*If you missed my previous plant dip experiments using bleach, hydrogen peroxide, copper, salt, potassium permanganate, and alum, check out the series here: **ruclips.net/p/PLlBBJ7xBuquZxhVUA-7BVFx3WxG3dqTJr*
Thank you for experimenting with this and sharing your results! I decided to do some testing based on your recommendations, but with another pest: leeches. I had an "extras" aquarium that I used exclusively for plants I'd pick up but didn't have an immediate use for. Since it was already basically a quarantine tank I never bothered to treat the plants, (wrongly) thinking the worst I'd get were some "boring" pests like snails or planaria. Never did I expect leeches, but now I know better. Using 1 TBSP of alum per gallon of water, it took between 5-6 hours for the leeches to be completely lifeless. I also had some scuds/gammarus in another tank I figured I'd test too, and found that they are extremely hardy. They were still alive (but looking rough) at 8 hours in so I left them over night. Total of about 16 hours. They were indeed dead by the morning, but I'm not sure exactly how long it took after 8 hours since I wasn't monitoring.
This is the best video! I had a planaria break out that wiped out shrimp. Now I use alum on all my plants! You have saved my fish room!! Some of the plants don’t do well like Hornwort, but it bounces back after a month or so, it goes from a string to sprouting needles. I would say before throwing a plant away, give it some tlc and time and you’d be surprised what can survive! I always use the 1:1 ratio, it works so well. Thank you!
Great video! I really enjoy your videos. They’re always so informative and I appreciate your methodical approach to common aquarium issues. Thanks, Irene! While your dip videos showed the planaria that happened to be on your plants getting killed off by some solutions like alum, I would love to see a dedicated planaria plant dip video if you get around to it. They are really a thorn in my side! If delicate plants like crypts and floating plants could be included in your experiments that would be great too.
Ive spent years putting up with snails but i caught them eating fish eggs and now i want all my tanks snail free. This will be very helpful. Awesome work.
Good stuff! I used the peroxide on pretty much all my pants with no issues, except for eloida, in which the peroxide would strip all the leaves away, but the stem did grow out new stems at different joints.
Feels like this is just something that people who sell plants should be and it will help a ton to stop diseases from spreading via plants.... Especially for shrimp keepers
Thanks to you my tank is snail free. Everytime I get new plants I leave them in alum for a few days and quarantine them for a few more days in new fresh water to make sure they are snail free.
To anyone about to try this: either go more than four hours or double the alum. My 15g has pest snails. I love them and that’s their home. But my rotala is growing like crazy and we wanted to put some in our new tanks. I DID 4 HOURS WITH THESE MEASUREMENTS. All visible ones died but now I’m having sneaky sneaks pop up in the new tanks. I don’t think it killed all the eggs (I have rams/bladder/pond snails). I will say there is ZERO damage to the plants which is fantastic 🎉 I’m bummed that I have to be on snail watch for a while and airlift all the new snails back to the 15, but I suspect a more concentrated dip will save you all the trouble ❤
I'm planning on doing a reset into a new rimless tank, so this is great. Also, I loved your nails. Alternating blue - so simple, but really fun to see!
Not going to lie I don’t have a problem with snails sometimes I intentionally put more snails in my tank but this helped prevent get rid of some planaria on the plants I bought
Hello, firstable I think you're a great speaker for all your videos, your voice is very clear, and you explain very well, KUDOS for you!! Now to the question... I believe your tank is a 20 G, now I see at the bottom of it what appear to be a rim, but there is none on the top, there are only this transparent corner holders, did you custom made that? If you did share where you got the clear corenner parts... please, petty please, with a cherry in top lol? Thank you and keep the videos coming =)
It's a roundabout method but you can grow newer plants emersed and then plant the newer cuttings in your aquarium. I did this to salvage expensive plants in an aquarium that got infested with cladophora algae.
Thanks Irene for the updated video of the alum dip.. just got new plants in today they are socking now ..the alum dip and quarantine 3-4 weeks helps me .. with my plants so far .. i have Netrite snails 🐌 and enjoy them love feeding them vegetables.. but i hate when the snails get out of control.. if i put in 6-10 snails i want only 6-10 of .. them not wake up to hundreds
Thank you so much, I really appreciate how you conducted your experiments on various substances while having a control group and controlling variables. I set my first tank since I was a kid so didn't think to ask about snails. I really think shops should advise customers to treat plants before putting them in the tank!
Hi there. Great experiment and info. I can't be sure but I was treating my tank with Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate) (brand Magna Salt) 5 grams/litre for 3 days and noticed all my pest snails died. Can't find Alum in grocery stores in Thailand. Do you think epsom salt works similar to alum to kill snails and their eggs?
