Cupramine, Snails, and Alkalinity

[saffikeagan]

So I did a search and didn't find anything.

I bought plants.

I got snails.

Right now the few I've seen are small little buggers, but I figure I need to get rid of them quickly, yea?

I got some Cupramine free off a LFS person along with the directions they use to treat the store tanks (which apparently work better than the standard instructions on the bottle). However, it says not to use if my Alkalinity is low. The instructions say to raise the alkalinity by using blocks, the treat the tank.

Now, I am completely out of newbie land and into 'huh?' land again. There's nothing on Seachem's website regarding Cupramine that says anything about Alkalinity. However, I don't want to kill Sammie the S. Beta.

Advise anyone?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

I dont know much, especially about cupramine. Most people try to rid snails by manual removal, squishing them or baiting them with vegetables and removing.

 

[jsoong]

This is about using copper to kill algae ... but would be the same if you want to kill the snails:

IS1334 Total Alkalinity


According to these people, copper can kill fish at low KH and is ineffective at too high KH. <Look for the info at the bottom of the article.>

I suspect that Seachem don't mention KH because the recommended dose is low enough to not be lethal at all KH levels. But at doses used by commercial fish farms (and in your case the lfs), it is a problem.

Personally, I don't worry much about a few snails. If you don't overfeed, they keep their numbers in check.

 

[kimo]

Less hassles in a tank means you don't add any chemicals to the water.
One less headache to deal with. Remove snails by hand any time you see them and they will eventually disappear.

 

[saffikeagan]

I'm all about less chemicals; however, after reading some of the posts in here it sounded like the last thing anyone would ever want was a snail infestation.

What does one do with the snails after removing them? Are they just common snails that can be released in the garden, or do I have to kill them ?

 

[jsoong]

Squish them & feed to the fish!

I wouldn't dump snails in the garden. Pond snails will prob die, but some species can live & wreck havoc with your plants. <Released Canas are problem pests in many parts & for that reason they are banned in many states.>

 

[JohnPaul]

Another vote here to avoid chemicals at all cost. Especially anything with copper, as it will remain in the tank for years and be lethal to any inverts you might want to add at a later time (ghost shrimp, red cherry shrimp, bamboo/fan shrimp, fancy "show" snails like apple snails, dwarf freshwater crayfish, etc.)

If you want to completely eradicate snails from a tank, the easiest and most natural way is to get yourself a single loach like a yo-yo loach. Within a week or two, every snail in the tank will be eaten and the loach will see to it that your tank remains snail-free forever. They are voracious in their appetite for snails, and extremely inquisitive so there is nowhere snails will hide where the loach can't find them. They are also fine to keep in a general community aquarium and will get along with basically anyone.

If you have a small tank, your loach may eventually outgrow it and you would have to bring him back to the LFS, that would be about the only negative to taking the loach approach.

 

[saffikeagan]

I am going to be getting some kuhlis but they aren't snail eaters.

I do plan on migrating to a bigger tank when I'm assured that my house mate won't absolutely KILL me (it's her house).

Are loaches the only solitary snail eaters?