I want to kill the snails before tearing the tank down

[hisc1ay]

I put some snails in a tank a while ago that was being used as a quarantine tank for the loach I was watching. Well, he died in 3 days (he was sick at the store but I thought I could treat it) but the snails live on. There are a couple huge snails. Once there were no fish in there anymore, I took the plants and stuck them in my 29. Lo and behold, there are snails in my 29 now. But I digress...

So I have this abundance of snails in the 10 gallon tank that's otherwise empty, and I want to make sure they're all dead. They're just normal pond snails, and I don't want them. When I got this tank from my cousin, it had been torn down for a few months, but somehow a snail survived in the bag with the rocks, and in a few weeks I had dozens of snails. I don't want that to happen again.

So what's the best way to make sure they're all dead?

-j

 

[Biggen]

If it's just a quarantine tank and you don't have any plants in it, you could use some of the snail removal products on the market. "Had a snail" is a very popular product for the removal of snails chemically.

Or....

You could throw in some clown or yo-yo loaches. They will destroy your snail infestation within days.

 

[TankGirl]

I'm with Biggen on that. If you don't want to medicate the tank then get a large piece of romaine lettuce and rubber band it to a rock or otherwise sink it, and you will collect the snails that way, by lifting out the snail-encrusted lettuce.

As for the future, you need to closely check any plants you get, as they frequently have snails on them. If you like loaches, they will certainly eat them, as do freshwater puffers. Most fish will eat the baby snails if you smush them against the tank glass first.

 

[Allivymar]

Theres also gouramis.

I was raising snails (ick, I know) for the loaches in my QT tank. Happened to pick up a couple of dwarf gouramis. When they moved from the QT tank to their new home, I realised I couldn't find any snails. Yep. They ate all of em. Didn't eat the eggs tho; the snails are starting to reappear.

To be honest, if this is a QT that is going to be torn down between guests, I would poison the snails. Tis the ONLY way to be sure they're dead n gone. Except for my clowns, I haven't found any fish that truly chow down on the eggs as well. Alum or potassium permanganate should do the trick, and won't remain in the gravel/silicone the way copper might (I'd avoid copper tx). More info here: http://faq.thekrib.com/snails.html

 

[travis simonson]

African cichlids also do quite a number on snails. The only snails that can survive in my ARLC tank are Malaysian Trumpet snails and Nerite snails, and only because their shells are so hard that my mbuna can't crack into them. Pond snails and ramshorns don't last more than a few hours in the tank

 

[gohabs9]

get a large piece of romaine lettuce and rubber band it to a rock or otherwise sink it, and you will collect the snails that way, by lifting out the snail-encrusted lettuce.

i find this is a good method to get rid or some snails, but you can NEVER get them all with this method, if you remove all the gravel like you did and have it in a bucket, you can boil it off or bleach it to kill all snails and rinse it out before using it agian, but the most successful way it to find something that will eat them, a few types are mentioned, and to squish all you can see to keep the population down while your fish destroy the rest, this worked for me, so i cant see why not for you

 

[BillD]

Since this is a QT, and a fish died in it, I would put a bunch of bleach in it and leave for a few days. This will sterilize the tank and do away with the snails. If there is gravel in it, you can stir it up to make sure the bleach gets everywhere. Any tank I tear down for any reason gets bleached. Of course, make sure it is well rinsed before you use it again, and perhaps add a little dechlor.

 

[youronlysin]

If its just a ten gallon tank, I'd just empty it and boil the gravel. No nasty chemicals, or time spent rinsing and rinsing and rinsing. If you use bleach or anything else, your still going to have to tear it all down and do tons of rinsing. I use a large stock pot for boiling items in, but the amount of substrate your dealing with should fit in a large pot. If not, do half at a time.

 

[BillD]

How do you boil a ten gallon tank? Actually, I have put tanks up to ten gallons in the dishwasher to get them really clean. Works especially well on small show tanks and drum bowls. wet gravel can be nuked in the microwave with much the same results as boiling and with less energy use. Regardless, everything still needs to be rinsed, and rinsed well.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I like the idea of the loaches, if you like loaches. For a small tank, I would stay away from clown loaches, as they get big. YoYo's, Striped (Zebra) Loaches, and Skunk Loaches do an awsome job, plus they eat the eggs. I got a snail from the filter in my small tank and dropped it into my big tank, and all 3 skunk loaches darted for it before the yoyo's and zebras had a chance. lol. So fun to watch.

 

[gohabs9]

How do you boil a ten gallon tank? .

you dont boil the tank... you boil the contents of the tank, ie, the gravel.

 

[RoK]

Um, this thread was started in 2003.

 

[BillD]

How do you boil a ten gallon tank? .

you dont boil the tank... you boil the contents of the tank, ie, the gravel.

Ok, I realize that, lol, but the tank needs to be sterilized and with bleach you do both the tank, and gravel. And while this thread may be old, it is still pertinent.