snail free anachris

[Bbarb27]

snail free anacharis

I have several low light planted tanks. So far all are snail free and I'd prefer to keep them that way if possible until I decide to purchase specific snails. So far I've been able to avoid snails and snail eggs hitchhiking on plants by doing a bleach dip before adding new plants to the tanks.

I'd like to add anacharis and/or hornwort to a few tanks but have read that a bleach dip will kill them. Any idea how to treat these plants?

I bought some potassium permangenate (sp) but I've never used it before. Anyone had success using it to dip stem plants and kill snails? Any tips to offer?

 

[BBradbury]

Removing Snail Eggs From Plants

I have several low light planted tanks. So far all are snail free and I'd prefer to keep them that way if possible until I decide to purchase specific snails. So far I've been able to avoid snails and snail eggs hitchhiking on plants by doing a bleach dip before adding new plants to the tanks.

I'd like to add anacharis and/or hornwort to a few tanks but have read that a bleach dip will kill them. Any idea how to treat these plants?

I bought some potassium permangenate (sp) but I've never used it before. Anyone had success using it to dip stem plants and kill snails? Any tips to offer?

Hello Bbarb...

I like snails. The "Ramshorn" variety are great for controlling algae and if you don't feed your fish and plants too much, the snail population is very managable. Avoid using chemicals of any kind. Dipping the plants in a strong, natural salt solution will kill the snail eggs and dry out the shells of the others.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS THROUGH BEFORE STARTING

Use two new 5 gallon buckets. Fill one with warm tap water to a level you can dip the entire plant. You can use standard aquarium salt, Kosher salt or commercial canning salt. No table salt. There are usually chemical additives in this stuff and you don't want to put any chemicals into your tank water.

Add one cup of salt per gallon of water. Stir the salt until it's completely dissolved. Remove anything that's not naturally a part of the plant, like rock wool, lead clips, etc. Dip the plants into the solution one at a time and move it around in the water for 10 seconds, but be careful not to let any roots, etc. get into the salt, they can be damaged.

The other bucket is filled with plain, warm, treated, tap water, the same as you'd use to do a water change. You can drop the treated plants into this water until you're ready to plant them.

It's always smart to test the strength of the salt solution with a few of the less expensive plants first, to make sure the eggs are killed. Then, get the rest of your plants and treat them.

B