# Dirty snails



## PeterL (Nov 30, 2011)

Last tank I had many years ago, was infested with snail... made a real mess.

I understand they come in on live plants.

Aside from visual inspection, is there anything else I can do to ensure any snail or eggs carried in do not live?

I seem to recall there was some sort of liquid one could dip the plants in or spray on them to kill snails and eggs.

Amy of you folks know about this?

Thanks

Pete


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## harveya (Aug 12, 2011)

We have a product here called snail rid. Never used it so can't comment on its effectiveness. I have also read of people dipping plants in a bleach solution, and again I have no experience of this. I did have a snail outbreak in my tank when it was new. I wanted some zebra loach's and turn out they eat snails, I backed off on feeding and with in a month none could be seen. Was probably a couple of week thinking about it.....I never saw the loach eat the snail and I haven't, to this day found empty shells.... What happened to them? Who knows lol. I have read that they thrive on waste so if you underfeed and keep the substrate clean, it will stop them from reproducing.


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## PeterL (Nov 30, 2011)

harveya said:


> We have a product here called snail rid. Never used it so can't comment on its effectiveness. I have also read of people dipping plants in a bleach solution, and again I have no experience of this. I did have a snail outbreak in my tank when it was new. I wanted some zebra loach's and turn out they eat snails, I backed off on feeding and with in a month none could be seen. Was probably a couple of week thinking about it.....I never saw the loach eat the snail and I haven't, to this day found empty shells.... What happened to them? Who knows lol. I have read that they thrive on waste so if you underfeed and keep the substrate clean, it will stop them from reproducing.


Yeah, the bleach solution idea rings a bell... I wonder how strong a solution. Of course I'd have to be sure to rinse well after...

Zebra loach.. huh? Good idea...

Thanks


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## Bee (Oct 7, 2011)

+1 on the loaches! they are quite fun too!


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## Suzanne (Jun 10, 2011)

Loaches are great fun but they require more space than you might think, so read up on that before you get any, and most (all?) like to be in groups. Also, in my experience, not all loaches eat all kinds of snails (in particular, none of my queen, java, or kuhli loaches would eat Malaysian trumpet snails that were beyond baby size, but feasted on the other type of invasive snail I had).

So basically, as with anything, do your research. If you don't want to get rid of snails but just keep them under control (as some can be good for the tank), hand-picking and not overfeeding your fish can be a good strategy. Also some snails will be attracted to certain vegetables overnight (lettuce and parboiled zucchini come to mind, though I'm not sure) and you can supposedly just pull out the veg with snails all over it in the morning. This only worked mediocrely for me with the MTS, but others have had great success with this method.

Re bleach (adapted from Jake’s Planted Aquarium Pages | Disinfecting Plants – Before or After): Common household bleach, mixed with water in a ratio of 19 parts water to 1 part bleach ( 5% bleach). mix the bleach and water (outside the tank!!!), place the plants into that water, soak for 2 – 3 minutes (big, meaty plants for 3 minutes, fragile smaller plants for 2 minutes) and then remove the bleach water and replace with fresh water, adding a bunch of dechlorinator to the new water. swish the plants a bit and make sure the dechlorinator gets to all of it. Rinse it again with fresh water. 
Do not use “ultra” bleaches or any other kind except plain old ” bleach”. No gels, no bleach powder, etc.
Pros – It kills algae very well, as well as bacteria and little critters, snails, snail eggs.
Cons – It can easily kill the plant as well. Some plants are more sensitive then others, like Anacharis, which will just plain old die if dipped in bleach water. If not careful, can bleach carpeting, clothing, etc.

Good luck!


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## scooterlady (May 10, 2011)

I found a recipe for an alum dip for the plants that kills all the snail eggs. I don't know if eggs were on my plants or not when I got them, but I knew I didn't want any pest snails, so I used the alum dip and never had a snail. The recipe is this. You use 3 tbsp of alum per gallon and soak the plants for 2-3 hours. Alum can be found on the spice isle or the pickling isle in the grocery store. It's a cheap fix that works and doesn't harm the plants...


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

jccaclimber said:


> Potassium permanganate


Best method.


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## PeterL (Nov 30, 2011)

James0816 said:


> Best method.


Yeah. it see,s to me I recall that works well... I'll do some research and see if I can find the right concentration and report back.

Thanks everyone.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

I just do nothing.


In a year only a few snails are left.


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## Suzanne (Jun 10, 2011)

Where does one buy potassium permanganate? In particularly, where offline?


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