Idea for ridding snails for good.

It is interesting to google alum! Alum isn't just one substance, but a family of substances, with various properties. I don't think I would ever consider adding it to an aquarium. Dipping plants in water with alum in it is different from adding it to an aquarium. It also seems to be a poison if ingested.

What else is in the tank? Can they be moved?

I always like to go with a more natural approach with problems in my aquarium rather than a chemical one. I have used alum as a plant dip in the past and when it hydrolyzes it forms a weak solution of sulfuric acid. I noticed that the aluminum container that I had the dip in got really shiny where the water line was (the dip was removing the corrosion lol) . Also some of the plants I dipped it in died.
Have you researched clown loaches? They're great at getting rid of snails. Also you could build a snail trap like this person did here:http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/781/
One more thing that i've heard is that you can put a piece of lettuce in your aquarium at night and in the morning it should be covered with snails and you can just remove them.

I hope this helps

as benderisawesome said, try going the natural root first. if you dont want to get a snail eating fish then using lettuce really is your best bet although celery lasts longer in my experience. something else that helps is lowering the temperature(if possible) because the snails will reproduce slower thus making it less of an uphill battle. i actually used both ideas simultaneously to rid a few tanks of unwanted snails.

Assassin Snails(they eat other snails) problem solved no chemicals added to the tank.

alum sulphate is used in cakes and pickling i dont think its poisonous. My main question i guess is how will i filter it out of my aquairum. will activated carbon work fine. also has anyone ever tried this. has anyone ever lost plants to this alum dip

oh and i have notihng in the tank at all expcept plants and snails. i plan on adding shrimp after i get the water safe after the alum treatment. and then fish. I also plan on leaving in the tank for several days to kill all bugs and snails

jjlanotte said:

oh and i have notihng in the tank at all expcept plants and snails. i plan on adding shrimp after i get the water safe after the alum treatment. and then fish. I also plan on leaving in the tank for several days to kill all bugs and snails

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ummm didnt read everything but ALUM is a HEAVY METAL, putting it in your tank is just plain a bad idea. I would look at a Loach, or Assassin Snail(Anentome helena), or Manual removal. Heavy metals willingly added to fish tank = bad idea(other than iron). You can always return the loach to the LFS for a store credit once he has done the job.

http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Anentome_helena

That is your safest bet hands down!

couldmt i just use water conditioner to remove heavy metals then some water changes. im just concerned right now....of hurting my plants...then down the road i want to put in fish and shrimp

Assassin snails.

jjlanotte said:

couldmt i just use water conditioner to remove heavy metals then some water changes. im just concerned right now....of hurting my plants...then down the road i want to put in fish and shrimp

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Well if you plant to put shrimp in the tank its a NO GO, the Silicone will absorb the alum and it will leach, it could kill your plants as well who knows. Trust me on this any heavy metal in a tank that will house shrimp is a very very bad idea, and shrimp and fish in the same tank also bad idea, can you say shrimp treat? There is only one truly shrimp safe fish that is an Otto, any other fish will harass and try to eat shrimp if you are planing on the smaller shrimp like red cherry shrimp. I would order myself a Assassin snail if i wanted to get rid of rams horns,pond snails or MTS, i have all those snails and i personally like them! MTS are my favorites, great cleaners. The Assassin snail will eat any other type of snail in the tank, Unlike loaches which are hit or miss(some will eat snails some ignore them, mine would only eat them if i crushed the shell first they were lazy loaches lol) My Honest advice, Save the alum,make some pickles with it and get you an Assassin snail.

well my tank is acrylic. the fish i plan on getting are tetras and ottos so there... would conditoners that rid of heavy metals really not work..esp. with activated carbon and i also have a poly pad that absorbs all kinds of stuff...i mean everything else i read says to leave plants in alum for 3 days to rid snails and eggs so how will it hurt the plants

jjlanotte said:

well my tank is acrylic. the fish i plan on getting are tetras and ottos so there... would conditoners that rid of heavy metals really not work..esp. with activated carbon and i also have a poly pad that absorbs all kinds of stuff...i mean everything else i read says to leave plants in alum for 3 days to rid snails and eggs so how will it hurt the plants

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Ok im gonna sound like a jerk here for a second. More than just me have said Alum is a bad idea, it could kill your plants, and leech later.If you use it, do so at your own risk and if it kills everything in the tank, well we tried to warn you, some lessons some people just need to learn the hard way, where as an Assassin snail, is 100% effective, and 100% safe for everything in the tank other than the other snails. Its your tank you choose what you want to do but if you crash it dont cry about it, we tried to warn you.

Oh and tetras Will nip at,kill and eat shrimp not a good idea unless your getting larger shrimp. But as i said its your tank do what you want, just dont cry about it when your fish kill and eat your shrimp, i tried to warn you.

Hi there I found this site that refers to using alum to kill snails and it refers to using it in a dip, not adding it to your aquarium. here's the site http://www.AquariumPlants.com/Articles.asp?ID=111 I just hate to see you end up having trouble down the road by using these chemicals when you can do it a natural way. I hope this site helps.