[ichthyogeek]

So I have a 10 gallon tank, it's got kuhli loaches, amano shrimp, and neon tetras. Plan wise, there's a mysterious stem plant (id unknown), some java moss, subwassertang/pellia, and some floating plants (might be water lettuce? might be frogbit?). Oh, and snails. So. Many. Snails. Just the pesky bladdersnails, nothing of interest for me. I plan to go ham on snail eradication via chemical means.

The method I plan to use, is 2 tablespoons of alum, in 2 gallons of water. I will put all plants and the sponge filter into this soak, and allow it to soak for 3 days. I'll also add all leaf litter and any other hardware into the soak (essentially rendering the tank bare except for fish and shrimp). At the end of the three days, I will do 2 100% water changes to remove any alum present. So here's my question:

Will the plants take up any alum and potentially release it into the water column later on? I'm worried about potentially killing off the amano shrimp, which is a big nono for me. At the same time, the snail population is kind of out of whack, and I'm quite tired of seeing them all the time. I plan to replace them with something more aeshetically pleasing, like mystery snails or red ramshorns, or even rabbit snails. Is it still feasible for me to use alum, or do I need to worry about contaminating the equipment forever after with alum if I use it?

 

[Zoidburg]

I would think that the alum may be a bigger issue for the bacteria in your filter than your shrimp. I haven't heard of alum being an issue and is an alternative to copper and bleach.... i.e. more shrimp safe and plant safe.

What about the tank? Sounds like you will be taking a bunch out to soak but any plans for the tank during that time?

 

[ichthyogeek]

I'm basically evacuating all plants, and all leaf litter. The tank's going to be bare and filterless for a few days, and I'm going to be carefully monitoring it. I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle all the fish and stuff, so here's what I've got:

I can probably evacuate all the fish and shrimp to a bucket of water, and all the plants and the filter to the alum soak. Then I can do a thorough tooth-brushing of the tank to remove any and all snails currently present in the tank. Afterwards I can put the fish back, and then later put the plants and filter back. The bioload is relatively small, and I'm not really touching any of the biofilm and bacteria on the tank's walls. This should hopefully prevent any cycling issues aside from what the alum may cause in the sponge filter and the plants.