Ridding plants of snails

[Smokin_Cache]

How could I rid my trimmings of snails? I trim about 12" of my stem plants a week. What I would like to do is have a tank with something to rid them of snails so I could give them away. I can't stand throwing away $20 to $30 worth of plants a week. So I want to treat them for like aweek and them put them in a clean tank to purge them of the treatment for like a week so they would be safe for shrimp tanks and such.

Any ideas or am I just crazy?

Thanks

Walter call me cell phone I finally found time to get the new one connected. I don't have your numbers anymore.

[mycoolhoney]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

have you thought about setting up a tank with a bunch of fish or crayfish that will eat the snails

[Mzungu]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

I definitely don't think you're crazy. I'm having the same thoughts, mainly because of the swap this weekend, and I don't want to bring plants that have snails or any other unwanted stuff. So, just in case, I'm thinking of going out and getting some Potassium Permanganate for a quick dip. It's supposed to kill algae, but there's also a thread on APC that says it will also kill snail eggs. Don't remember about actual snails, but if not, I figure they're easy enough to pick off.

Here's a link to the preparation of the dip, at least the one I will be using:

http://www.aquariaplants.com/plantdipsbaths.htm

Hope that helps a bit. And in order for the plants to be safe, I'd probably just dip them in thoroughly dechlorinated water before putting them back in the tank.

[Smokin_Cache]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

Thanks Mzungu! very nice reading.

I tried the bleach at about a 10% mix for up to 30 minutes with no ill effects to the plants. The problem is I didn't do this to the first bacth of plants I put in the tank so I am sure that is where they came from. I also already had snail so I didn't dip the foxtail and other delicate plants.

[wesleydnunder]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

An alum dip works well also. 1 tbsp per gallon and let soak for two hours. Won't hurt plants if soaked longer. You can buy alum at the grocery store in the spice/pickling section. After an alum dip I rinse the plants several times and haven't had a problem.

Mark

[Mark]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

thanks for the idea mark. Does that mean we will have pickeled snails? yuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmm escargo.

i'll try it this weekend

[Tiapan]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

i heard about the alum from anothe person so thats nex on my list to try.

[sproett]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

I wish I had a snail problem, I have a puffer and it's hard to get snails without buying plants.  The lfs act like I'm a pain when I ask them to collect some snails for me.

[Tiapan]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

just go to a petsmart or petco they might let you grab your own, i used to pull them out for a guy with a puffer all the time no biggie.

[sproett]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

Good idea.  I tried to breed them in one of those floating breeder nets but they all crawled out.  Now they've been eaten.  Maybe not the smartest idea I've had but hey, no harm done.  

[Tiapan]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

you can get he simple pond snails and just leave a big 5 gallon open bucket outside and they will breed like crazy. feed it ocasionally and they will produce lots (enough for small dwarf puffers but more as a treat for larger)

[sproett]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

Ooh, even better idea.  They spray for mosquitoes every night here though.  Would that work inside too?  How many would I need?  Dumb question, but what is a pond snail?  Is it an apple, mystery, or something else?

[Mzungu]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

The most common snails you'll see are pond snails, MTS, and ramshorn snails. The bigger ones are less common and you're not very likely to get them as hitch hikers on plants. Here's a site that lists all three with pictures (at the bottom of the page):

http://naturalaquariums.com/inverts/snails.html

[sproett]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

Thanks Mzungu, great link.  Fishkeeping is so much fun!

[Tiapan]

Re: Ridding plants of snails

its been a while since i read this thread and im worriing about snails a lot more since i have the move starting right about. well NOW. anyway there are a lot of tanks that i want snail free because i am planning on breeding several of my critters so snails are a nono for any egglayers. now on the alum amount was that a tablespoon or a teaspoon per gallon, just wanna make sure i get it right.