snail zap/had-a-snail

Is the tank currently empty in terms of stock?

Rid-a-snail, snail zap, et.al. often use copper as the effective ingredient. It will kill ALL inverts and some plants. Potassium permanganate is also used with the same results. The best option is trapping them if you have live plants.

It will be a lot easier to get rid of them if you can drain the tank, and scrub under the edges, in corners and any place else that may have snail eggs. Boil any decoration you take out or snail eggs could hatch. Always have a few to sneak back in though. Over feeding is the number one cause of snail explosions, and if you kill them in the tank, you could have a major crash of your system with all the decaying bodies. I have red ramshorns, which are breeding very slowly compared to the pond snails and MTS I have . Within reason, snails do a lot of good in the tank, and I kind of think the red ones are cute.

I would remove all fish and inverts that you want to keep. I would drain most of the tank, add 1 capful of bleach for every 5 gallons of water and swish it around on plants and all decor. Drain and then rinse very well at least 2 times or until all slimy feel is gone from plants and decor. Refill and add Prime as directed.

I do this when I have a snail problem and has never let me down. Do NOT soak the plants in the bleach/water solution. It will kill all inverts and eggs and is hard on plants. It does work both easy and well. I would not waste much time on the plants and would hurry to get it all over them (Bathe them well using the same diligence on them you do yourself) and then get them rinsed. Decor and substrate can wait until last. Plants first, decor 2nd and substrate last.

Stick some lettuce on a fork overnight and after a few days it'll cure most, if not all, of your problem. If they come back you can just do it again. Not so hard a task I'd say.

:cheers:

I think the best thing is to just keep removing them as you see them. It works best if you use some kind of bait like already mentioned. Better yet, you can crush them and leave them in there as food for the fish.

Why do you want to rid them forever?? They are good scavengers. They do not harm plants or fish. And if you keep your tank clean, you will never have an explosion of them.

i agree with tanker. snails can be beneficial in a tank as long as their numbers do not explode. i have ramshorns in my planted 20 that i am very happy with, as they eat leftover food and help to keep algae nibbled down. my one assassin snail in there does help to keep the numbers in check, but i, as the fishkeeper, do what i can by not overfeeding the tank - biggest reason for snail over-populations.

my other tank has bladder snails (often referred to as pond snails), and although i am not happy about them being in the tank that much, i don't worry too much about them. my oscar tends to keep their numbers in check for me. when the lights go on, i see a number of them on the glass, and within a half hour they are nowhere to be seen (combo of oscar getting them as well as them hiding in the substrate).

don't use chemicals. manual removal is best. i just squish the bladder snails against the tank walls and leave the remains for my fish to eat.