I feel like this video was perfectly timed in regards to recent news about Zebra mussels in marmio moss balls. Now only if we can figure out how to eradicate those! I’m a huge fan of marmio moss balls, so I’m saddened to see them disappear for the time being :(
Biggest issue is that many companies are sourcing their Marimo moss balls from lakes in eastern Europe that also have zebra mussels. Rather than paying a little more for them being sourced elsewhere that's zebra mussel free. They are then relying on them being properly treated before they get sent out for sale. Biggest issue here is that any slip up of treatment results in the consumer getting zebra mussels.
Page 15 of this article gives all of the studied ways to kill Zebra Mussels. Of particular interest is "freezing". It lists freezing times at 3 different temperatures to kill 100% of them 2 days right at 0 C/32 F 5-7 hours at -1.5 C/29.3 F
Omg I love all your videos I did a wee binge a while back and watched stuff not even related to the stuff going on in my tank lol keep up the amazing video
Awesome Video!! This was really helpful to get rid of the snail bomb in my tank 🤣 I used this on Hornwort and Marino Moss balls. Had a bit of melting on the Hornwort but nothing unmanageable and the moss balls came out fine 👌🏻
Great! Thanks for the tips. I've been dealing with pest snails for 2 years. I'll be emptying & throwing out everything in my tanks & starting over. But, next time, I will treat my plants before planting them.
I have a friend who has been dealing with trumpet snails for a long time now and even after we cleaned the tank out and boiled the gravel he still has them so we’re thinking about getting some Assassin snailsto deal with them so maybe that worth a try for you as well
Thanks for this video. I'm moving some plants from my community tank, which has a lot of Bladder and Trumpet snails, into a newly cycled 36 gal soon to be shrimp tank. I'll be testing this 4 hr Alum recipe on some Water Wisteria trimmings, some rooted Corkscrew Vallisneria, and some rooted Bacopa Caroliniana. Now that I know how long it takes to get rid of the snails and their eggs, I'll post an update later and let you know how the plants fared. Thanks for making learning this hobby fun!
For 2 weeks now, I have been killing bladder snails. Just picking them out. I have found if I crush them, the fish love them and eat them right up. Wish they would eat them live. Thanks for your great videos. Love them.
I've been doing 2Tbsp per gallon for 4 hours for added security, with no noticeable effects for a while now. I got mine as soil acdifier in a large bag.
Awww. Poor snails, but I can understand how some aquarists view them as a plague in their tanks. I found how much I feed my fish to be the key to keeping snails at a managable level - and the ones that survive never get big, they stay relatively small. I also have fish who love to pick at the snail eggs and babies. Any tank where I have female Endlers, there are virtually no snails. I have ramshorn and MTS, would love to have some bladder snails, but they do not like my water, unfortunately... or maybe they get out-competed by the other snails? Thanks for your content, always interesting and informative!
@@mindovermatter2day I didn’t realize my betta fish was also controlling my black molly population. The betta died and now I have a population explosion of mollies. I will NEVER own livebearers again! LoL
i tried it today and it worked really really well! most of them floated, its like theyre getting deprived of moisture. or theyre getting puffed with air idk. 1 hr has lapsed
Hello Irene, Would you please let me know if this method works for floating plants like Amazon Frogbit or Red Root Floater by just leaving them floating or I have to submerge them completely for 4 hours? Thank you
I just bought new plants from unknown sellers tonight, so thank you! Last time we had a bladder snail tag along on a plant....took forever to notice it. Until it didn't. It got big, and then it made some friends. A whole castle of Hogwarts. Eventually, my fiance called me Voldemort because I HAD to get rid of them. It was getting ridiculous. I'm so excited for my blue gourami to get a much better planted tank. Wasn't cheap but... he deserves it.
So i would assume that since this kills snails it would also kill any beneficial bacteria that might be on the plant. I'm starting a new tank and was hoping the beneficial bacteria would help with my cycle. My local pet store sells established plants.
You know, I actually don't know if it's an antibiotic. I found conflicting reports online, but one article did say: "While alum has some antimicrobial and anti fungal properties, it has not been shown to be an effective alternative for sanitizer or disinfectants." Sooo... maybe? P.S. Thanks for becoming a recent member! Let me know if you have any other questions I can help you with.
Awesome!! My first time using plants, and I ended up with rams horns....got a dwarf pea puffer for that...just ordered more plants...alum it is!! Thank you 🚫🐌
Another great vid! How can I 'sterilise' my filter media from my well established tank so I can use some of it to kick start my new tank set up? Thanks ☺️🌱
Awesome video!! When I was setting up my first planted tank I found rams horn snails on a plant and thought " oh snails could be cool." So I dropped them in.😑 I still can't get rid of them.
I’m glad to see this update. You actually helped me with your past videos. I would soak plants in alum. But after a while, I’d just soak them in more concentration for a few hours (similar to this updated video) and it did the trick. I do that for any new plants I get now. Trumpets snails don’t bother me too much so I’m okay with them.
