# How much No Planaria is needed to kill MTS snails?



## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

I've read that people have had success using No Planaria to kill Malaysian Trumpet Snails from their tanks with no harm to fish, inverts, plants, or bacteria. This is like a dream come true, and I'd like to give it a try.

I'm about to tear apart my 75g in order to replace the substrate because it is so full of MTS snails (including a zillion empty shells). This would be the perfect time to give No Planaria a try so I can eradicate the MTS from the filters and equipment.

Does anyone have any idea how much No Planaria is needed to kill MTS snails? I'm wanting to use it on my 75g tank.


----------



## dmagerl (Feb 2, 2010)

I used it on pond snails, not MTS. I just followed the multi-day dosing schedule on the package.

This article implies its a neural paralytic which sort of agrees with what I saw in the tank
http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/academicjournals/rjmp/2011/145-152.pdf

The snails sort of just hang out of their shells and flop around. It takes several days to kill them so I would dose right after your regular water change to get maximum exposure until the next water change. Dont expect to see an immediate massacre. It sort of happens in slow motion.

The water turns initially cloudy but turns clear after a couple hours. It also becomes somewhat foamy.

Also, do a second dose several weeks after the first to catch any stragglers.


----------



## they call me bruce (Feb 13, 2011)

I have mts in a 45 corner I put in just to assasins and they did a number in just a few days
I mean cause some mts are good for the substrate


----------



## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

If you have a snail problem, just like algae, it's a sign that something is out of balance. When I had absurdly high MTS and pond snail numbers, I cut way way way back on the feeding, and they virtually all but disappeared. They're good for a tank. Just cut back on that food!


----------



## reddhawkk (Dec 28, 2011)

How big are the shells? Just curious as I am looking for homes for some Tanganyikan shell dwellers.


----------



## Hcancino (Jun 18, 2011)

That's why all mine disappeared  funny how it didn't affect the ramshorn/tiny ramshorn snails at all grrrrrr


----------



## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

They are annoying if you do not want them, other snails are fairly easy to get rid of, MTS's.......much harder.

Over feeding etc...........if you have bottom dwelling shy nocturnal fish....the MTS will live no matter how sparingly you add food.

It's not a balance issue in that case.

I have a few in mty 180, never have been able to get rid out them, even with massive Assassin Snail additions.


----------



## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

dmagerl said:


> I used it on pond snails, not MTS. I just followed the multi-day dosing schedule on the package.
> 
> This article implies its a neural paralytic which sort of agrees with what I saw in the tank
> http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/academicjournals/rjmp/2011/145-152.pdf
> ...


Thank you for the information. That's very helpful. Sounds like my best bet is to remove the existing substrate, treat for MTS for a week or so to ensure that I got the babies from the filtration, and then put in the new substrate.



reddhawkk said:


> How big are the shells? Just curious as I am looking for homes for some Tanganyikan shell dwellers.


The shells are regular MTS snail size. Much too small for Tang shell dwellers.



plantbrain said:


> They are annoying if you do not want them, other snails are fairly easy to get rid of, MTS's.......much harder.
> 
> Over feeding etc...........if you have bottom dwelling shy nocturnal fish....the MTS will live no matter how sparingly you add food.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Tom. I tested this out a couple of years ago by putting MTS in a bucket of dechlorinated water and rocks... just plain, clean rocks. I did nothing else. No food whatsoever. The darn MTS not only survived that way for a couple of months, but they multiplied. That made it clear enough to me that overfeeding had nothing to do with having MTS.

My problem is that they have just accumulated over the years, and even though various control measures have helped to control the visible numbers, they still left their shells all over the place.

Most difficult has been controlling them in the canister filters. They release their babies which go to the surface of the water and then get sucked in by my surface strainer. From there, they go directly into the canister where they grow and breed. I clean them out as best I can, but the tiny babies are next to impossible to remove from filter media without destroying the bacteria.

So this is why I'm wanting to give No Planaria a try. I want to stop the substrate-tank-filter cycle of these things. A few of them here and there aren't a problem, but they add up over the years.


----------



## ErikO (Jul 23, 2011)

A prefilter will help keep them out of the filter.


----------



## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

Putting a prefilter on a regular intake tube is no big deal, but I'm not sure how I could put one on a surface strainer. The weight would affect the buoyancy of the strainer itself, and if I attached it to the middle rod, that would leave a gap as the water level changes. The baby snails would be small enough to go through the gap so that would just defeat the purpose.

I've ordered 2 bags of the No Planaria which should be more than plenty to get rid of the snails. If this works, then I'll use it on my other tanks, as well.


----------



## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

Please keep us updated on how it works.


----------



## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

I'll be happy to give an update on how it goes. I'll probably run a mini experiment just to be sure the No Planaria actually kills the snails by pulling some of the snails out, putting them in two buckets, and then using pre-treatment tank water in one and post-treatment tank water in the other. If the post-treatment snails die while the others survive, then I will conclude that it did indeed work. This will also give me some idea of the real timeline it takes for the snails to die, assuming it works.


----------



## Mangorn (May 26, 2013)

Complexity said:


> I'll be happy to give an update on how it goes. I'll probably run a mini experiment just to be sure the No Planaria actually kills the snails by pulling some of the snails out, putting them in two buckets, and then using pre-treatment tank water in one and post-treatment tank water in the other. If the post-treatment snails die while the others survive, then I will conclude that it did indeed work. This will also give me some idea of the real timeline it takes for the snails to die, assuming it works.


I know this is an old thread, but I was curious about the result of this test...?!


----------

