Blue snails and water conditioners

Question
Hi Nicole, three months ago I rescued a peppered cory from near death. It was accidently put out with a disused tank and the owner thought all of the fish were dead. Amazingly he survived four days in the tank which was in the garden on the grass under some snow. I moved the tank indoors slowly, in stages to acclimatize the temperature. As it was an emergency and I know zero about fish (Ihave an outdoor pond that is 15 years running, totally eco-self-sufficient). I just took some clear water from there to fill the tank level. I scrubbed the glooby muck from the filter and thermometer under a warm tapwater, then after about half a day I put said cory into his new environment. He has a friend cory that I bought and a blue snail too. They seem to be okay, but as the blue snail is new to the tank I want to ensure that I do clean tank more often. The conditioner I have says do not use if tank contains invertibrates, (no spine). I am confused? Will my blue snails disintegrate as he has no spine, I don't want to hurt him as he is amazing to watch at night and he is a good dancer,he comes up for presumably his air with his hose and does that bobbing thing, if there is music on it looks like he is doing a trendy snail dance. The conditioner is Wardley Watercare Complete Conditioner, for use in fresh and saltwater aquariums. Also with a good life how long will my cory and blue snail live? Many thanks Evie (UK)

Answer
Hi Evie,

Well, that's quite a story! You might find this interesting, this is an account of breeding Corydoras paleatus (peppered corys) from Neale Monks, one of my favorite UK aquarists:
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/corydoras.html

He also contributes to wetwebmedia.com which has lots of articles and FAQs on aquariums - and ponds, too!

I don't know much about Wardley's water conditioner...that product must not be readily available in my neck of the woods (Florida), however I was able to glean some information about it online. It looks like the "3 in 1" aspect of is:

* that it buffers the tank's pH
* that it neutralizes ammonia
* that it eliminates chlorine and chloramine

The part that worries me most is the buffering part, it is not recommended to use solutions (other than carbonate salts such as "Malawi salt mix") to raise the pH of aquariums. Gentle solutions of baking soda can be used also, but potions and powders tend to be too drastic - fish need stability, and as you know, gradual acclimation is important. Neutralizing ammonia shouldn't be an issue when you have a tank that is established. The beneficial bacteria within (which are at work in your pond, also!) will convert ammonia into nitrites and nitrites into nitrates. A chemical ammonia neutralizer is superfluous, and might even interfere with your natural nitrifying bacteria...so I would avoid it.

For these reasons, and especially because the packaging says that it is not safe for invertebrates, I would recommend you switch to a different dechlorinator. Try TetraAqua AquaSafe, which looks like it is available online at http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk

I have used AquaSafe myself and have been pleased with the results. My favorite dechlorinator is Prime, by Seachem, which comes in a 50 mL dropper bottle. Two drops per US gallon is all it takes to make tap water fish safe! If you can find this, I recommend it.

I hope that helps, take care!
Nicole