You can try Flubenol 5% 1 gram dissolve in 100ml water, that will be enough for 500 liters of water, just toss it into your aquarium and thats it. It kills only snails and worm like. Its 100% safe for plants, shrimps and fish, using an overdoze is not harmful unless you are a snail 😉 Its really also cheap about 40 cents a gram. Its the best and easiest way to get rid of snails. Hope this helps you
Hi! I really appreciate your videos! Have you used alum dips on anubias with success? I used your older alum recipe (didn’t see this update video at the time. Lol) on a batch of plants and my anubias ended up rotting. The others did great! (Including subwassertang) I’m not sure what caused it and was curious of your experience. Thank you for making such awesome educational videos!
Thanks! I just picked up some different floaters and I'm now floating it for 4 hours. I do Wonder though with floating plants can the snail sometimes just hit your right on top of the plant will it work on them but we're giving it a try. I already have a pest nails in my tank but I'm sitting up a second tank and I'm trying to treat everything before I move it over and every new plant I buy from another hobbyist or store
What do you do with you currently established tank where it's too late to pretreat plants? My current plan is to buy a new tank and start over with new substrate and new plants.
Hey miss, I was wondering if you could tell me why my sponge filter makes bubbles at the top of the aquarium, they aren’t that big, but I’m worried I did something wrong. It has an air stone and a check valve and the tank is ten gallons and is for a betta
Hmm, it should make bubbles normally, but they usually pop quickly and don't stick around very long. Here's a video I made on bubbles in aquariums: ruclips.net/video/CtvklyqUHZY/видео.html
Thanks for this great series! I do have one tank just for Ramshorns(cute little buggers). But getting snail free plants, for my other tanks, from outside sources, is nearly impossible. This will help me get the plants I really want, without having to worry about snails.
Hi I had a million MTS that took over a 20 long. I removed all plants because they were overrun with the snails 🐌 🤣. I Removed any fish left too. Ok the recipe I used in the tank was 1 alum tin and straight Epsom salt 🧂. This turned the whole tank water white but it did settle down, any crawling snails on the glass dropped down. I left tank alone for a week. Now those MTS were dead! So I started all over and am following your alum test for my new plants, I'm crossing my fingers that I don't see any of those 🐌 in my cycling planted tank. No fish for awhile.
The most natural way to get rid of snails is getting a pair of Badis Badis (Blue Perch). They will eat the eggs and baby snails, probably not good in a shrimp tank though. Keep up the good work, Irene.
Hi I have a question my aquarium water is relatively perfect, I do not have bad water quality, but my betta keeps getting fin rot and really bad. Currently near where his dorsal fin would be is all white, he has no fin growth there and it is just getting worse. I have been researching and researching but there is nothing that I can find about how to treat him. What can I do to help him get better? I really need help, I am worried he might die.
I wonder how this might work 'in situ'. I have a heavily planted tank with loads of bladder snails. I would not be willing to poison any fish but what would happen if you remove all the fish from the tank then add alum at the rate of a tablespoon per gallon, leave it for 4 hours then do a couple of 100% water changes before returning the fish. Based on your experiment all of the snails and eggs should perish. My tank is 100 gallons so it would be fairly expensive to buy that amount of alum but if I could rid the tank of all the snails it would be a price worth paying to get rid of every snail without even having to move any plants, driftwood, rocks etc. I wonder if the alum would have any effect on the bacteria in the filter?
Exactly my question. I would have to do a complete tank breakdown/ disassemble if I have to remove all my plants. I was wondering if anyone ever responded to you or if you have successfully found something that worked. Thanks
@@tracys.6033 Crikey, I'd forgotten all about this it's so long ago. No, sadly I never did get a response so I still don't know the answer. On the positive side, over a period of a couple of months the snail population decreased and eventually they all disappeared. I have absolutely no idea why this happened, it was not anything I did as far as I know. I cannot explain it. I am still snail-free and have been for several months.
@@andystokes8702 thanks for responding Andy. I appreciate it. I will cross my fingers that my snails do a disappearing act like yours did! I did read an article that said instead of trying to catch/pick off aquarium walls to remove them you can just squish them. After that several fish species will then eat them. Worth a try! Thanks again.
@@tracys.6033 You may have a point there. I did end up squishing them against the glass because I just couldn't keep up with manual removal so maybe the fish did develop a taste for them, makes sense. I did buy a snail trap but that turned out to be fairly useless because it caught my cories quicker than it caught snails.
Question- what do I do about the hitchhikers that already made it into my tank (and are breeding like rabbits), how do I get rid of them without harming the fish and plants in the tank?
