Snail-free plant advice?

[BikerHausTX]

Whenever I see live plants in the LFS, there are always snails in the tank with the plants.
I don't want snails. Not ever (again).
So far, I've gotten the prepacked plants from places like Petco and Petsmart (yes, I know ... you have to be careful 'cuz they will sell plants that aren't fully aquatic) but I'd like more variety and, frankly, the quality of these plants seems to be lacking.
So ... what to do? How do I make sure that the snails don't make it into my tank? I don't want to use any chemicals.

[armthehomeless]

Someone with more experience may be able to chime in shortly, but many use baths/dips. I've heard of everything from a potassium permangenate bath to a salt dip.

[TexSun]

Re: Snail-free plant advice?

Someone with more experience may be able to chime in shortly, but many use baths/dips. I've heard of everything from a potassium permangenate bath to a salt dip.

+1, just google: aquatic plant snail dip.

[moganman]

Tim is being modest. He knows the ropes of plants.

[troy tucker]

Tim does have some nice plants and snails but not them little roach snails. I'm sure those are the ones you are talking about... Tim has snails that eat those....

[BikerHausTX]

+1, just google: aquatic plant snail dip.

Thanks, did that. Potassium permangenate seems decidedly unpleasant. I guess I'll give the salt bath a shot. I also have botias in both tanks so hopefully they'll find any survivors tasty. And it'd be cool to see them eat the snails also.

[Fancyfish]

2 things. Get some assain snails. or don't plant them in your tank right away. Put them in a holding tank so you can get rid of the snails before they go to your main tank.

[Totenkampf]

PP isnt that bad but and works well but i have never justified rebuying it for the occasional dip. i tend to do a fast bleach dip and for the pond snails and let assassins take out the MTS. make sure you rinse the plants well after dipping.

[Roujin]

You won't be able to fully eradicate snails in a planted tank. Accept them.

[Totenkampf]

You won't be able to fully eradicate snails in a planted tank. Accept them.

i'm not sure about that. i dont consider myself an expert but i can honestly say that i have never introduced a pest species of snail into my aquariums if i took the time to process the plants. i can also honestly say that although i infested a couple aquaria with MTS a number of months ago, i now doubt if even a single one exists in there due to the diligence of the assassin snails and snail traps. i currently have a pond snail population that i introduced in one tank from a wild collected plant, and as they grow out the assassins take care of them too. with some patience on my part, i expect them to be gone in a couple months as well.

one note on assassins, i have never noticed them taking prey much different in size from them until last night when one took a huge ramshorn that was four times its mass. thats another sign that the MTS are gone. i am curious if they will go after nerites now or just eat each other. or maybe i should feed them lol.

[davemonkey]

I used to use a bleach dip. The more hardy plants can tolerate about 5 minutes in a 20:1 solution (20 parts water to 1 part bleach). But this will kill the more tender plants. A good remedy that I used is a 40:1 and that seemed to work for everything except a few of the less common pests (ostracods, for example, and some of the thicker alga). Just be sure to rinse very well and then dip into plain water mixed with dechlorinator before adding into the tank.

A more labor intensive method is to meticulously inspect each leaf/stem for any eggs or snail and hand remove.

[black_knight]

If you dont want to deal with chemicals and you regularly buy plants. Set up a 5 gallon tank with 3-5 dwarf puffers and some snail eating loaches. leave the plant for about 4 weeks in the tank, even if you dont see snails. The eggs will hatch and the young snails will all be eaten.

I've not tried this but I did have a dwarf puffer tank and I never seemed to have enough snails for them.

[mnemenoi]

i'm not sure about that. i dont consider myself an expert but i can honestly say that i have never introduced a pest species of snail into my aquariums if i took the time to process the plants. i can also honestly say that although i infested a couple aquaria with MTS a number of months ago, i now doubt if even a single one exists in there due to the diligence of the assassin snails and snail traps. i currently have a pond snail population that i introduced in one tank from a wild collected plant, and as they grow out the assassins take care of them too. with some patience on my part, i expect them to be gone in a couple months as well.

one note on assassins, i have never noticed them taking prey much different in size from them until last night when one took a huge ramshorn that was four times its mass. thats another sign that the MTS are gone. i am curious if they will go after nerites now or just eat each other. or maybe i should feed them lol.

Mine have never actually attacked a significantly larger snail (ie Tylomelania or Mystery). Mine do breed very well, but as I get a wave of young offspring only a few seem to make it to adulthood, so I assume they predate on each other. If I hand off a few then others grow larger and there seems to be a perfect median number of them in the tank. I have added tons of plants to this tank and have never seen anything survive their onslaught. MTS did survive in the Pea puffer tank, though those were buried in the substrate. Any that surfaced for long were quickly dispatched.

[wesleydnunder]

You won't be able to fully eradicate snails in a planted tank. Accept them.

Not true. I have a moderately-planted 125 gal with no snails... except the one nerite I put in it. The tank was infested with ramshorns and mts. I replaced the substrate and dipped all the plants in a salt dip.

Mark

[digitallinh]

I love my snails,just grow a carpet and you'll never see them