Quarantining Shelled Inverts, 14 days or 76 Days?

[Hugh Mann]

I read Humblefish's write up on QTing inverts, and according to the chart, snails should be quarantined for 76 days to eliminate the risk of ich. Makes sense.

I asked my Lfs about this, and they told me it only really needs to be 14 days. After 14 days any encysted ich will have burst, releasing the free swimmers. Then just rinse the snail a couple times in clean water, and good to go.

I have never heard anyone else ever mention the above method. Is the risk of ich contamination just too great, or the timeline doesn't work?

 

[ichthyogeek]

Technically the LFS isn't wrong. I'm going to ask for forgiveness for not knowing the proper lingo at ~4 AM right now. I'll probably look back on this when I wake up and retype it with the actual scientific phrasing...

76 Day: 2 days for making the cyst that attaches to tank surfaces once the cysts on fish pop. 72 days for tank surface cyst to mature and release little swimmers. Another 2 days for the little swimmers to make it onto a host. NOTE: this was one study at super cold water, and seemed to be a freak occurrence.

14/18 day. Again ~2 days for the cysts to attach to tank surfaces once the cysts on the fish pop, but this time, around 12-14 days for the cysts to mature at the high 70s we typically keep our tanks at (much more common). By washing the snails thoroughly, you technically remove any of the swimmer dudes that are surrounding the snail.

So technically they're right. But it depends on how much you're willing to risk as per usual. Personally, I'd wait no less than 3 weeks, since that would probably take care of the majority of ich parasites, not including freak occurrences like the cold water ich study.

 

[Snoopdog]

proper lingo at ~4 AM right now.

Yeah I am sitting here drinking coffee thinking why in the hell did I wake up at 3:30am.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Well, I just woke up, drank a pot of coffee and am raring to go!

Fallow periods are all pretty much a guess based on a person's experiences. Back in the 1970's some researchers did an in vitro study with Cryptocaryon that said 36 days....but in real world applications, that didn't work out. There is also a difference between clearing an invert of fomites (parasites carried on their body) versus clearing a DT after an active infection. Then, there is the major logic flaw when people are told their tanks must lay fallow for 76 days (oddly specific) yet their fish can be released from quarantine in 30 days!

Here are my basic numbers (the day count resets to zero if there is any active disease noted).

Active quarantine: 45 days minimum

Fomite removal for inverts: rinse in fresh seawater and then place in a fish-free system for 45 days (Neobenedenia eggs are my big worry, they have sticky tendrils and can take 35 days to hatch)

Fallow period: 45 days minimum, but since nobody is able to prove any time frame, I tell people 70-80 days, since that is safer (do as I say, not as I do).

Jay Hemdal