Returning snails to a Quick Cured tank

[spelljunkie]

First off, I know using Quick Cure is not the preferred method for curing ich - however, I had someone taking care of my fish while I was out of town for an extended period and they decided to do me a favor and get a couple extra fish to put in the tank. When I returned a few days ago, the tank was a mess with all the fish effected by ich; some resting on the bottom and nearly dead - I needed to do something Quick, so I did, and believe it or not they all pulled throughand are again swimming about happily. I am not listing everybody/thing in the tank because they are not the subject of this post - what is, is now that the fish are better (all but two are symptom free, and those are being isolated for further treatment), how best to reintroduce my snails back to the tank?

A 25% water change and putting the filters back in seem standard after such a treatment, but if Quick Cure is as toxic to invertibrates as articles tend to point out, are those measures enough? I am especially concerned since reading a short article at http://www.aquariumfish.net/informat...tment.htm#top2
which states that leaving the carbon filters in during treatment seemed not to affect its success - which would mean that carbon doesn't remove it...

My 2 golden apple/mystery snails are about quarter diameter size and are very active, so really want to avoid hurting/killing them (they have been in a separate container since before the first treatment). Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[...KEP...]

I honestly don't know the answer, but if no one else has any suggestions, maybe try contacting the manufacturer? I know at one point, Jay had an article on treating ICH and the pro's and cons of different ICH meds but the articles section is being renovated...maybe you could try PMing him? I know you don't want to risk your snails...
Karen

[Jay]

I just saw this post. Sorry to hear about the outbreak, and yes there are much better and safer ways to deal with Ich, but whats done is done.

Formalin, the killing ingredient, is extremely toxic to you and the fish. Formaldehyde is used for embalming and 100% disinfecting. The green dye is thrown into the product to deal with fungus and possible secondary infections from the Ich.

High Quality Activated Carbon will remove both from the water. IMO you should use fresh carbon every 5 days. I would supliment that with several large water changes over say a 10 day period before reintroducing inverts.

Regards,
Jay

[spelljunkie]

Thanks to you both for the input. A couple days ago I set up a seperate tank for the snails. Figured I would wait until I did 4 or 5 (or maybe more) partial water changes before I put them back in. This also gives them a week or two to lay some eggs to get a few more snails - the other fish always ate their eggs in the main tank before they get a chance to develop much.