Treating a seeded sponge filter for snails

[Ricksza]

HELP, I have sponge filters seeded in my main tank ready to transfer to a brand new tank. I discovered unwanted snails in the main tank, so I probably have snails and eggs in the sponge filters. The main tank is currently being treated with Seachem Cupramine Copper. How can I kill off the snails and eggs quickly without harming my bacteria colony? I have Bleach and Alum on hand.

 

[Byron]

By "unwanted snails" I am assuming you refer to one of the small snails that can arrive on plants, wood, etc, such as pond snails, bladder snails, Malaysian Livebearing. There is no reason to kill these off, and any "treatment" that might do this to some degree will inevitably harm bacteria and other microscopic life.

Snails are very useful in an aquarium, working to eliminate waste better than the aquarist could ever achieve alone.

 

[Ricksza]

By unwanted, I mean an invasive creature that arrived in my aquarium uninvited and unplanned. I take some responsibility in the fact that although the plant seller did not warn me about the snails, apparently I did not treat the plants enough to rid them before putting them in my aquarium. I've had aquariums in the past totally snail free and would like to keep it that way.

 

[Colin_T]

seachem cupramine will kill snails so put your sponge filters in the tank that is being treated with copper and the snails will die.

If you use bleach it will kill the beneficial filter bacteria. No idea about alum's affects on filter bacteria but it should not be used in aquariums.

 

[Ricksza]

seachem cupramine will kill snails so put your sponge filters in the tank that is being treated with copper and the snails will die.

If you use bleach it will kill the beneficial filter bacteria. No idea about alum's affects on filter bacteria but it should not be used in aquariums.

I figured soaking the filters in bleach would kill the bacteria, but didn't know what soaking in alum would do. I was just trying to get the cycle started this weekend rather than wait a month.

 

[Colin_T]

If you soak sponges in bleach the sponge will break down and need to be replaced.

 

[Ricksza]

If you soak sponges in bleach the sponge will break down and need to be replaced.

I wasn't going to leave the filter in the 1:10 solution for any extended time, just about 5 minutes (same as plants).