# Dips for removing snail eggs?



## psych (Jan 7, 2013)

What have you tried so far? On all the orders of plants I've received I've used a light bleach:water mixture which seems to have killed all the snails and eggs if there were any. I've used that on Swords, Jungle Val, and anubias recently and all seem to have held up fairly well. 

More recently I also tried an Alum and water solution. I can't speak to whether it has worked as I didn't see snails prior to the mix, but the plants seem no worse for it.


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## secuono (Nov 19, 2009)

None yet, wasn't sure if vals were too sensitive. I've had vals, crypts and java fern melt with short hydrogen peroxide dips...
What mix of bleach to water did you use? How long of a dip?
Thanks.


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## mattcham (Mar 7, 2014)

I've read and used 15 minutes of 1:2 hydrogen peroxide to water solution (1 part peroxide plus 2 parts water). This is potent enough to kill snails but it also killed some of my plants including anacharis and java moss. Melted away within 5 days after the bath.


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## g4search (Aug 10, 2014)

secuono,

why use a dip (a harsh chemical treatment) when you can just manually remove the eggs (gelatinous egg bundles)? They can be scraped of Vals and any other plant without harm to the plant. In most cases, these gels come off in one piece and they are then easy to get rid off.

Bump:


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## psych (Jan 7, 2013)

secuono said:


> None yet, wasn't sure if vals were too sensitive. I've had vals, crypts and java fern melt with short hydrogen peroxide dips...
> What mix of bleach to water did you use? How long of a dip?
> Thanks.


I used 1 part bleach, 19 parts water. Give or take and dipped them for just two minutes. Maybe even less. And then rinsed them for many minutes under luke warm water trying to get anything else on the leaves off that the bleach didn't kill. Finally I went ahead and soaked it in dechlorinated water.


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## secuono (Nov 19, 2009)

Have no regular bleach in the house, thought I did. Will have to pick some up after I test out the hydrogen peroxide method. I've had that stuff melt a lot of plants, though...

I tried to get the eggs off the vals, but there were way too many. They were bog grown, so snails galore. In my tanks, I don't mind snails, but I need to find a way to treat the plants before shipping.


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## Dolfan (Apr 8, 2005)

I have used bleach before and it is very harsh on some plants, namely anacharis and mosses. I have had much better success with Alum. It can be found in the spice aisle of most grocery stores. It is very safe and I have not had any adverse reactions with a number of plants I have used it with.

As for manual removal, it is very hard to see all snail eggs and snails. Sometime they hide in tiny knooks and cranies of the plant where you can't see them. So it's best to always use a plant dip. Here is a link that explains most common plant dips. As I stated I really like the Alum method, but I have also heard many have success with Potassium Permagnate. I just couldn't find any locally, and Alum was easy to find and worked great for me.

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatfishblog/2011/07/20/dipping-plants-to-eliminate-snails/#.VCMD0890ypp


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## secuono (Nov 19, 2009)

I have garden/tanning alum, will that work?
Guess I'll dig out some plants and test alum and hydrogen peroxide out on them.
How much solution to water for alum and HP?


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## psych (Jan 7, 2013)

secuono said:


> I have garden/tanning alum, will that work?
> Guess I'll dig out some plants and test alum and hydrogen peroxide out on them.
> How much solution to water for alum and HP?


A site I found online suggested 3 tablespoons per gallon for about 2-3 hours as the heaviest concentration, but also mentioned less for a longer period would also work.


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## secuono (Nov 19, 2009)

Will vinegar kill eggs and snails?


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