Snails In Plants...

[bmonki]

Just got home with my nice new piece of bog wood with java fern on it.... And inside the bag is about ten tiny snails that I can see... Now I'm guessing there will be more inside the plant itself, so it's there any quick fix type methods of getting rid of them our will I need to spend ages picking them off? Will just boiled water kill the plant if I pour it on?

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I've never tried boiled water but I am guessing it is likely to kill your plant. There are some options but they aren't 100%... for example you could put the plant and wood in a pale of saltwater overnight... the downside is that sometimes the snails live. Another I've heard is to use water with diluted bleach, I'm not personally comfortable with that option AND both the salt and bleach could damage the plant... not to mention the bleach may later leak from the wood and poison your fish.

I'd personally try and pick them off... I keep assassin snails for this very thing... quite like they and they keep the pest snails in check (though would kill any other sort too).

 

[bmonki]

i have some nerite snails, so would imagine the assassins would eat them... guess i'll be grabbing a bucket and getting to work them... why oh why did i pick the pretty piece.

 

[SombreroBanana]

Make a mild saltwater solution and soak the plants in it for a while. The snails drop off.

 

[Getthejist]

I dip my plants in carbonated water for 12 hours no snail ever survives that and carbonated water is cheap. I've never had it affect the plants either. The only problem with this is you have to wait a little while. It could potentially kill them a lot faster but I always soak them for anything on their that might affect my tank e.g copper (I've found this soak gets rid of anything unwanted).