How Do You Disinfect Aquarium Soil

After accidently getting snails from some plants I added to my tank (I did bleach dip but apparently not well enough) I've decided to break down my tank and start over, but I'm unsure how to kill all snail eggs or snails within the substrate (fluval stratum). I'm guessing you wouldn't want to bleach it but I don't know if rincing it will be enough to kill everything? I don't want to throw it away and buy new stuff because it's basically brand new and was very expensive. Will pouring boiling water over be okay and effective enough to kill any snails/snail eggs?

 

I think people generally boil their soil to disinfect, so that'd be the best course of action.

I definitely wouldn't bleach it... I'd be scared of leftover chemicals

 

Thank you

 

How bad is your snail problem?? Personally I wouldn’t destroy everything because some snails. Agree with CanadianJoeh don’t use chemicals for your tank but if your are using special substrate for plants boiling wouldn’t be a good idea also there is a huge chance that your snail problem come back in future

 

Why is it a bad idea to boil the substrate? And why would the snails come back? Just because they're a common thing? I plan on being much more careful about what I put in my tank in the future once I get all the snails out. It's fluval volcanic soil, and the snail problem isn't too bad right now but I do not want snails in my tank at all and definitely want to get rid of them completely.

 

Boiling the substrate can take all the minerals and vitatmins out of it. Snails can actually be beneficial to an aquarium. They help keep algae down and under control.

Like others have said I wouldn't bleach everything. Bleach is really hard to remove 100% and might cause issues.

 

Do you know what kind of snails they are? You could start by just removing all the ones you can find (you could sift through the substrate and pull most of the visible ones out). See if that helps keep the population down. A lot of snails are pretty resilient anyway and it's sometimes hard to eradicate them from your aquarium. I love snails, but whatever you want to do!

 

Boiling is not a good idea. If you want to get rid if the snails you can :

1. Remove them every time you see one. Then clip a lettuce leaf inside the aquarium and remove it every morning. In time they will be gone. But it will take time.

2. Get a snail eater. Depending on how big your aquarium is there are several loaches that do this.

3. I know this sounds strange but use snails to kill snails. Assassin snails are very good for this.

 

I think you need to separate the two subjects in this post:

1. get rid of snails and snail eggs from gravel. I wouldn't boil the gravel as mentioned earlier on as boiling extracts minerals and colour. I would wash the gravel and then put on a try and leave it in the sun for 7-10 days to dry out completely. This will get rid of any of the eggs that may survive the washing process. You could also place the gravel on a tray in the oven at around 100 degrees celsius overnight - that will do the trick
   
   
2. decision on whether to keep or not to keep snails. Some people like them, some people don't, so there are a lot of discussion on the forum on this forum to search on and read up on.

 

I did try just removing them when I saw them but a few days later I saw a bunch more very small ones. I definitely do not want to keep them. I think I'll either try the oven method or just buy new substrate. Thanks everyone for your comments I really appreciate it!

 

When it comes to pond & bladder snails, I just remove them as I see them and eventually they disappear.

 

I did try just removing them when I saw them but a few days later I saw a bunch more very small ones. I definitely do not want to keep them. I think I'll either try the oven method or just buy new substrate. Thanks everyone for your comments I really appreciate it!

In 2017 I got rid over over 3000 pest snails...... I am with you on this one - Get rid of them once and for all if you don't want to deal with them regularly.

Don't forget to disinfect everything - pipes. cables, decorations.......those eggs can appear anywhere!

 

How did you go about disinfecting things like the heater and filter?
I'm thinking of just replacing the substrate now and doing an alum dip for the plants.

 

How did you go about disinfecting things like the heater and filter?
I'm thinking of just replacing the substrate now and doing an alum dip for the plants.

Best way would be to dry them for 5 days in the sun.
Otherwise you may use the same solvent that you use for the plants - just make sure that they are fully immersed for around 20 minutes. Don't forget the other decorative items.

 

Best way would be to dry them for 5 days in the sun.
Otherwise you may use the same solvent that you use for the plants - just make sure that they are fully immersed for around 20 minutes. Don't forget the other decorative items.

Thank you very much

 

I wouldn't "boil" the soil....I'd "bake it"... Put it in an oven at a low temp, and let it sit there for about 4-6 hours until it is thoroughly dried out.