# Determined not to get snails, want to make sure my advice is correct



## JennNP (Jul 2, 2013)

Hi all! So after searching MANY stores I finally found one that had Java Moss! Unfortunately the tank had a lot of snails in it. I was being helped by a young man who tried to suggest I get some sort of insanely small sucker fish after I said I don't want anything else in my tank and want to be sure I got rid of any snails...(cause getting a fish would solve not adding anything to may tank haha):roll:

Any way, another lady chimed in. She seemed to be more experienced and she claimed that tap water had just enough chlorine to kill any snail eggs. She advised to let the moss sit in cold tap water for a while and that will do the trick. Can anyone corroborate this?

Also..I think there's duckweed in my moss. It looks like duckweed. However, I have only seen duckweed in pictures. The shape matches, but this stuff is soooper tiny. Is duckweed really small? A bunch floated up when I set the moss in some cool water, and I can see a bunch all tangled in the moss. If this is duckweed, I don't really want it in my tank..will rinsing get it out?

Tl;DR how to make sure I have no snails/snail eggs in moss and how to remove duckweed entangled in the moss


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## JennNP (Jul 2, 2013)

Aand an update. I currently have the moss sitting in some tupperware with some cool tap water. And there are things swimming around. Some bigger than others..maybe like some really tiny baby fish of some sort? I've bought plants from the store before, but they were in a tank with nothing but plants (e.g. no fish, no snails, etc). So I was never too worried, this is new to me.

So one more question: would continual rinsing and changing the water in the tupperware be enough to get rid of whatever these things are swimming around?


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## Mankey (Mar 29, 2012)

Yes, duckweed is super duper small, don't worry I was just as shocked when I noticed exactly how small it is.

I know some people recommend some kinda of Bleach/water combination, but I forget exactly what the bleach-to-water ratio is supposed to be and I would hate to tell you a ratio that does not have enough bleach or one that has too much. I'm sure someone else here knows.


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

JennNP said:


> Hi all! So after searching MANY stores I finally found one that had Java Moss! Unfortunately the tank had a lot of snails in it. I was being helped by a young man who tried to suggest I get some sort of insanely small sucker fish after I said I don't want anything else in my tank and want to be sure I got rid of any snails...(cause getting a fish would solve not adding anything to may tank haha):roll:
> 
> Any way, another lady chimed in. She seemed to be more experienced and she claimed that tap water had just enough chlorine to kill any snail eggs. She advised to let the moss sit in cold tap water for a while and that will do the trick. Can anyone corroborate this?
> 
> ...


Unless you pour chlorine into your water, there isn't enough in your tap water. I've heard of people using bleach dips for their plants, but I have not. Snails are hardy little boogers. I left all my decorations outside to dry after rinsing them off with the hose in the yard and tearing my 10 g tank down to try to get rid of the snails.. they still survived. 

To be honest, I don't mind them though. 

I have no idea on the Duckweed. I just added some to my tank and LOVE IT.

ETA: If you have baby fish, I would rehome them. It seems a waste to let them die.


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

no to answer tap water being good enough to kill snail eggs, and duckweed once it gets in a tank is almost impossible to get rid of, but my african dwarf frogs sure do love to eat it, you can do a google search on how to dip plants to get rid of snails it's too long winded to type here be it there is like 5 different ways, I don.t mind snails they make great food for the assassin snail and the clown loach lol


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## JennNP (Jul 2, 2013)

It's kind of cute it's so tiny! I would maybe like some floating plants, but I'm not sure if I really like the look of it. I definitely don't want something that multiplies and takes over as quickly as duckweed though!


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## Bounce (May 26, 2012)

You can mix one cup of aquarium salt to one gallon of water and dip the plants (holding the roots out of the water) for 15-20 seconds and then rinse in plain tap water. 

Another method is to do a bleach dip (1 part bleach to 19 parts water). Dip sensitive plants for up to 2 minutes and hardier plants up to 3 minutes and then rinse thoroughly in dechlorinated water.


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## JennNP (Jul 2, 2013)

The issue with the snails is I already have one snail and my betta. My tank is used and when I put the dimensions into different calculators I get 3.5-4.5gallons. Also, I am currently doing a fish in cycle (because I didn't know any better when I got my fish). I really don't want to up the stock in the tank, because I really don't think my tank could handle it..:/ 

I'll look up the different dips and see if it's something I can do.

Oh and the "Fish" are insanely small. I mean like, you can barely see them small. This betta is my first fish and I really wouldn't know what to do with these tiny things. I didn't see any fish in the tank with the moss, so I have no idea what these things even are..


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## JennNP (Jul 2, 2013)

Thanks Bounce! I don't have any pure bleach so I'm going to pick some up today and try it out : )


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## JennNP (Jul 2, 2013)

So I've been doing some research, and I have read that some people had their Java Moss die after doing bleach dip. I've been reading up on an Alum (aluminum sulfate) dip. I read it's best to use 3tbs:1gallon of water for 2-3 hours to kill snail eggs. Has anyone used this before?


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## VJM (Feb 7, 2013)

My bettas always take care of any errant snails. I had a lot in one of tanks while it was cycling (fine by me) and once I introduced my Betta they all disappeared.


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## mushumouse (Dec 29, 2012)

i have done alum dips before. i had a pennywort mat come with a bunch of little snails and bugs in it, and the dip seemed to do the trick getting rid of them- haven't seen one snail, and it's been several weeks now. i've done it on all my plants since and it doesn't seem to affect them negatively.


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## JennNP (Jul 2, 2013)

Well, after some more research I'm fairly certain the "fish" I saw swimming around were scuds. Basically looked like the tiniest shrimp ever. I read that bettas will eat them, but I also read they multiply like crazy. Also, they're liable to carry diseases and parasites that can infect larger animals (e.g. fish).

I ended up doing a hydrogen peroxide dip, and that seemed to get them all. All in all I'd say there were about 30 in there! I'm the kind of person who can often get insanely frustrated. By that point I didn't care about snails anymore. I rinsed the moss thoroughly with conditioned water (at least 2x the recommended amount) about six times. May have been overkill, but better safe than sorry. I didn't see anymore scuds after the dip.

It's in my tank now, so we'll see how it goes. I really liked this LFS. All their betts are kept in large tanks. I think the smallest tank I saw a betta in was probably a 1 gallon. Their husbandry is excellent for all their animals. I just wish someone would have told me that snails weren't my only worry with hitchikers on the moss. Not sure if this experience is typical, but this was definitely not the case at another LFS in my area.

Anyway, moss in place. If I end up with snails, I'll deal with that then! Thanks for the advice everyone!


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