quarantine tank

[the_taxidermist]

I have a 46g tank that has discus, tetras and plecos in it.
It is a planted tank with gravel substrate that has been infested with trumpet snails, hundreds if not thousands of them!
I did not properly treat the plants, my own fault!

I have set up a 29 gal with sponge filter and heater a month ago; temp is same as planted tank (86), and added tap water conditioner.
My plan is to move all fish into the bare tank and clean the display tank, changing out substrate and plants.
The tank also has 2 large driftwood pieces that are covered with snails.
Came home after being gone for the weekend and had at least a hundred tiny dead snails floating in the display tank!
Skimmed them off and did a 50% water change.

I would like to be sure I am doing this properly to avoid any problems down the road!

My plan is to remove 50% of the water from the Q tank and refill with water from the tank the fish are in; equivalent to a 50% water change , which I do every other day.
Once that is done, the fish will be moved to the Q tank; allowing me to clean the display tank and start over,.
When the tank is cleaned and reconditioned I will place the fish back in their original aquarium.


Couple questions:
Is this the correct procedure to solve these issues?
Do I need to do anything further to the Q tank before putting the fish in it?
How to be sure the driftwood is free of snails before putting it back in the aquarium?
Would sand be a better substrate? I think it will make it easier to see and remove excess food if I am overfeeding.

I certainly would appreciate any advice that may be offered!

[Phillydubs]

I will preface this by saying I do not have any previous experience with this and thank god, sounds like a *****! Hahaha...

Anyways... You are having no issue with water quality or don't see any issues with your live stock correct? No die off's of tetras or anything like that? No issues with the discus? Just the pure annoyance of the snails?

Is your q tank cycled already?

If I were you, I don't even think you need a q tank and this sounds like it can be done in a few hours if the only issue is the snails... You could move the fish to the q tank if you wanted or even use buckets and move them all over, keep the filter media from the main tank soaked in tank water and rip apart your tank. If I were you I would get rid of everything, substrate, wood, decorations, plants etc and start all over... Why risk leaving something and have to do this again?

I would give it a really good cleaning and make sure it is spotless, then add your substrate of choice and some new decor or pre-soaked wood and re add the fish and get the filters running...

I could be wrong and I suppose someone else who maybe has done this can chime in but if there is no water issues and the snails or plants havent brought in any disease or caused any issue then I see no problem with this approach...

[Mgus]

Should be able to keep the driftwood if you boil it or pour boiling water over it

[strawberryblonde]

You have the right idea, but there's no need to add any of your current tank water to the QT tank before you move your fish over - they'll be fine for a few hours with just a heater and air stone.

Once the fish are out of the tank, remove the plants to buckets, take out the driftwood and then it's time for some good soaking. =)

1) Mix up a solution of 1 part bleach to 19 parts water in a bucket. Drop in your plants and let them soak for 1 to 2 minutes, then rinse well in tap water and drop them into a bucket of water containing a double dose of Prime or Safe. Let them sit in that solution for 30 minutes, then shake them well under the water to loosen any stubborn dead snails. If you see lots of snails in the bucket your can repeat the procedure. Just be sure to thoroughly rinse them and soak them in water with a double dose of Prime to remove all the chlorine.
If I have pond snails I like to do it twice just to be sure that I've killed all the eggs on the leaves, but trumpet snails are live bearers so you won't have a problem with eggs.

2) Once the plants are done and are soaking in their nice clean water bath, move on to the driftwood. I like to toss mine in the tub with cup of bleach and let it soak for 20 minutes, then rinse it well using my high pressure hose. After that I toss it back into the tub and do the double dose of Prime. Trumpet snails should fall off of the driftwood pretty easily.

3) Next up is the tank. Remove the filters and thoroughly rinse all the filter material in the tank water itself. Trumpet snails LOVE to live in the filters...ugh. Once the filter material is soaking in the tank clean the filters well, checking the impeller housing for any hidden snails, then reassemble the filters and place them either in the QT tank or in a bucket of fresh water that's been treated with Prime. You can turn them on if you think you'll be cleaning for more than a few hours.

4) The final step is to siphon out all the gravel and then to scrub the tank down. I like to siphon out all the water, then use my wet.dry vac to make sure that any lingering snails on the bottom get sucked up and out. Then I just fill the tank, add a cup of bleach and let it sit for an hour. Drain, rinse well, fill and drain a second time. Then just fill it up, add a double dose of Prime (sniff to be sure you can't smell bleach!) and add your new sand, the well soaked driftwood and the plants. Fish go in last.

