Cleaning a Tank that has Snails (no fish)

[punman]

There is a recent posting about getting rid of snails with fish in tank.

My fish are no longer in the tank. When I had this problem some years ago I moved out the fish, threw out the sand and treated the tank with fresh water and some bleach and refilled a couple times with water and added Prime in a large dose and drained and refilled again. That fixed the problem.

This time I do not want to throw out the sand - it is expensive. Can I follow the same steps above leaving the sand in the tank when I add bleach and then prime? I don't want harmful stuff when I use the tank with fish in a few weeks.

 

[MrsE88]

Wouldn’t it be easier to heavily salt the tank instead? What type of snails are they you are trying to get rid of?
I’d think with a lot of salt that would kill off any snails and be easier to rinse out and be safe for fish again so you wouldn’t have to toss the sand.

I could be wrong, but salt is the first thing that came to mind.

 

[skjl47]

I’d think with a lot of salt that would kill off any snails and be easier to rinse out and be safe for fish again so you wouldn’t have to toss the sand.

Can I follow the same steps above leaving the sand in the tank when I add bleach and then prime?

Hello; I have done the bleach solution with a few hundred pounds of gravel to kill off a bacterial problem. I see a problem with adding bleach and later PRIME in the tank.
Perhaps the bigger problem being all the dead rotting snails.

When I bleach cleaned several of my tanks I removed all the gravel into 5 gallon buckets. I filled each tank with water and a bleach solution. I added water and bleach to the gravel in the buckets.
Before I put the gravel back into tanks I cleaned the grave. I used more buckets. I put about a half gallon or so of dirty gravel into a bucket and hit it with a jet of water from a garden hose. I then used the rounded end of an old broom handle to stir things up. Then while the crud was still suspended I poured off the dirty water. Keep repeating this process until the water comes off fairly clean. This can take a long while and is hard physical work.

 

[punman]

Not sure of the type. I only see them on the glass, they are very tiny and need a magnifying glass to even tell they are snails. They seem clear/whitish in color at the moment.

The idea of salt seems intriguing, simple, and safe.

 

[Matteus]

Clown loaches will clear that problem up real nice.

 

[Supergeorge123]

Why do you want to get rid of the snails? All they do is clean up uneaten food for you.

 

[punman]

I know snails are not harmful, but visually they annoy me.

 

[phreeflow]

Copper