Tank infested with snails

[sayid]

I think your driftwood will be fine but i have not got too much faith in stability ,regarding black sand there is a school of thought that the black background would cause PB type discus to have peppering .
sayid

[Sabrina]

Something else you would suggest other than stability? Yes i know of the peppering, in this case my PB is already covered in pepper..

[sayid]

I can't think of any other alternative at the moment but i am sure other members are going to suggest some thing.

[Hollowman]

I am not sure about this product as I think there is not real alternative to proper aging of a filter.

Black sand for me is not such a great idea as Sayid has said, pb's will pepper up a little more plus you can't see poop so easy when cleaning.

[Sabrina]

Thanks Sayid..
Hi Steve, i understand what you mean about proper aging of the filters but i have used stability and found it to be effective in the past.
I almost cant deal with white sand anymore, besides poop it gets debris everywhere from driftwood and general junk. I only pulled out the plants and driftwood and just look at the sand now? Its ruined.

[Hollowman]

It's not ruined, it's normal. You have stirred everything up and the dust has settled. Siphon off your sand and it will be clean again.

[Sabrina]

Oh, sorry i thought it was ruined. I wont siphon it at the moment as the snail treatment is in the water so i dont want to disturb it killing the snails.
Should i try going bear bottom instead? I have been discussing painting the bottom with others, its a big job and i dont want the tank out of action for too long though. Im a bit lost at what to do about sand etc
I have just had a quick look at the tank, its almost like the snails have disintegrated, i cant see any on the sand glass or in the filter. I wonder where they went. I noticed them all heading for the top when i put the treatment in but cant seem to see any now. Poof gone

[Hollowman]

Ok, first thing to do is........................ breathe in..............hold..............breathe out................

Right,

I would give it all a good stir and make sure the treated water will get all through the sand, kill everything. Use a rubber squeegee to wipe the glass sides, as the snails eggs will be on the glass too, then leave to settle and hopefully every bit of residue is on the sand again. Treat the water again as directed after a few days just to really nuke the newly hatched snails and leave again to let it work.

Now, my trick when cleaning sand was to get a length of garden hose and attach it to the threaded end of a caulking gun tube. Most hardware stores will have them, if not you can use a small plastic drinking water bottle and cut the bottom off (hose in threaded end) As the diameter of the bottle is bigger than the hose, the sand will get lifted and the dirt (dead stuff) siphoned out, without losing your sand.

Hey presto... clean sand, all the crap gone.

Remember Sabrina, simple is best.

[Sabrina]

Hi Steve, thank you for your patients. I am about to stir the sand up and wash the sides of the glass, i only have a cleaning magnet so i will use that thoroughly. Then i will let it all settle again until wednesday when i need to dose treatment again. My siphon already has a big end on it and it lifts the sand as i vacuum, so to save money i will just use that.

I am worried about the filter media (floss type stuff) being full of all this junk, should i replace it with new media after the treatment? I still have ceramic noodles in the filter too, will they have soaked up all the junk as well? I just dont want my fish to get sick if the filter is still full of that crap.

[Sabrina]

The tank is up and running again today, no snails in sight! Has been drained and re filled, filters washed out and some things put back in after soaking for a week. Prime and Stability added. Will run for 24 hours before adding some catfish first to jump start the cycle again, while adding Stability for a further 6 days..