine a new fish, how long do I need to leave a new fish in there to watch for the Ich? It was about a week after introducing the pleco that I saw the first spots on my betta.
 
I would not even use that tank for a QT tank. It is too small to really observe the fish well, the levels are hard to keep stable and the temp. can really fluctuate. Plus, almost any fish will be stressed in such a small tank for a long period of time. I would QT for at least 2 weeks, I usually do 3-4 to be safe. I would either adopt a betta for the tank, keep snails and or shrimp, or sell it :D

Also, get the biggest tank you can if you see this as a hobby you would like to stick with. Even a 10g tank is severly limited stocking wise, and the cost for the equipment between say a 10g and a 30g won't be very significant!!
 
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