Hi Irene, can you tell me how snails get into one’s aquarium..I spotted a small trumpet one,,and netted it out..is it because of over feeding ? ps: I don’t have live plants 🌱in my tank
It's worked so far on the sensitive plants I've tried so far, but I haven't treated hydrocotyle tripartita yet. It might be worth dipping some of the stems and then see how they do. Let me know what you find out!
Fortunately, Malaysian Trumpet Snails are the least "invasive" in my experience. They're actually helpful in controlled numbers as they dig and help aerate the substrate, kinda like earthworms for terrestrial plants. PS: I'm kind of a snail lover though. My red cherry shrimp breeding tank has a host of bladder snails...
My Malaysian trumpet snails grew too big for my betta fish tank had to talk them out idk y they grew so big I don't even think they are supposed to grow that big I out them in my guppy tank and they grew even bigger so I just put them in my pond their living there now.The snails were at a stage that they would that big bites of the plants and it didnt lool nice so
I agree with you on this but when you start to get 300+ in a 40gl. tank, it's time to do something. I took everything out of my tank, bleached it for 3 weeks then cleaned it out and reset the tank. A week later it still had over 50 snails in it.
Will just wiping down my accessories be ok to move to new tank ? I have I think pond snails and their eggs and shifting my betta to a new tank and do NOT want them to follow
Hey, Irine im legit going crazy, im trying to breed apistos at the momemt and i whould be very helpful to see your insight and how you breed them. So can you give us an update on that tank? 🙂
Haha, mine are breeding but they keep eating the eggs. I'm trying to overfeed them to see if they'll stop, but I'm tempted to save the eggs next time. My only other tricks are that I've been feeding live baby brine shrimp every morning (along with other foods) and adding lots of catappa leaves to try to lower my 8.0 pH.
*If you missed my previous plant dip experiments using bleach, hydrogen peroxide, copper, salt, potassium permanganate, and alum, check out the series here: **ruclips.net/p/PLlBBJ7xBuquZxhVUA-7BVFx3WxG3dqTJr*
I tried the hydrogen peroxide on a bag of frogbit. It worked on the snails, but the frogbit struggled a bit. I’ll try the next time.
I wonder how I would do this with Giant duckweed
Can I use this alum method to get rid of damselfly eggs and nymphs?
Thank you for experimenting with this and sharing your results! I decided to do some testing based on your recommendations, but with another pest: leeches. I had an "extras" aquarium that I used exclusively for plants I'd pick up but didn't have an immediate use for. Since it was already basically a quarantine tank I never bothered to treat the plants, (wrongly) thinking the worst I'd get were some "boring" pests like snails or planaria. Never did I expect leeches, but now I know better. Using 1 TBSP of alum per gallon of water, it took between 5-6 hours for the leeches to be completely lifeless. I also had some scuds/gammarus in another tank I figured I'd test too, and found that they are extremely hardy. They were still alive (but looking rough) at 8 hours in so I left them over night. Total of about 16 hours. They were indeed dead by the morning, but I'm not sure exactly how long it took after 8 hours since I wasn't monitoring.
You missed your calling, Irene; you would have made a great biologist! I love your experiments; always well thought out and variables well controlled.
Little known fact: I was really into science fair projects as a kid. I'm a lot more passionate about my experiments as an adult though. 😂
@@GirlTalksFish These experiments would make great science fair projects! :)
@@michaelfox6820 but the teachers don't allow to cause any sort of harm to a living thing but they make exceptions for plants obv
This is the best video! I had a planaria break out that wiped out shrimp. Now I use alum on all my plants! You have saved my fish room!! Some of the plants don’t do well like Hornwort, but it bounces back after a month or so, it goes from a string to sprouting needles. I would say before throwing a plant away, give it some tlc and time and you’d be surprised what can survive! I always use the 1:1 ratio, it works so well. Thank you!
I have always struggled with snails in my aquarium for almost 2 years now. Thank you very much for your hard work😄👍.
My pleasure! Hope you find it useful in the future. 😊
My mental state irritated by 2 month non priority out door pond snail over growth...
Great video! I really enjoy your videos. They’re always so informative and I appreciate your methodical approach to common aquarium issues. Thanks, Irene!
While your dip videos showed the planaria that happened to be on your plants getting killed off by some solutions like alum, I would love to see a dedicated planaria plant dip video if you get around to it. They are really a thorn in my side! If delicate plants like crypts and floating plants could be included in your experiments that would be great too.
Ive spent years putting up with snails but i caught them eating fish eggs and now i want all my tanks snail free. This will be very helpful. Awesome work.
Can i know what type of snails eat your fish eggs?
Good stuff! I used the peroxide on pretty much all my pants with no issues, except for eloida, in which the peroxide would strip all the leaves away, but the stem did grow out new stems at different joints.
