Alum And Snail Removal

[Harris Tiu]

Hey All,

I would like to kill the snails on my new plants before introducing to my display tank.
I figure that I should use Alum as I find its gentler than other treatments like bleach, h202 and salt.
There are a few questions that I've got though.

1) I'm wondering about the dosages and durations.
some folks say I should dose 3 TBS per gallon for 4 hours to be rid of the snails and the eggs.
others say dose 1 TBS per gallon for 3 days to kill the snails and eggs.
I know I could test this out but I would like to hear some success stories?

2) If it were practical and economical, should I provide Light, CO2 and Ferts for my plans while soaking 3 days in Alum?
Surely it would be better for the plant to have a running metabolism with light, CO2 and ferts during a 3 day soak?
The plant would be dependent on its fuel reservoir during a 3 day soak without light. Then it melts if the fuel reservoir runs out?

 

[Joao]

I suggest you try the non chemichal way. The way I got rid of all snails in my aquarium was to introduce 3 assassin snails "Clea helena" in my 30 g (1 assassin per 10 gallons) and in 2 months I got rid of a heavy snail infestation. Assassin Snails will not reproduce often and now I can rarely see them.

 

[Harris Tiu]

I suggest you try the non chemichal way. The way I got rid of all snails in my aquarium was to introduce 3 assassin snails "Clea helena" in my 30 g (1 assassin per 10 gallons) and in 2 months I got rid of a heavy snail infestation. Assassin Snails will not reproduce often and now I can rarely see them.

Will they run out of snails to eat at some point?
if they do, then what will they live on later?
bio-load is greatly reduced some time after introduction of assassin snails?

 

[Joao]

Assassin snails will eat all smaller snails. When all snails are permanently gone they will eat other things like dead leaves algae waste etc. It has been over a year that my aquarium is snail free and I still see an assassin snail once in a while.
Depending on your infestation size I predict that your aquarium will take anywhere from 2 to 3 months until you cannot see anymore snails.

 

[Kathy328i]

I make a light solution of potassium permanganate and soak the plants in it for about 20 minutes.

 

[Mooner]

1 TBS per gallon for

I use this dose in tepid water for several hours and has worked for years.