Massive snail extermination plan!

C8lyn

C8lyn

Member
Aug 3, 2010
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Toowoomba, Qld
Dun dun dun!
*insert evil laugh here*

We now have the interwebs in our new house so I can be on here more often again. YAY!
My fish tank will be coming here when I sort out stands for it and my new one.
I currently have a horrendous snail infestation in my tank which I plan to completely exterminate while moving the tank. Here is the outline of my plan.
Please point out any problems for me so I can avoid catastrophy..

I will be emptying the tank into water containers to take with me so I can keep a lot of the good water for the move. The fish will all be together in my new tank which I would have to establish in advance, while I carry out the "pest control".

I want to get a separate container or bucket with water and add some kind of snail poison so I can put the plants in there for a while to kill all snails and eggs that may be hiding in the tangled roots of my anubias and java fern. The plants will be rinsed thoroughly before they are put back into the main tank.

The canister filter needs to be cleaned out as it is also full of snails and god knows how many eggs. I know that the media should be cleaned in aquarium water but I would either like to rinse the media and entire filter with hot water or bath it in the snail killer just the make sure I get the suckers. I want to be thorough because there could be lots inside all the bioballs and stuff. The pipes will all be cleaned too.

The gravel is the my biggest mission. It's loaded with those evil pointy *******s so I want to rinse the whole lot in hot to boiling water so they all die! DIE!!!! :whistle:

I'll be scrubbing the glass just with water so there's no algae or traces of anything (especially eggs!) left on there.

Obviously I'll need to let the tank cycle for a while once I get everything back in. My main concern is the use of snail killer as I don't know if it will rinse off the plants enough.

Last question..
My canister is second hand from my brother and he cleaned it once with hot water causing it to warp a little near the base so the bottom media basket is wedged in pretty tight. I need to be able to take it out so i can dispose of the snail corpses (Mwuhaha!) and get to the purigen bag under there. Can I buy spare media baskets for AquaOne filters? And if not, can I just have the bioballs loose in the bottom of the filter? I'm probably gonna have to break the basket to get it out.

I don't think I've missed anything.. But I would just like to check with you guys because I trust your advice :D
 
Breamlegend

Breamlegend

Member
Apr 22, 2009
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Central Coast NSW Australia
Put hot water in the canister which will soften the tray allowing you to get it out.
Try using a worm med instead. I've found it will kill snails. Another option is salt.
I doubt you will completely eradicate them.
 
Lornek8

Lornek8

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Apr 21, 2009
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Hawaii
Probably easiest to replace the gravel. Even if you kill all the snails, you'll still have all hte bodies in the gravel. When you reestablish the tank you'll have a massive ammonia spike as all the bodies decompose. On top of that you'll always have the snail shells in the gravel. Better to simply start again with fresh gravel.

What type of snails are the problem? You mentioned MTS in the gravel, was there others? MTS are live bearers, meaning no eggs. As long as you eradicate the adults you sholdn't have to worry about eggs, though the young can be pretty small.
 
Adriantheone

Adriantheone

Member
Apr 1, 2010
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In a cave on a cliff
snails

ANYTHING you move from your old tank to your new will carry a snail infestation. Clown loaches will cull the population but will hinder pleco breeding. Its either that or let your tank and media completely dry out for about one month and start over. Prime or stability will help establish a new tank.
 
D-MAC

D-MAC

Member
Jul 24, 2009
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Lossiemouth
www.danditropicals.co.uk
C8lyn said:
The others are the basic pest snail. Little bubbly ones that munch on my plants.
Click to expand...
They are not the easiest things to eradicate, even if you change all the gravel, eggs and tiny snails can be deep embedded in your filter media, pieces of wood and other decor...I also believe that fish can feed on snail eggs then pass them back into the tank...I set up a koi holding vat last year in my front shop, there has been no plants in the vat whatsoever, only koi, and it is now full of tiny snails...The only place they could have come from is the fish.
The best way I have found is keep the gravel as clean as you possibly can and add a few assassin snails to keep the numbers down.
 
Tener ds

Tener ds

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Mar 22, 2010
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Crawley (uk)
i think they have probs gettin assassin,s there,shame cos mine do a great job of sortin the pest snails out.i sometimes have to get some from my LFS just to feed them.i also have some snails in my rain water butt too.
 
Zebra Pleco

Zebra Pleco

Retired Staff
Nov 18, 2010
710
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Gardenstown, NE Scotland
www.zebra-plec.com
STOP STOP STOP, don't kill your MTS, sell them on ebay. I just done a quick search and people actually sell and buy these on ebay.

There isn't many things you can sell out there that you hate and still make money from them. So rather than spend time and money killing, earn money and get rid of them by selling them on ebay, surely must make sense.
 
C8lyn

C8lyn

Member
Aug 3, 2010
403
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Toowoomba, Qld
I'll probably end up buying new gravel, sterilising the entire tank, filter and other equipment
Can anyone give me an idea for a sterilising solution to use for this that's safe for plants but deadly for snails?
 
bigbird

bigbird

Pleco Profiles Moderator - RIP FRIEND
Sep 9, 2010
6,306
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Sydney, AUSTRALIA
the best thing, is not medication and chemicals, you just have to dry out your tank and all things you wish to place in it for 3-4weeks including filters gravel etc...thins means recycling the whole lot.....sorry but i see no other way...cheers jk :thumbup:
 
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