I recently became the owner of ramshorn snails that were along for a ride on a piece of hornwort that was sent with my red cherry shrimp. I don't mind having them in my shrimp tank but I don't want them in my other tanks! Anyways, I am moving some plants from that tank to another newly set up tank and I don't want the snails in the new tank. I took 3 plants and a clipping of wisteria and I soaked them in a 5% (19 parts water & 1 part bleach) solution for 3 minutes. Then I rinsed, rinsed, and rinsed some more. I also soaked them over night in dechlorinated water with 5 times the recommended amount of dechlorinator to be sure that the bleach would be gone. Anyways, looking at the plants this morning I noticed that the eggs are still on the plants. I had no idea if the bleach would make them fall off or something. My question is, are these eggs dead or will they end up hatching when I put them in the tank? Also, if there were snail babies on the plants (as I'm sure there was) would the bleach soak have killed them too? Is there another precautionary measure that I should take? Thanks in advance for any help!
Killing Ramshorn snails & eggs on plants...
- Thread starter Natosha24
- Start date
This doesn't really answer your question, but another method for treating plants is to use potassium permanganate as a dip.
I would think that the bleach would be pretty effective as well. If you have a tank or container where the plants will survive, try the wait and see method. It shouldn't take too long for you to see whether the bleach was successful... then again, if you are impatient like me that may not be the best course...
I would think that the bleach would be pretty effective as well. If you have a tank or container where the plants will survive, try the wait and see method. It shouldn't take too long for you to see whether the bleach was successful... then again, if you are impatient like me that may not be the best course...
I put them in a plastic ice cream container to soak them in dechlorinated water after giving them the dip. I wanted to make sure the bleach didn't kill them prior to putting them in the tank and also make sure the bleach was nonexistent. I too was thinking that maybe I should leave the plants in there for a while to see if the eggs end up hatching--I suppose they'll probably be fine in there for a while. Ugh, the thought of those eggs hatching makes me cringe. I am impatient too though so that was the reason for starting the thread. I want to put the plants in now darn it! LoL. I guess if I have to wait that's what I'll do. I don't know what type of plants these are (well, other than the wisteria) but they're quite hardy and I labeled them as experimental. So far, the bleach seems to have had no adverse affect on them whatsoever. Yay! Just thought I'd throw that tidbit in there for those that are skeptical of the bleaching. I must admit, I was quite leery of it!
you could always give them another go in the bleach... I have no evidence but I feel like bleach would be more fast acting on eggs and stuff than plants...
Hmmm... maybe I'll do that. It didn't seem to affect them any the first time around. Twice can't hurt, I don't imagine. Perhaps I'll try to manually remove the eggs and do another dip and then another over night soak. I really don't want to try to manually remove the eggs though--there are soOo many. I thought this bleach dip was supposed to work so as to not have to manually remove 'em. I wish someone else with some experience would chime in!
I'm half tempted to go pluck a ramshorn snail from the tank and drop him in my 5% bleach solution for 3 minutes as I did with the plants and see where he stands after that. If it kills him, I'll feel safe with assuming that the eggs and any babies that were hiding on the plants are dead. However, it seems cruel and I don't know if I can do it or not. :headshake2:
well you would definitely have a result if it came to that!
You may want to post in the aquatic plant or general aquaria areas as well. It seems they get a lot more traffic. Of course they may tell you to move your post to the invert section.
I wonder if the jelly like egg coating (that I am familiar with) provides extra protection against chemicals like bleach.
You may want to post in the aquatic plant or general aquaria areas as well. It seems they get a lot more traffic. Of course they may tell you to move your post to the invert section.
I wonder if the jelly like egg coating (that I am familiar with) provides extra protection against chemicals like bleach.
THAT is what I'm afraid of. I'm will be excessively ticked off if that's the case. I don't want snails in my Lake Tanganyika shellie tank!
Guess I will try another area of the forum. Good thinkin'.