plant dip

[James_in_MN]

I've bought some new plants for my tank, but wanted to clean them of any unwanted snails (pond, ramshorns) before adding them.

I've read about a number of dipping solutions I could try, including hydrogen peroxide and saltwater. Neither of those seemed to have much effect when I tried them.

My next attempt was going to be potassium permanganate. The question is, how much should I add to the water in order to use it without damaging my plants? I had read that I should add enough to turn the water pink, but a very small amount seems to be turning the water a dark purple. I am only using a basin that probably doesn't hold much over a gallon of water, which may be complicating my attempt to get the right mixture.

Once I get the right amount, should I just dip the plants in, or should I soak them for a period of time? Also, with the note on the front of the bottle that the potassium permanganate causes severe burns, should I watch how I'm using it, maybe even wearing gloves when dipping the plants?

 

[jcolon]

Too bad it didn't work for your, I recently did the H-Peroxide and it worked great. Dipped some anacharis and crypt in there 3 separate times for about 10 sec each ... the bowl had a bunch of those little suckers in there.

Curious to read about using K permanganate.

 

[James_in_MN]

No one has experience with potassium permanganate dips?

 

[BlackMagic]

40 view.n only one reply its a shame how no one wanna help.
This is y I careless about posting on this forum.

Sorry cant help you much, my question is probly the.same question ur asking.

Try fishtanktv dot come forum. You will probly get better answer.

 

[jetajockey]

40 view.n only one reply its a shame how no one wanna help.
This is y I careless about posting on this forum.

Sorry cant help you much, my question is probly the.same question ur asking.

Try fishtanktv dot come forum. You will probly get better answer.

It has nothing to do with whether anyone wants to help. PP is not something that is commonly used by people, so not many people have experience with it. I've never purposely eradicated snails so I can't really comment on it's effectiveness.

A simple google search would probably yield some results, but the OP is asking for actual experience, not a cut and pasted answer.

p.s. if you dislike this forum so much no one is forcing you to come here, this community overall does try hard to answer questions and help people but you can't expect them to have all of the answers all of the time. Your site recommendation is laughable at best, you could have at least picked a respectable site for him to reference, like one of the real planted tank sites.

 

[chagoi]

I use pp in my pond at a rate .5 ppm that"s 1 tea spoon per 4000 gals. At times 2ppm. I'm not trying to kill the snails,I can't. Once I used pp to clean aquarium plants I just went to purple. Then put the plants in a tank with onlly clown loach's (they eat snails). OR YOU CAN use 10ppm copper sulfate to kill them (3ppm wiill kill you fish). Note pp in your eyes will blind you.

 

[jcolon]

It has nothing to do with whether anyone wants to help. PP is not something that is commonly used by people, so not many people have experience with it. I've never purposely eradicated snails so I can't really comment on it's effectiveness.

A simple google search would probably yield some results, but the OP is asking for actual experience, not a cut and pasted answer.

p.s. if you dislike this forum so much no one is forcing you to come here, this community overall does try hard to answer questions and help people but you can't expect them to have all of the answers all of the time.

Have to completely agree with jetajockey. This is an advice forum and often the question(s) posed by the OP will ask for advice/recommendations of which you'll probably end up with more replies than you want .... or actual experience ... which may not get much if any replies.

Jame did it the correct way ... IMO with his followup post asking if no-one has experience in regards to his questions.

 

[James_in_MN]

I use pp in my pond at a rate .5 ppm that"s 1 tea spoon per 4000 gals. At times 2ppm. I'm not trying to kill the snails,I can't. Once I used pp to clean aquarium plants I just went to purple. Then put the plants in a tank with onlly clown loach's (they eat snails). OR YOU CAN use 10ppm copper sulfate to kill them (3ppm wiill kill you fish). Note pp in your eyes will blind you.

OK, thanks. I was trying to add enough PP to turn my water pink (saw it in google searches), but it ended up turning purple. Sounds like I can still use it that way, which is good to know.

You were adding it to the pond/aquarium water directly? I swear the caution messages they put on the bottle make it sound too toxic to even consider that.

Thanks for the info.

 

[James_in_MN]

It has nothing to do with whether anyone wants to help. PP is not something that is commonly used by people, so not many people have experience with it. I've never purposely eradicated snails so I can't really comment on it's effectiveness.

A simple google search would probably yield some results, but the OP is asking for actual experience, not a cut and pasted answer.

p.s. if you dislike this forum so much no one is forcing you to come here, this community overall does try hard to answer questions and help people but you can't expect them to have all of the answers all of the time. Your site recommendation is laughable at best, you could have at least picked a respectable site for him to reference, like one of the real planted tank sites.

I knew that was the case. Not everyone with aquariums have live plants, and even less probably dip their plants to limit the infestation of snails. The population of people on the forums that have actually used PP is probably very low.

My google search was what drove me to ask the question, LOL. It was suggested to add enough PP to turn the water pink, and mine seemed to very easily go straight to purple. I'm using a basin and not a multi-gallon bucket, which obviously caused the quick color change, but I was hoping I could still use it.

I'm only on this forum, and haven't had a reason to join others.

 

[BillD]

You could try alum at 1 tablespoon per gallon and soak for 1/2 hour. It is what I usually use. You can get alum at the drugstore or supermarket in the pickling section.

 

[Coursair]

This is a link I found with several recipes.
http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatfishblog/2011/07/20/dipping-plants-to-eliminate-snails/

Or you can just add Assassin Snails. They eat pest snails.

I don't worry about snails. My MTS help keep my tank clean and sand aerated. They never eat my plants and I just thin them out if the tank gets overcrowded.

All my tanks are planted. All have snails. All my plants are beautiful



View attachment 50614

 

[CatmanDru]

Before reading about potassium permanganate in this forum I'd never heard about, or seen, potassium permanganate. And even in this forum when people are discussing anti-snail plant dips, very few people mention potassium permanganate, and when they do, it's usually just a mention, such as "you can try potassium permanganate". I can't remember seeing anyone state a concentration or how to mix a dip solution or say "I use potassium permanganate".

Where does one buy potassium permanganate? At an aquarium store? At a pharmacy by asking the pharmacist?

 

[Deckape]

Before reading about potassium permanganate in this forum I'd never heard about, or seen, potassium permanganate. And even in this forum when people are discussing anti-snail plant dips, very few people mention potassium permanganate, and when they do, it's usually just a mention, such as "you can try potassium permanganate". I can't remember seeing anyone state a concentration or how to mix a dip solution or say "I use potassium permanganate".

Where does one buy potassium permanganate? At an aquarium store? At a pharmacy by asking the pharmacist?

I hadn't even heard that much about the stuff. Hydrogen Peroxide is what I use. 30 second dip, and a good rinse with tap water is what I have been advised to use. I used that dip and haven't yet seen any snails.

 

[CatmanDru]

... Hydrogen Peroxide is what I use. 30 second dip, and a good rinse with tap water is what I have been advised to use. I used that dip and haven't yet seen any snails.

What concentration of hydrogen peroxide do you use? Do you use it full strength straight from the bottle?

Thank you.

 

[Deckape]

What concentration of hydrogen peroxide do you use? Do you use it full strength straight from the bottle?

Thank you.

Yea the stuff from Walgreens, brown bottle 3% I believe. I used it full strength