eepruls

I am tearing down my now fishless tank and bleaching everything to get rid of all pond snails. I'm going to start over with a new fishless cycle (and hopefully no snails). What is the proper way to be bleaching everything so that I kill all adult snails and all eggs? Is there a minimum length of time everything should be soaking in a diluted bleach solution? How resistant are snails and their eggs? Does drying everything kill snails and their eggs as well?

Believe it or not, I cannot find the answer to this seemingly simple question. I thought I would ask so that I don't go through another cycle and find I've again got snails! Everything I read discusses bleach dipping new live plants and being careful with bleach around fish, which I don't have. How can I ensure I kill all snails and their eggs?

agabr123

in order to bleach the tank, i'd put it either in a shower or bathtub or outside (depending on how large it is) and fill it with a 1 part bleach 19 part water mixture, empty the tank, and then rinse it until you can't smell bleach anymore. when you're ready to fill it up again for fish, add lots of water conditioner and that will get rid of any bleach you may have missed.

also, it's probably a good idea to boil anything that can be boiled (i.e. your gravel)

eepruls

What I've done so far is take everything out of the tank (except the gravel) and put it all in a bucket filled with bleach and water. All the plants, filter media, ornaments, rocks, etc. soaked for about an hour and then I rinsed everything and laid it all out to dry. The tank itself has a bleach/water solution that goes above the level of the gravel. I used that solution on the glass inside the tank as well. I have been mixing the gravel with a wooden spoon so that there is no solution-free pocket. I haven't seen a snail yet and I had a lot in the gravel. I thought I'd leave that for a day.

Tomorrow I was going to take the gravel out and wash it to rinse out the dead snails. I was going to sanitize the tank again as well. You suggest boiling the gravel in addition to the bleach? Is bleaching and boiling both necessary to kill everything? What's the best way to boil all the gravel - in bunches or all at once? Do you bring the water to a boil and then add the gravel? How long must it boil?

genie

I found it takes very little bleach and a very short amount of time to rid the tank of snails. I also found bleach to be the best method because with enough dechlorinator, you can get your tank running again with a relatively short turn around time. I had thousands of snails and about 2tbs bleach per gallon and they were gone! Dropped like flies! And I didn't have any come back. The fish were fine after I re-introduced them. BE SURE TO DECHLORINATE EXTRA!!

Also be sure to get the filter and all of that media

haedra

Something I'm curious about.... though I know little about snails, so I accept that this is probably wrong.

Wouldn't a ridiculously high concentration of salt to water kill snails and eggs? Would it do the job and also be easier to be sure everything was rinsed away? Just curious.

prairielilly

I recently wanted to sterilize some equipment I'd used for sick fish, so I soaked it in a part bleach/19 parts water mixture for 2 hours. I then emptied everything, refilled it with fresh water (still reeked of bleach) and added about 5X the normal amount of dechlorinater. Repeat. After this there was no more bleach smell and I am confident no germies are threatening my healthy fish.

I would think that if the chlorine concentration in tap water (which we drink, it is non-toxic to us) is fatal for fish, then increasing the concentration dramatically as is the case by soaking in bleach should be lethal for any aquatic life including snails and their eggs. IMO I wouldn't boil anything, just make sure all the gravel was contacted by bleach water for some time.

Haedra: it seems likely that high salt concentrations would kill the snails, but no idea what concentration and to me it implies a long exposure time but I could be wrong...IMO if you use a bunch of dechlorinator after the bleach treatment you've nullified the harmful aspects of the bleach...an alternative I think could be really high concentrations of ammonia, that would also kill the snails and would be nulllified by wc's or the biofilter.

bluealuefish

I agree with Prairielilly. (Prairielilly, can i nominate you to be fishlore spokesperson or fishlore welcome person or something? You always seem to have great answers and you sound so nice!)

haedra

I do have to admit, bleach is one of my best kitchen friends. I don't feel like parts of my home are clean enough if I can't smell it.

prairielilly

awww thanks so much that's so nice of you!

I'm speaking from recently-learned info from all these fine members btw...

CHoffman

If you soaked the tank and all the contents in a bleach solution I would think your good to go.




I'm soooo with ya...My kitchen and bathroom have to smell of bleach before I'm satisfied..lol..No germs in there. Hubby hates it and I've bleached countless shirts but I'm happy with it!..It's the miracle cleaner.

eepruls

We have a bucket beside the kitchen sink with a bleach solution. We use it to clean the counters and sink after raw meat and such. It's the best sanitizer around and leaves me confident that bacteria and parasites are killed.

I had the gravel sitting in a bleach solution for two days. I rinsed everything many times and then laid everything out to dry. I have since put the tank back together and filled with water. I used dechlorinator just like I always would when adding new water to the tank. I've pumped up the temperature and started adding ammonia for a new fishless cycle.

I truly believe bleach is the best way to sanitize the tank. It was actually really easy. In my case, I did not want anything alive and was aware that I would have to start a new cycle. But I'm confident that my tank is clean. Bleach itself is chlorine so using dechlorinator neutralizes any leftover bleach. That is why you shouldn't use soaps and other cleaners which leave residue and can't be neutralized in the same way.