Can't give info on how I do a bleach dip if you don't want to use bleach! I find bleach is a very handy thing to use since it is already in much of our tap water and we deal with it all the time.

 

The most common, fish-safe chemical used to kill snails is copper sulfate. If this is used, you need to carefully follow the directions for use given on the bottle to make sure your fish survive the treatment. Most times this will cause a massive snail die-off which may foul your water.

Or dip new plants in a weak solution of copper sulfate before adding the plants to the aquarium. Just do not over do it. A few minutes is usually all it takes.

A case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

 

I use water and hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) @ a 10:1 ratio.
Any snail is released after 1 or 2 minutes.
Snail eggs? I don't know if they are damaged or not.
I don't like to dip the plants for too long, fear of damage.

 

Snail eggs probably not since they're encased. Hydrogen peroxide is pretty safe for most plants except algae and you'll know if it's working since it'll start bubbling a bunch. It's probably one of the weaker treatments however. 10% bleach (regular bleach is around 3-5% already so 0.5% bleach I guess) shouldn't damage plants too badly, again it probably won't kill the eggs but it should remove microorganisms and larger hitchhikers. If you're really worried then you can always QT your plants when you get them for a couple of days before adding to your aquarium.

 

Is 'alum', for canning veggies, no longer used to get rid of snails/eggs?

 

Dipping plants is always going to be somewhat risky as it takes a certain amount of time to kill snails and eggs but too much will kill the plants. So since it is always going to be a risk of some sort, I see no reason to go to any great effort to get something hard to find but just go for the easy way of a weak bleach dip. But as mentioned with other chemicals, it does take doing it right. For me, that is just using a weak, short dip. And it is always important to use a good rinse when done dipping as most any chemical that will kill snails will also harm the plant if it is not rinsed off. The only difference in a bleach dip and using tap water is the amount of water we use to dilute the two so I see no danger in using chlorine at a stronger level than tap water and then using a rinse and dechlor to clear the bleach.

 

I use 2-3 tsp of alum in 1 gallon of water for an overnight soak. You probably need stronger concentration to kill eggs, but then you risk damaging the plant.

Bleach works for killing snails and eggs, but I find it to be much harsher to plants than alum. PP just freaks me out - I don't trust any liquid that is purple just out of principal

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