Feels like this is just something that people who sell plants should be and it will help a ton to stop diseases from spreading via plants.... Especially for shrimp keepers
Thanks to you my tank is snail free. Everytime I get new plants I leave them in alum for a few days and quarantine them for a few more days in new fresh water to make sure they are snail free.
Yay, I'm so glad it's been working out for you!
@@GirlTalksFish It's all thanks to you. I love you videos and I always look forward to them.
Does the alum get rid of parasites too and things like algae?
To anyone about to try this: either go more than four hours or double the alum.
My 15g has pest snails. I love them and that’s their home. But my rotala is growing like crazy and we wanted to put some in our new tanks. I DID 4 HOURS WITH THESE MEASUREMENTS. All visible ones died but now I’m having sneaky sneaks pop up in the new tanks. I don’t think it killed all the eggs (I have rams/bladder/pond snails).
I will say there is ZERO damage to the plants which is fantastic 🎉
I’m bummed that I have to be on snail watch for a while and airlift all the new snails back to the 15, but I suspect a more concentrated dip will save you all the trouble ❤
Why isn’t this getting more views? This is a highly informative video
Give some snail..in their tank..they will watch😅
I'm planning on doing a reset into a new rimless tank, so this is great.
Also, I loved your nails. Alternating blue - so simple, but really fun to see!
Not going to lie I don’t have a problem with snails sometimes I intentionally put more snails in my tank but this helped prevent get rid of some planaria on the plants I bought
Thank you! I had so much trouble getting rid of bladder snails. The alum method worked perfectly! 👌
Did the 4 hour work for guppy grass or is there an update video?
So i can use alum that is available in local grocery and make solution of it?
Thank you! You are the best! Saved me so much time and got rid of snail problem, keep up the good work!
Hi Irene, I deeply admire your videos. You are doing a great Job and service to many new Aquarist. Thank you very much.
Ok love that you tested a variety of times, to get your information!
Hello, firstable I think you're a great speaker for all your videos, your voice is very clear, and you explain very well, KUDOS for you!! Now to the question... I believe your tank is a 20 G, now I see at the bottom of it what appear to be a rim, but there is none on the top, there are only this transparent corner holders, did you custom made that? If you did share where you got the clear corenner parts... please, petty please, with a cherry in top lol?
Thank you and keep the videos coming =)
It's a rimless 5 gallon tank that I bought from Petco. 👍
Great research. I work in wastewater and this was very interesting. thanks
It's a roundabout method but you can grow newer plants emersed and then plant the newer cuttings in your aquarium. I did this to salvage expensive plants in an aquarium that got infested with cladophora algae.
Impressive work Irene! Thanks to you now I am using (tomorrow) alum in Echinodorus Rubin, a magnificent specimen from an old shop! Thanks again! 🤟
Thanks Irene for the updated video of the alum dip.. just got new plants in today they are socking now ..the alum dip and quarantine 3-4 weeks helps me .. with my plants so far .. i have Netrite snails 🐌 and enjoy them love feeding them vegetables.. but i hate when the snails get out of control.. if i put in 6-10 snails i want only 6-10 of .. them not wake up to hundreds
Thank you so much, I really appreciate how you conducted your experiments on various substances while having a control group and controlling variables. I set my first tank since I was a kid so didn't think to ask about snails. I really think shops should advise customers to treat plants before putting them in the tank!
Once you’ve done the alum dip, do you still need to quarantine before they go in the tank?
Irene, Thanks so much for this. I am trying this right now. Wish me luck! 🍀
Hi there. Great experiment and info. I can't be sure but I was treating my tank with Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate) (brand Magna Salt) 5 grams/litre for 3 days and noticed all my pest snails died. Can't find Alum in grocery stores in Thailand. Do you think epsom salt works similar to alum to kill snails and their eggs?
I love your videos, short, but packed with useful information. I hate pest snails, too, so I'm going to try this with my next low-tech planted tank.
If I use the alum to clean my new plants, will they still be safe to put in a tank that has shrimp?
im really glad you took the time to do all these experiments. thank you very much
newbie question - can I remove floating plants from an existing tank and clean with this method?
I feel like this video was perfectly timed in regards to recent news about Zebra mussels in marmio moss balls. Now only if we can figure out how to eradicate those! I’m a huge fan of marmio moss balls, so I’m saddened to see them disappear for the time being :(
I saw that article! That's so crazy that mussels would hitchhike on aquarium plants.
Biggest issue is that many companies are sourcing their Marimo moss balls from lakes in eastern Europe that also have zebra mussels. Rather than paying a little more for them being sourced elsewhere that's zebra mussel free. They are then relying on them being properly treated before they get sent out for sale. Biggest issue here is that any slip up of treatment results in the consumer getting zebra mussels.
