Tropical Fish Forums

Comet · Members Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Location: Connecticut

Hi, I recently was given some hornwort and was wondering if anyone has treated this plant with Alum for safeguarding against snails. I'm not sure how fragile this plant is and any input on how much to use with this plant is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

tommyr

Well I'm getting some hornwort next week, I soak all plants in Alum now. Snails (the small pond type) are IMPOSSIBLE to get rid of unless you have loaches. ALUM does work. I used 2-3 teaspoons in a quart container and soaked for a few days. Any snails SHOULD die in a few hours, eggs may take a few days....

I don't care for the bleach soak treatment, alum works just fine...

Tom

Comet · Members Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Location: Connecticut

Thanks so much for the info. Right now I have it soaking in
2 gallons of water with two tablespoons of Alum. I was planning on letting it soak for a day or two.

Your solution seems to be stronger (2-3 teaspoons per quart)
Do you feel I should strengthen my solution?

And one more question. How well do you rinse it. Thanks again.

tommyr

myhamster · Regulars Joined: 19 Dec 2006

I've also been using the alum solutions to try to get rid of snails and eggs. I usually try to pick out the eggs as much as I can (or can stand) before doing the soak. I've been using one 35g container of it from the spice section per gallon of water.

The soak doesn't seem to hurt plants, so I think I'm going to increase the concentration.

I've read some people say alum kills eggs, some say it doesn't. I don't know for sure either. I unfortunately contaminated both my tanks with snails from some used gravel, so I don't know if the few snails I find are from the plants.

I'd like to find some scientific evidence on why alum works.

Best,
Eric

Comet · Members Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Location: Connecticut

Hi myhamster, I actually had a previous post going when getting advice on dipping java moss. Well, it seems that Alum is salt, and salt seems to be a snails worst nightmare.

Heres a note from previous post:

But, of course, I had to do a search for Alum chemical properties and this is what I found;
"Alum
The chemical formula for common alum is K2SO4

Comet · Members Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Location: Connecticut

To tommyr,
Thanks again for your input. I think I may put them in a seperate heated/lighted container for a couple of weeks after this with some cucumber bait and see how it works for sure. Will definitely post my results for others!

myhamster · Regulars Joined: 19 Dec 2006

yes, do post! I'd like to see definitive tests for alum on snail eggs.

Eric

Comet · Members Joined: 26 Feb 2006 Location: Connecticut

OK, here's the results of hornwort and alum dip so far.
Soaked hornwort for almost three full days in 1 tablespoon of alum to one gallon of water solution. Rinsed really well and put in 55 gallon bare bottom tank. Stems were seperated and anchored to bottom of tank.

About the plant:
First off, I started with two good sized bunches. After dipping, I ended up with one losing a mass of leaves and the color was pale in comparison before dipping.
The morning after placing the hornwort in the tank it had shed 90 percent of its leaves leaving quite a mess on the filter intakes. It was an easy clean up with the bare bottom though. I've previously read about this happening with this plant so I wasn't shocked. I now have a few tufts of hornwort on some pretty bare stems.

About snails:

It seems that these were fairly clean plants. No snails were found when first brought home and rinsed and shaken. And none were seen in dip bucket, But..there was a lot of leaf debris in it, so I can't be 100% sure.

After and placing in tank, I did see one egg mass,it was milk white in color. I am hoping this means it was dead. But if anyone knows for sure, please post. I may start a new link with that question.

If any snails show up in the future in this tank, I'll post again.
I do plan on trying this with a few different plants from my ten gallon that I know definitely has ramshorn snails. That won't be for awhile though, so I try and post results for that too when it happens.

myhamster · Regulars Joined: 19 Dec 2006

Regarding your comment about the "white eggs" - I have noticed that it seems after the alum dip, the eggs are more apparent. They still have the jelly protective layer, but the inside egg is whiter, not as clear.

Not sure what that means either. Maybe the eggs got pickled? When you denature protein, doesn't it get whiter? As someone mentioned, alum is just a salt, can salt denature protein?

Eric