Salt ?

[sugarcookie]

Hi...

Using the salt treatment for Ick, would you think it would hurt my snails, someone on the other board said it would kill your plants, just wondering about the snails.

Thanks,
Sugarcookie

 

[Colin_T]

depends on how much salt but most snails will close their operculum and wait until the salt is gone before reopening. Salt will affect many plants but again it depends on how salty you make it.

 

[sugarcookie]

depends on how much salt but most snails will close their operculum and wait until the salt is gone before reopening. Salt will affect many plants but again it depends on how salty you make it.

The treatment calls for: (I have a 55 gallon tank)

Day----1 (1 Tablespoon per 20 Gallon)
Day----2 (1 Tablespoon per 40 Gallon)
Day----3 (1 Tablespoon per 40 Gallon)
Day----4 (1 Tablespoon per 40 Gallon)

 

[nmonks]

Depends on the snails. Apple snails for example have little tolerance for salt. But Malayan livebearing snails will tolerate up to about 50% seawater, and Colombian ramshorn snails to around 20% or so. Your generic pond snails don't like salt much, and will likely be killed by a prolonged exposure to salty water.

Not all snails have an operculum, and those that don't have one can't seal themselves off from the outside. So while Colin's comment above is broadly correct for those aquatic snails that have opercula (such as apple snails) it won't hold for those that don't, such as Lymnaea, Physa, Planorbis, etc.

Cheers, Neale

 

[Colin_T]

the amount of salt listed above is fine for plants and snails. It is less than 4 tablespoons in 80litres and that isn't very much.