Need help getting rid of snails

[chrissyoscar]

Since my Snakeskin jumped and commited suicide I've removed the 3 remaining discus from the 4ft tank. The problem I have is that tank has heaps of snails and I want to get rid of them. As there are no fish in the tank and only potted plants are there any chemicals I can use to kill the snails but not harm the plants.

I want to use the tank again and want the snails out.

Thanks.. Oscar

[kalebjarrod]

surley a dose of chorline should kill of evrything, i'd have to find a rate so DON"T JUST SPLASH SOME IN!

in the right dose it will not harm your plants

Don't run your bio filter when you are doing this process

you would have to cycle your tank again

[sunshinediscus]

Id take the plants out of the pots as some snails will hide in the substrate, carefully inspect the plants for eggs and snails and remove by hand. Drain and scrub the tank and all the filters and replace the substrate. Keep a careful eye on the tank for the next month or so and if any escaped then remove them before they are old enough to breed.

I had a snail infestation in a planted tank once and each day i spent 15 minutes removing every snail i could find, it took 3 months but eventually no more snails ever appeared.

Most snail remedy's that are added are copper based and copper can affect some plants as well as fish.

Another remedy is to place a couple of snail predators in the tank. best one i know of is Anolachromis thomasi followed by the clown loach, Botia macrocanthus.

[ahsan]

Well chlorine , can be really deadly to some plants ,, even with a fewer concentration , or amount of usage, what i know is
1. never use chlorine repeatedly , even if you are using a dilute solution , in your case (if all snails dont get killed the first time , dont just use chlorine right after that ,, to kill the rest , they would certainly kill the plants as well) the point is that the dosage has to be small and far apart

2. chlorine in any concentration is deadly , dont use it near the roots and the leaves , use at one end of the tank and then make it take over the whole tank.

i wont quote the dosage because i am not sure ,, coz high dosage if not kill but it does adversly affect the growth of the plant ,

ryan is a smart man , he'll get you the dosage , by the time ill check and confirm it as well , if i could get the info from any different source
cheers
ahsan
2.

[kalebjarrod]

trying to find the rate in my text books is a bit harder than i thought

they all talk about the concept like you should know what the rate is

[africandiscus]

Clown loaches love snails. They will all be gone in a few days

[ahsan]

i chated with a person , who has been using chlorine for quite a time ,, according to the guy " chlorine one way or the other affects the plants , with small dosage it could affect the growth , with medium or large quantity acc to the tank capacity it could easily destroy a plant."
Chlorine is effective in small ponds , where the plant just have that enough norishment for the chlorine to affect it .
My experience of making the fish eat away the snail was not really great. I just brought pair of clown loach from a friend for a couple of weeks , they tore them apart but the tank it got really misty ,, even with 5 or 6 water changes ,, i was not able to get the water clear ,, i ended up , taking out the fish ,, threw the survived snail and cleaned the tank, also that gave an awkward smell
anyway ,, that was my experience, i would suggest you to take out the plants , and just throw the snails away.
cheers
ahsan

[flukes]

The mist and smell is because the loaches turned it into a snail grave yard. They just forgot too bury

[Chris McMahon]

best one i know of is Anolachromis thomasi followed by the clown loach, Botia macrocanthus.

I think the correct spelling is Anomalochromis thomasi (African Butterfly Cichlid).

How do those guys go with Discus Rod?

[sunshinediscus]

Thanks for the spelling correction Chris, i winged that and didn't look it up

The thomasi should do fine with the discus when they are small, they like similar water and conditions and don't seem to be agro. When they get to breeding size i would prob remove them as i can imagine they may get pushy then, but i bet there won't be a snail in site by that time.

Rod