Help With Snails On New Plants

[sbenbow]

Hi All,
 
I am off to get some more plants today (likely to be dwarf hairgrass, or other type of foreground plant).
 
Technically my tank has snails (from another plant purchase ... grrrrrr...) but I wanted to avoid different types of snails coming in from any new plants.
 
I have heard that dosing the plants in salt water will kill off any snails / snail eggs (before putting the plants into the main tank).  BUT...
 
1) How much salt do I add (eg to a 1 litre container of water) to kill of any trace of snails and eggs?
 
2) How long do I need to let the plant stand in the salt solution for to ensure snails / eggs are killed off?
 
BTW - The plants will be thoroughly washed in clean water afterwards before putting them into my main tank!
 
Any help / thoughts gratefully received.

 

[fishlover101]

I had a MAJOR snail problem, and now it has spread to all 3 of my tanks, due to moving plants and fish around etc. i'm not to worried about it anymore, as my bettas seem to be eating them.. (not sure if this is good or bad) anyways... in order to get rid of them I would soak my pants and fake plants in cold water... im not sure how this affects the plants, but it definitely worked to get rid of the snails. I did this about 3 times weekly and have ALOT less now. good luck

 

[DreamertK]

I have an assassin snail, so I love it when people give me snails to feed to him.
 
Some plants you need to be careful with salt. Any sort of time in salt water will deteriorate and kill the plant. Vals might be on this list, but you can try googling it to be sure your hairgrass will be safe.
 
Cold water is probably not very effective, since I've recently received snails from a pond's duckweed.

 

[bluesword23516]

I never put salt in, but i do put them in hot water. I swish them around in the hot HOT  water and then rinse them in hot water then in cold then dip them again. Look for any gelly like eggs. Those are snail eggs. You can just smoosh them (kind of mean but fast) or you can peel them off and throw them away. Smooshing is faster than them drying out though. 

 

[vespabloke27]

I have an assassin snail, so I love it when people give me snails to feed to him.
 
Some plants you need to be careful with salt. Any sort of time in salt water will deteriorate and kill the plant. Vals might be on this list, but you can try googling it to be sure your hairgrass will be safe.
 
Cold water is probably not very effective, since I've recently received snails from a pond's duckweed.

i second this!

 

[sbenbow]

in order to get rid of them I would soak my pants and fake plants in cold water...

 
Hehe.... I did have visions of trousers in cold water!!!!
 
Seriously - thank you to everyone for your comments.  I think I will give the hot and cold method a go