Page 15 of this article gives all of the studied ways to kill Zebra Mussels. Of particular interest is "freezing". It lists freezing times at 3 different temperatures to kill 100% of them
2 days right at 0 C/32 F
5-7 hours at -1.5 C/29.3 F
Omg I love all your videos I did a wee binge a while back and watched stuff not even related to the stuff going on in my tank lol keep up the amazing video
I'm so glad you like my vids! Thanks for watching and lemme know if there are any topics you'd like to see in the future.
Awesome Video!! This was really helpful to get rid of the snail bomb in my tank 🤣 I used this on Hornwort and Marino Moss balls. Had a bit of melting on the Hornwort but nothing unmanageable and the moss balls came out fine 👌🏻
I always love to watch your videos, very informative
Great! Thanks for the tips. I've been dealing with pest snails for 2 years. I'll be emptying & throwing out everything in my tanks & starting over. But, next time, I will treat my plants before planting them.
I have a friend who has been dealing with trumpet snails for a long time now and even after we cleaned the tank out and boiled the gravel he still has them so we’re thinking about getting some Assassin snailsto deal with them so maybe that worth a try for you as well
I love your experiments very focused and on point just what I needed as I go buy some plants from my local store
Can I perform the alum dip on bulbs such as the Tiger Lotus bulb?
Thank you for this, seriously, you’re awesome!!!
Thanks for this video. I'm moving some plants from my community tank, which has a lot of Bladder and Trumpet snails, into a newly cycled 36 gal soon to be shrimp tank. I'll be testing this 4 hr Alum recipe on some Water Wisteria trimmings, some rooted Corkscrew Vallisneria, and some rooted Bacopa Caroliniana. Now that I know how long it takes to get rid of the snails and their eggs, I'll post an update later and let you know how the plants fared. Thanks for making learning this hobby fun!
Update?
For 2 weeks now, I have been killing bladder snails. Just picking them out. I have found if I crush them, the fish love them and eat them right up. Wish they would eat them live. Thanks for your great videos. Love them.
I've been doing 2Tbsp per gallon for 4 hours for added security, with no noticeable effects for a while now. I got mine as soil acdifier in a large bag.
Can the alum be rinsed off the plants to be safe for a shrimp tank?
Thank You so much for this. I was stressing over this. my tank was infested with snails. this will hopefully be the answer to save all my plants.🙏🏾
Awww. Poor snails, but I can understand how some aquarists view them as a plague in their tanks. I found how much I feed my fish to be the key to keeping snails at a managable level - and the ones that survive never get big, they stay relatively small. I also have fish who love to pick at the snail eggs and babies. Any tank where I have female Endlers, there are virtually no snails. I have ramshorn and MTS, would love to have some bladder snails, but they do not like my water, unfortunately... or maybe they get out-competed by the other snails? Thanks for your content, always interesting and informative!
Nice! I had no idea some fish like to eat snail eggs.
Can't seem to get bladder snails my self lol
@@GirlTalksFish My betta was hunting the babies and eating them. He totally controlled them.
@@mindovermatter2day I didn’t realize my betta fish was also controlling my black molly population. The betta died and now I have a population explosion of mollies. I will NEVER own livebearers again! LoL
Super explained ma'am.....loves from India ..💯👍
i tried it today and it worked really really well! most of them floated, its like theyre getting deprived of moisture. or theyre getting puffed with air idk. 1 hr has lapsed
Hi Irene, quick question about as you said the alum they use it in ponds. So do you happen to know the mix so animals will not be harmed
Mam Irene please just continue infos for aquarist like and others... great work info about all infos from you.
Hello Irene,
Would you please let me know if this method works for floating plants like Amazon Frogbit or Red Root Floater by just leaving them floating or I have to submerge them completely for 4 hours?
Thank you
I just bought new plants from unknown sellers tonight, so thank you! Last time we had a bladder snail tag along on a plant....took forever to notice it. Until it didn't. It got big, and then it made some friends. A whole castle of Hogwarts. Eventually, my fiance called me Voldemort because I HAD to get rid of them. It was getting ridiculous. I'm so excited for my blue gourami to get a much better planted tank. Wasn't cheap but... he deserves it.
This is my first time dealing with snails. I heard that fish might also be harboring eggs. In that case, would alum hurt them?
Thanks for this!
Thanks Irene love your videos.
So i would assume that since this kills snails it would also kill any beneficial bacteria that might be on the plant. I'm starting a new tank and was hoping the beneficial bacteria would help with my cycle. My local pet store sells established plants.
You know, I actually don't know if it's an antibiotic. I found conflicting reports online, but one article did say: "While alum has some antimicrobial and anti fungal properties, it has not been shown to be an effective alternative for sanitizer or disinfectants." Sooo... maybe? P.S. Thanks for becoming a recent member! Let me know if you have any other questions I can help you with.
I've only used hydrogen peroxide. I didn't notice it harm my plants and I don't have snails. I may need to try alum. Thanks for the video.
