kim6970

I added plants to my tank before and after a week or so there were black snails crawling around. I had to complete empty my tank and start over to get rid of them. I am setting up a new tank and want to avoid this problem again. Any suggestions?

jsalemi

Unfortunately, snails are a usual hitchhiker on plants. But other than sometimes causing a small population explosion, why get rid of them? They can be a good part of the cleanup crew, and if there's too many, it's a probable sign you're overfeeding your fish. If there's no fish in the tank yet, then the snails can help cycle it.

That said, I think I read somewhere that a quick dip in a bleach solution will kill any snail eggs or snails that are on the plants. Be sure to rinse them well afterwards.

And there are fish that love to eat snails, like small loaches. A dwarf loach or two, or a yoyo or two, will keep the snail population under control just fine.

zigmeister

Where are you buying your plants? The ones sold at PetSmart are guaranteed to be snail free. I have many plants in my tanks and have had no snails.

jsalemi

The ones sold in individual packages at PetSmart are guaranteed to be snail free. The ones sold loose from water tanks are not.

Tio

i dipped my new plants in a weak solution of Cupramine and water (just put them in stir around and rince in clean water)kills snails and other invertebrates that may be hiding in the plants.you can use it to treat a whole tank also without any fish of course