If you have any doubts that all the snails are dead in the plants and driftwood you can always leave the driftwood to dry for a few days, then rinse again with a hose to knock off any dead snails. For the plants, you can safely leave them in a bucket with an air stone for 48 hours and check carefully for signs of snails before adding them back to the tank. I doubt you'll find any after the bleach dip, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?

[the_taxidermist]

Thanks to all!
Project completed successfully, snails all gone, new sand substrate.
I just dumped all the old plants!
Looking to start over; which plants can you recommend for sand?
Best ways to be certain they are snail free before putting them in show tank?

[the_taxidermist]

found 4 very small trumpet snails while vacuuming substrate this morning!
sifted the sand at end of the tank where I found them throught my fingers, didn't find any more.
I put a piece of lettuce in the area to see if it collects any more.
I soaked that driftwood for over an hour in 15 gal. water with a qt of bleach; should have killed any of them!
Any other ideas before they take over again?

[strawberryblonde]

I'd bet that a couple of baby snails managed to hide in your filters/filter material.

I never could get trumpet snails to eat lettuce. They're carnivores, so try putting something meaty in the tank that sinks, then watch to see if any pop their shells up to the surface before your discus eat all the food.

The good news is that the ones you found were very small, which means that they aren't large enough to give birth yet. These guys are live bearers, not egg layers.

Just keep a close eye on the tank and grab any that surface. If you can get them before they reach 1/2" size you should eventually eradicate them.

I actually just had the same issue with pond snails. Got the plants out, cleaned the filters really well, removed my driftwood, replaced my sand, scrubbed every INCH of the tank and sure enough, 2 weeks later I found 3 teensy little snails on the glass. Smushed those suckers to bits I did!

I then kept looking every morning and night and sure enough, one larger snail was in the filter material. Smushed that one too, cleaned the filters again and waited. Still waiting and haven't seen any more yet.

[the_taxidermist]

Not quite sure of what you mean when you say "something meaty",
small piece of raw beef, a slice of hot dog, or a piece of raw fish?

[strawberryblonde]

If you have some beefheart cubes, place one on the bottom. If not, cluster some pellet food down there. Definitely make it a meaty discus food.

I like to use beefheart, but pellets have worked well for me too. They climb all over it if the discus and cories don't get to it first. LOL

[Tshethar]

Sounds like you have them under control and are on the verge of triumph, so I don't think you need to worry about this, but I have a follow up question for the discus pros...

Several years ago I had recurrent pond snail problems I couldn't manage to solve with ordinary removal--I never seemed to be able to get all of them out of hard to reach wet/dry media, overflows, etc., and they kept multiplying and were getting into my pump. I knew from saltwater days that copper was lethal for inverts, so I wrote Seachem and asked them whether Cupramine could be used for snails. They wrote back and said: "Copper treatment is known to be an effective method for eradicating snails. Because of the copper complex we use in Cupramine, it allows for it to be effective, yet less harsh on the fish. Be sure to remove chemical filtration (especially carbon) during the treatment and since you are trying to eradicate snails, you can very gradually increase the copper level until you see the snails begin to die off. Do not exceed 0.25mg/L concentration in freshwater." I went for it, starting I think with what would have been considered half a normal dose and had great results, with no adverse effects on plants or Tanganyikan Cichlids. I had a gradual die-off and I just siphoned or pulled out a certain quantity of dead snails a couple of times each day for several days, never to deal with them again. I was definitely happy with the results after lots of failed attempts at hand removal, and personally I would be inclined to use it again with Africans. What I don't know is whether discus can tolerate copper, or whether it's a total no-no. I haven't read of anyone using it for parasites, so my guess is that it may be too harsh for them, but I'm curious.

So, like I said, it sounds like you're inches away from the finish line, so this probably isn't relevant, but this could be a technique of last resort for someone... (unless we hear otherwise with the discus.)

[Jack L]

hi, this thread mentioned snails

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...63#post1169963

assassin snail or med, Kusuri Wormer (active ingredient= Flubendazole)

maybe someone else can chime in, i'm not sure if wormer is for all snails or some, my guess would be all.

also i think clown loaches eat them