[mindy]

right now i have my java moss in a small rubbermaid container with an airstone. it has been there for a few weeks now since i had to break down my tank to get rid of the snails. well, obviously there are still 100's of snails and snail eggs in the java moss. i was thinking i would put some salt in the tank and leave it for about 5 minutes and then rinse it all and put it in fresh water again. is this a good idea?

my plan is to mix some salt with water and stir it in. there is about 2 gallons, maybe 3, of water in the container with the moss. is 2 tbsp too much? i want to kill those darn things!

is 5 minutes with the salt a good amount of time or is it too short/long?

thanks!

 

[zavikan]

bad idea.

There is a dip though.. that apparently works good...

people call it a pp dip...u can get it at walmart apparently.

 

[mindy]

thanks.

want to explain why it is a bad idea?

i don't have access to walmart. or anything for that matter. only mail order right now.

 

[mistergreen]

You can salt dip the plants and stuff. I wouldn't put it in the tank directly but if you have to you can I guess as long as there are no fish in the tank. You have to put in a lot of salt though, like 1-2 tablespoon / gallon.

Snails aren't that bad. If you don't feed the tank, they'll starve off.

 

[somewhatshocked]

A snail trap is a better idea. Pretty easy to make. There are several different versions that have been discussed on the forum.

Try the search function to check them all out and find one that will work for you.

 

[mindy]

thanks.

the plants aren't in my tank right now. i just set the tank back up and right now it is just water and sand. i have to cycle it again before getting fish. i put the fish that were in there in my other tank.

the plants are in a small rubbermaid container (see first post )

i have done everything with this tank. this was the last straw. i was taking out every snail i saw, then i started scooping out the snails in the morning when they were gathered around an algae wafer, i don't really think a snail trap will do much more than that.

the problem is that the only plants that were in this tank was tons of java moss. i could't see or get at even 1/10 the snails in there. there were eggs everywhere and unless i wanted to pull out all the java moss there was nothing much i could do more than what i was doing.

it got to the point where they broke my filter and the tank was just over run. they are bladder snails.

i had to break everything down.

the snails have been in the rubbermaid container with no food for almost 4 weeks now. they are still going strong by what i saw today when i looked in there.

i HATE them. this is the 2nd time i had to tear down a tank because of these stupid snails.

i wash all the plants before i put them in there. i guess it is just not enough. i guess i will be doing a salt dip with everything from now on!

maybe i will get some snail eating loaches for the tank this time. i couldn't before because i had amano shrimp in there. now they are in my other tank.

i really don't want to put the moss back in there with any chance of getting snails back in that tank.

 

[BradH]

Have you tried assassin snails to get rid of your bladder snails?

Do you have access to bleach? You could do a bleach/water mix of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water (I think), you'll need to look it up.

 

[mindy]

yes, i can get bleach. we have a grocery store here but not much more. i will look that up, thanks. will i just mix that up and then dip the plants in it and rinse or do they have to sit in it for a little while?

i can't get assassin snails, snails are illegal to sell in newfoundland. they are considered an invasive species.

 

[BradH]

yes, i can get bleach. we have a grocery store here but not much more. i will look that up, thanks. will i just mix that up and then dip the plants in it and rinse or do they have to sit in it for a little while?

i can't get assassin snails, snails are illegal to sell in newfoundland. they are considered an invasive species.

I can't comment on the way to use the bleach. I just remember reading it once. I don't even know if it's really advisable. That's why I recommend you looking it up and reading because I don't want you to just take my advice and it be wrong. I'll see if I can find the info and post back.

 

[BradH]

Just found this thread. Apparently it's not really a good idea. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/general-planted-tank-discussion/90339-bleaching-aquarium-plants.html

 

[mindy]

thanks for your help.

i tried to find some info after i posted too but didn't find much about bleach (i didn't do a huge search - i had to walk the doggies). i think i will stick with salt. i think salt for a short amount of time shouldn't harm my plants but should hopefully do the trick for the snails.

 

[jreich]

bad idea.

There is a dip though.. that apparently works good...

people call it a pp dip...u can get it at walmart apparently.

btw pp is potassium permanganate
http://tinyurl.com/3veuh9j

 

[keepitnatural]

get a loach

 

[mindy]

get a loach

yeah, that is what i said i would probably do above. i didn't get some before because of my shrimp.

 

[JSA]

Wow, what a yucky problem! I can attest that bleach is a bad idea. I tried it and lost my plants. Possibly a really weak solution could be safe, but I don't know that it would be effective. Potassium permanganate, as said above, is supposed to get rid of snails.

Good luck.

Julia

 

[mindy]

thank you. i will have to look into ordering some online.