Awesome!! My first time using plants, and I ended up with rams horns....got a dwarf pea puffer for that...just ordered more plants...alum it is!! Thank you 🚫🐌
Another great vid! How can I 'sterilise' my filter media from my well established tank so I can use some of it to kick start my new tank set up? Thanks ☺️🌱
Thank you soo much... For this experimental video ...
Awesome video!! When I was setting up my first planted tank I found rams horn snails on a plant and thought " oh snails could be cool." So I dropped them in.😑 I still can't get rid of them.
Oh goodness! They are quite beautiful... as long as they're not in my tank. 😜
Same Bethany. 😭
If I don't have any animals in my 10g planted tank I wonder if I could use this in the tank and then do a full water change?
I’m glad to see this update. You actually helped me with your past videos. I would soak plants in alum. But after a while, I’d just soak them in more concentration for a few hours (similar to this updated video) and it did the trick. I do that for any new plants I get now. Trumpets snails don’t bother me too much so I’m okay with them.
You can try Flubenol 5%
1 gram dissolve in 100ml water, that will be enough for 500 liters of water, just toss it into your aquarium and thats it.
It kills only snails and worm like. Its 100% safe for plants, shrimps and fish, using an overdoze is not harmful unless you are a snail 😉
Its really also cheap about 40 cents a gram.
Its the best and easiest way to get rid of snails.
Hope this helps you
Hi! I really appreciate your videos!
Have you used alum dips on anubias with success?
I used your older alum recipe (didn’t see this update video at the time. Lol) on a batch of plants and my anubias ended up rotting. The others did great! (Including subwassertang) I’m not sure what caused it and was curious of your experience.
Thank you for making such awesome educational videos!
Thanks! I just picked up some different floaters and I'm now floating it for 4 hours. I do Wonder though with floating plants can the snail sometimes just hit your right on top of the plant will it work on them but we're giving it a try. I already have a pest nails in my tank but I'm sitting up a second tank and I'm trying to treat everything before I move it over and every new plant I buy from another hobbyist or store
What do you do with you currently established tank where it's too late to pretreat plants?
My current plan is to buy a new tank and start over with new substrate and new plants.
I have this white small snails in my tank.I don't know what do you call it but it's multiplying.
Can anyone tell me what plant is this 0:04 I have this plant in my tank but I have no clue what plant is it
I believe it is a type of ludwigia but I can't remember the exact species.
@@GirlTalksFish i think it is ludwigia repens
@@crazyratz Yes yes, that one!
Hey miss, I was wondering if you could tell me why my sponge filter makes bubbles at the top of the aquarium, they aren’t that big, but I’m worried I did something wrong. It has an air stone and a check valve and the tank is ten gallons and is for a betta
It’s also creating condemnation
And I have a heater yoo
Hmm, it should make bubbles normally, but they usually pop quickly and don't stick around very long. Here's a video I made on bubbles in aquariums: ruclips.net/video/CtvklyqUHZY/видео.html
Do you dechlorinate the water for the alum bath?
Thanks for this great series! I do have one tank just for Ramshorns(cute little buggers). But getting snail free plants, for my other tanks, from outside sources, is nearly impossible. This will help me get the plants I really want, without having to worry about snails.
Haha, as long as they're not Malaysian trumpet snails. Glad you enjoyed the video!
Hi I had a million MTS that took over a 20 long. I removed all plants because they were overrun with the snails 🐌 🤣. I Removed any fish left too.
Ok the recipe I used in the tank was 1 alum tin and straight Epsom salt 🧂. This turned the whole tank water white but it did settle down, any crawling snails on the glass dropped down. I left tank alone for a week. Now those MTS were dead! So I started all over and am following your alum test for my new plants, I'm crossing my fingers that I don't see any of those 🐌 in my cycling planted tank. No fish for awhile.
Thank You absolutely going to try this
Very nice detail video
This video. 🙌 Thank you so much!
Best videos on YT for clearing snails,i would use assassin snails for trumpets and alum for the rest.
Great work! Very scientific!
Put the plants in a Pea Puffer tank works for me.
The most natural way to get rid of snails is getting a pair of Badis Badis (Blue Perch). They will eat the eggs and baby snails, probably not good in a shrimp tank though. Keep up the good work, Irene.
Hi I have a question my aquarium water is relatively perfect, I do not have bad water quality, but my betta keeps getting fin rot and really bad. Currently near where his dorsal fin would be is all white, he has no fin growth there and it is just getting worse. I have been researching and researching but there is nothing that I can find about how to treat him. What can I do to help him get better? I really need help, I am worried he might die.
