How can I remove all of these shells?

I have 20 long and I want to dirt it. I have some black “sand” that is about 2-3 mm for each grain. I had a bad outbreak of pest snails but I killed most of them but there are a bunch of shells in the tank. I also had a clutch of mystery snails hatch but they all died from lack of food since I didn’t realize they were even in there. How can I get only the gravel? I will be taking the gravel out of the tank and probably rinsing it. Anything you would recommend to get the shells out?

Have you tried hovering your gravel vacuum over them and seeing if they get sucked up?

FishFinatic77 said:

Have you tried hovering your gravel vacuum over them and seeing if they get sucked up?

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I have a python and it usually doesn’t pic them up. I’ll try my regular siphon next time. But what about some of the ones that got buried? Do you have any tips like a strainer of some sort?

If you have a strainer you could use for this, then that would definitely be a good way to get the shells out. Just make sure the strainer is completely clean before using it.

FishFinatic77 said:

If you have a strainer you could use for this, then that would definitely be a good way to get the shells out. Just make sure the strainer is completely clean before using it.

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That’s what I was thinking