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Alum

>From: Chris Graseck@LUDL on 09/14/98 07:46 AM

>Can anyone give me the proper procedure for using Alum for "sterilizing"
>live plants and if so can you also let me know where Alum can be purchased.

I HATES snails.... because they breed so much.  If I could sterilize a few
I't love to have them in some tanks, but they take over so easily.  And
I've had a few massive spawns that wiped tanks out and I've run into some
types that overwhelm plants with egg sacs, so I've gotten really good at
killing them.  Here's what I do:

Alum, USP, available from drug stores (chemists).  $US about $2.70 for 4
ounces (roughly 210 grams).  10 level teaspoons/gallon of water (roughly 1
ounce/gallon, if you weight it).  Adults die quickly and usually float to
the surface of the water where you can net them out.  If you want to get
the eggs, you've got to leave the plant in the alum water for about 3 days
with good water circulation [especially if plant is attached to wood or in
pot] so you get all the nooks and crannies (I usually go 4-5 days, I HATES
snails).  Plants should be rinsed in clean water, lots of it, after an alum
treatment as residual alum (aluminum) will precitate anything around.  You
need to get rid of it.  Killed egg sacs wil disintigrate over a period of a
few weeks.   If you really HATES snails, you can follow up with a 10 minute
potassium permangenate dunk at 10 mg KMNO4/gallon.  Again, rinse with lots
of clean water.  KMNO4 kills eggs, not adults.  KMNO4 will also stain
things, so do in a utility bucket you don't care about.  These are radical
procedures for those who HATES snails.  Fragile plants probably won't take
the 3 days in alum, but may handle the KMNO4.  In either case, stressed
plants should be given a chance to recover before treatment.  If you use
just KMNO4, pick all the adults out manually.  Your milage may vary, so try
out on samplig of plants before you dive in over your head.  Use quarantine
tanks.  I HATES snails.

DO NOT DO THESE THINGS WITH FISH IN THE WATER!