I wonder how this might work 'in situ'. I have a heavily planted tank with loads of bladder snails. I would not be willing to poison any fish but what would happen if you remove all the fish from the tank then add alum at the rate of a tablespoon per gallon, leave it for 4 hours then do a couple of 100% water changes before returning the fish. Based on your experiment all of the snails and eggs should perish. My tank is 100 gallons so it would be fairly expensive to buy that amount of alum but if I could rid the tank of all the snails it would be a price worth paying to get rid of every snail without even having to move any plants, driftwood, rocks etc. I wonder if the alum would have any effect on the bacteria in the filter?
Exactly my question. I would have to do a complete tank breakdown/ disassemble if I have to remove all my plants. I was wondering if anyone ever responded to you or if you have successfully found something that worked. Thanks
@@tracys.6033 Crikey, I'd forgotten all about this it's so long ago. No, sadly I never did get a response so I still don't know the answer. On the positive side, over a period of a couple of months the snail population decreased and eventually they all disappeared. I have absolutely no idea why this happened, it was not anything I did as far as I know. I cannot explain it. I am still snail-free and have been for several months.
@@andystokes8702 thanks for responding Andy. I appreciate it. I will cross my fingers that my snails do a disappearing act like yours did! I did read an article that said instead of trying to catch/pick off aquarium walls to remove them you can just squish them. After that several fish species will then eat them. Worth a try! Thanks again.
@@tracys.6033 You may have a point there. I did end up squishing them against the glass because I just couldn't keep up with manual removal so maybe the fish did develop a taste for them, makes sense. I did buy a snail trap but that turned out to be fairly useless because it caught my cories quicker than it caught snails.
Nice video ❤️👍
Question- what do I do about the hitchhikers that already made it into my tank (and are breeding like rabbits), how do I get rid of them without harming the fish and plants in the tank?
Hi Irene, can you tell me how snails get into one’s aquarium..I spotted a small trumpet one,,and netted it out..is it because of over feeding ? ps: I don’t have live plants 🌱in my tank
Has anyone successfully done this alum soak on Red tiger lotus bulbs?
I'm planning on using your alum method on hydrocotyle tripartita, will it be fine for the 4 hours in alum, is it considered sensitive?
It's worked so far on the sensitive plants I've tried so far, but I haven't treated hydrocotyle tripartita yet. It might be worth dipping some of the stems and then see how they do. Let me know what you find out!
@FNCSP How did yours turn out? I just ordered some hydrocotyle tripartita and I’m a little worried about dipping them.
@@klanamua339 i decided not to dip them, i just swirled them in a bucket of tank water to remove snails
I am testing this method with half tbsp of alum per gallon for 24 hours. So far so good.
Does it work for Hydra too?
These are all great science experiments!!
Fortunately, Malaysian Trumpet Snails are the least "invasive" in my experience. They're actually helpful in controlled numbers as they dig and help aerate the substrate, kinda like earthworms for terrestrial plants.
PS: I'm kind of a snail lover though. My red cherry shrimp breeding tank has a host of bladder snails...
My Malaysian trumpet snails grew too big for my betta fish tank had to talk them out idk y they grew so big I don't even think they are supposed to grow that big I out them in my guppy tank and they grew even bigger so I just put them in my pond their living there now.The snails were at a stage that they would that big bites of the plants and it didnt lool nice so
I agree with you on this but when you start to get 300+ in a 40gl. tank, it's time to do something. I took everything out of my tank, bleached it for 3 weeks then cleaned it out and reset the tank. A week later it still had over 50 snails in it.
@@jwilkins939 just get a few assassin snails
do u think Christmas moss will survive a 4 hour dip? has anyone done it? Did the val grass survive?
What do you for the snails living in the aquarium?
Hmm, I would try less fish food in the tank, manual removal, diy snail traps, snail-eating animals, etc.
What are choices for natural feeders of snails
@@smokeyb1669 loaches with pointy snouts, puffers, assassin snails, certain larger cichlids 👍
Thank you Irene I'll look for a Coop video on assassin snails. Always enjoy your presentations!
Is that planaria on the snail shell?
Micro sword really hated alum dipped, for me. Wondering what you thought. But I use it on everything else.
Will just wiping down my accessories be ok to move to new tank ? I have I think pond snails and their eggs and shifting my betta to a new tank and do NOT want them to follow
Thanks for this video.
Awesome. Tha ks for the video.
Hey, Irine im legit going crazy, im trying to breed apistos at the momemt and i whould be very helpful to see your insight and how you breed them. So can you give us an update on that tank? 🙂
Haha, mine are breeding but they keep eating the eggs. I'm trying to overfeed them to see if they'll stop, but I'm tempted to save the eggs next time. My only other tricks are that I've been feeding live baby brine shrimp every morning (along with other foods) and adding lots of catappa leaves to try to lower my 8.0 pH.
Here's a guide that helped me get started: ruclips.net/video/-cRqHDNMO6E/видео.html