MTS Snails

Tangcollector

Tangcollector

Active Member
Staff member
So I have a 40G Breeder tank. It has 15 Tropheus in it. That is all that has ever been in it. It has a thin layer of PFS on the bottom. The tropheus came shipped to me from 2 different vendors. I never saw a snail in the bags but low and behold here they are. I will throw away the sand and empty the tank. but do i need to get rid of the filter media in the HOB filters and sponge filters to guarantee I will not get a return of the snails?
I hate these things and no I don't want to get something that eats them.
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
There is certainly some risk that BB snails are lurking in your filter. I have noticed that sometimes baby snails will float on top of the water, probably as a means of disbursing throughout the tank.
 
T

toddnbecka

Members
Copper sulfate solution will eliminate them safely, or even simply dropping a small copper pipe fitting into a filter for a time will do it.
 
Leffler817

Leffler817

CCA Members
I have thought about using copper pipe or solution but doesn't that harm the fish? My coffee hasn't kicked in...... I thought I read somewhere that you need to remove the fish, then meticulously clean the tank(?). Which is more work for my laziness... lol
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Does the copper fitting trick work? It would seem that most houses (at least I know my house) have plenty of copper fittings on the water systems installed in the house. If the fittings leach enough copper into the system to impact inverts, wouldn't the water be toxic for the animals? Or does the closed system of a tank drive up the concentrations enough to be toxic where they normally wouldn't be?
 
etu1002

etu1002

Members
You can get a Sera snail trap. It really reduces the population but may not be able to eradicate all of them.
 
T

toddnbecka

Members
It takes time for copper to leach enough ions into the water to have any impact on inverts, running water through pipes in the house doesn't allow it to build up. Harmless to fish in any case, the only thing I ever noticed about using copper sulfate then cleaning the tank thoroughly didn't make it safe for cherry shrimp. Apparently the silicone absorbs copper ions, then releases them again over a period of time. I had a 10 gallon tank full of cherry shrimp that became infested with hydra. I moved out the shrimp, dosed with Had-a-Snail, left overnight, rinsed several times, then put the shrimp back in. They didn't die off quickly, but over a few monthe they slowly dwindled away, and even adding new shrimp didn't affect the population loss long-term. On a side note though, the mts snails are apparently less sensitive, because their numbers did increase like usual while the shrimp gradually declined.
 
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