Had-a-Snail

[Barracuda-m]

hi all!

I'm planning on getting some more plants for my 29 gal community tank, but the LFS here is notorious for snail-infested plants.

I have 4 bristle nose plecos, a large ropefish, a med sized synodontus, 2 upside down catfish as well as an assortment of danios, tetras and dwarf gouramis.

Would the fish be affected if I treated the plants with had-a-snail (in a separate tank) a week or so before I planted them in the main tank? I really want new plants, but the snails I can do without.

[Sam Chicklets]

I would think that if you treated the plants with had a snail in a qt tank and then transferred them to your main tank the residual copper would be almost undetectable. Or you could treat them and then do a water change before transferring them

[patrick]

Just before you move them, do a water change in your main tank and use that water to rinse them

[werner]

Some more ideas for disinfecting plants.

[Guest FLIP]

You could just add a yoyo or clown loach to the tank and the snails will be gone in a couple days.

[nyb440]

You could just add a yoyo or clown loach to the tank and the snails will be gone in a couple days.

You know, I've heard this many times, and I think I even offered this advice to several customers when I worked at a fish store. However, the one time I tried this myself, the only real result was that the clown loaches put a billion (yes, I counted) holes in my plants. Has anyone else had this experience?

A note about the Cu though, it works, but some plants such as vals, don't like Cu much at all.

[arixonbarnes]

I have found skunk loaches to be quite effective at controlling (but not eliminating) snails in my large tank. A word of caution - the rope fish may decimate your smaller fish as time goes on.

[corrosionjerry]

I have yo yo loaches... they totally devoured any snails that I had in the tank that they live in... havnt seen a snail in there for 3 years... Plants are all good to...they dont touch plants...

[Fishful Thinking]

I agree with Jerry. I had yoyos in my planted tank and they decimated the pond snails that were infesting it. To my knowledge they didn't eat the plants. They are a bit agressive, though.

[fishytime]

Clown loachs ....bad for planted tanks, great for snail control. I have no experiencs with yoyos other than the rockin the cradle, walkin the dog type.

[Shai]

I would just rinse the plants before you put them in the tank. Rub your fingers over the leaves (top and bottom) to dislodge or crush any egg deposits.

Don't forget that having some snails in the tank is not a bad thing. A small colony of pond snails (for example) won't harm the plants and will help keep algae and rotting plant material in check. As long as you don't overfeed your fish, you won't experience a population explosion, as the snails will be kept in check according to the amount of available food.

Edited August 5, 2007 by Shai

[Toirtis]

Some more ideas for disinfecting plants.

Agreed the KMnO4 is the best way to go, although alum works quite well (I find that 2 tsp/1.5L works very well on snails with a 1 hour dip) as well. Copper is nasty stuff that I would not want even the tiniest residue if in my aquaria.