Ich question

[AZdogpatch06]

Alright so I recently purchased some snails out of a tank that had marine ich in it. Since ich cannot live off of invertebrates, I figured they'd be fine. However, when I was fishing the snails out of the bag, my hand slipped and some of the water from the shop ended up in my tank. Maybe about a cup or so worth. My question is, can ich live in the water column? Should I be concerned? Could I have accidentally introduced it into my tank this way? Thanks!

As a side note, I've currently got an ich outbreak in my freshwater planted tank right now so that's why I'm asking.

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[Mebbid]

I wouldn't have bought anything from a tank that's actively infested with marine ich. It's one thing if it's a low level latent infection, but if it's a heavy infestation then I would just wait. It's presumable that the parasite could latch onto the snails shell and hitch hike in that way.

But yes, ich lives for a short time in the water column. I can't remember exactly how long, but it's something like 4 - 6 hours or so. So yes, you could have introduced ich to your tank.

As to being concerned, there's nothing you can do. If it got introduced then there's nothing that can be done about it at this point. You will have to wait for fish to show signs