Hi,

I am wondering what is the safest way to dip sensitive plants like mosses and fissidens to kill snails?

thanks

Excessive snails can indicate over feeding. Safest way is to avoid feeding for 2-3 days and the majority of your snails will disappear. Alternatively a weak solution of hydro peroxide will help, but some mosses don't like it. Fissidents are ok, as I use it on them to get rid of algae...marimos hate it though !

I'm guessing you want to dip the sensitive plants before adding them to your aquarium to avoid getting snails in the first place?

I use potassium permanganate aka condys crystals to disinfect any new plants I get. Just enough to get a light purple, dark pink and leave for 10-15 minutes, longer for hardy plants like java fern. That said I haven't used it much for mosses, and have heard they can be sensitive to it. Some people have had success with mosses using short dips up to 5min, or multiple short dips, or using a lower concentration e.g, light pink only. However, i don't know if the last one would be strong enough to guarantee a kill for snails or their eggs.

Alternatively you could quarantine the new mosses as you do for fish, a couple of weeks at least in a transparent container near a light source should allow you to sight any unwanted snails if they appear, including if they hatch from eggs.

iv'e found that using a double dose of "no planaria" but recommended dosing times on packet in a tank other than the shrimp are in IE: a tank for the plants/moss only will kill the snails and their eggs ;)

then rinse the plants/moss in tank or aged water then put back into the tank with fish or shrimps etc...

no non natural chemicals chemicals needed and no risk to your shrimp/fish/sensitive plants etc...

Except for marimo balls, I've dipped all my mosses in H2O2 solution (20ml of 35% food grade H2O2 with 1 litre tap water) for a few minutes or until you see air bubbles emerge from your plants.

I've got zero snails in my nano tank but my small plant tank has loads of them, which means the method works. Most moss are hardier than you think.

I'm guessing you want to dip the sensitive plants before adding them to your aquarium to avoid getting snails in the first place?

I use potassium permanganate aka condys crystals to disinfect any new plants I get. Just enough to get a light purple' date=' dark pink and leave for 10-15 minutes, longer for hardy plants like java fern. That said I haven't used it much for mosses, and have heard they can be sensitive to it. Some people have had success with mosses using short dips up to 5min, or multiple short dips, or using a lower concentration e.g, light pink only. However, i don't know if the last one would be strong enough to guarantee a kill for snails or their eggs.

Alternatively you could quarantine the new mosses as you do for fish, a couple of weeks at least in a transparent container near a light source should allow you to sight any unwanted snails if they appear, including if they hatch from eggs.[/quote']

Glad to read up on your tip fishmosy...

Try Potassium Permanganate is a common ingredient in medications for parasites and bacterial infections. For most aquarium medications, it should be about twice the recommended dosage of the medication. Soak the plants in the solution for 10-20 minutes before rinsing in fresh dechlorinated  water. 

Edited November 4, 20205 yr by sdlTBfanUK