Do you clean snail shell with hydrogen peroxide?

[CyberGuy]

To prevent unwanted algea in my new tank, I plan to clean all my snails with hydrogen peroxide.

I plan to invert the snail upside down and just let its shell touch the hydrogen peroxide and try to scrub the shell with a razor or brush while trying to not let the snail touch the hydrogen peroxide.

Has anyone done this?

 

[ZoWhat]

Has anyone done this?

I want to see the YouTube video of this.

My guess is the snails won't sit still like you think they will. They will end up with H2O2 all over them

 

[tripdad]

I just scrub them with a brush, never tried dipping them.

 

[CyberGuy]

I want to see the YouTube video of this. My guess is the snails won't sit still like you think they will. They will end up with H2O2 all over them

Well, you just have to grab the snail real tight and make sure the snail will not touch the hydrogen peroxide.

Your main goal is to try and destroy all the algea and spores on the shell of the snail.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You can but brushing off with a toothbrush should be sufficient

 

[ZoWhat]

Well, you just have to grab the snail real tight and make sure the snail will not touch the hydrogen peroxide.

Ok... plz post a video of this process
I've GOT to see this

I'd throwing a final buff also

 

[CyberGuy]

Ok... plz post a video of this process
I've GOT to see this

I wish I could take a video. It is hard to do it if I only have 2 arms and I am by myself and I do not have a tripod for my phone.

But I will try though.

 

[LegendaryCG]

I don’t clean snails period. Its like the least possible concern to me in my tanks. If your controlling algae effectively you’ll have so minimal on the snail and probably more coralline than anything else.

 

[RMS18]

I have done this in the past. I'd get the snails to close up, turn them upside down and dip the shell into h202. I would not expose the under side to the h202. After 30 seconds I scrub it then clean off with fresh sw and into the tank they went. Then I started to just buy qt snails from quality vendors.

 

[Timfish]

A syrenge and maybe a large bore hypodermic needle might be useful applying H2O2 to just the right areas. To be honest though it seems a lot of work for nothing to me. It's impossible to keep nuisance algae from being introduced, even if you sterilize everything going into a reef system you will still get nuisance algae growing. It's the equilibrium of a system that's important in promoting algae or corals. I would recommend reading ROhwer's "Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" It's an excellent introduction to the role of DOC and microbes and their roles in a healthy reef ecosystem.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I don't dip the snail, I dip the toothbrush and use that on the snail shell while held upside down. I've never lost one yet.

 

[thewire]

Just dip cue tips with peroxide and gently wipe them on the shell. Hold your snail upside down so the peroxide will not accidentally flow to them.

 

[tnw50cal]

I do it all the time. Place snail on paper towel mouth down. Squirt H2O2 on snail shell and scrub with toothbrush. Squirt more H2O2 on shell, let sit for 3 minutes and rinse off in tap water/tank water. Put snail back in tank. I also do it to every new snail I buy before putting into display tank.

 

[Haacheew]

I do it all the time. Place snail on paper towel mouth down. Squirt H2O2 on snail shell and scrub with toothbrush. Squirt more H2O2 on shell, let sit for 3 minutes and rinse off in tap water/tank water. Put snail back in tank. I also do it to every new snail I buy before putting into display tank.

I did that many times. Worked great! (Remember to wear a thick plastic gloves!) With a toothbrush dip generously wtih 13% H2O2, brush the algae off snails, repeat couple of times, (try not letting H2O2 get inside snails) then lay the snail mouth down over a foam pad.
Completely cleanse snails with tank water after 5 min, then put them back to tank.
btw, my blue-leg hermit crabs clean most of algae off the snails very good. But if hermit crabs can't keep up algae growth then I will use the H2O2 method.

 

[drtechno]

I’m not sure about using this as a preventative measure for introducing algae, but I just did this recently to my snails, which had long green hair algae on their shells, as I needed to remove the worms that had encrusted on them. I just flipped the snail upside down in my hand, Holding them upside down, dipped a toothbrush in 3%, hydrogen peroxide, and scrub their shells, letting the peroxide sit for about two minutes. Then I dipped the toothbrush in water and brush the shell one more time. I then put the snail back into the tank. They were all fine and survived, and their shells have no algae on them , I am now able to see encrusting worms and what I need to scrape off their shells

 

[Bhuddafunk]

This feels excessive to me for no guarantee of getting rid of unwanted/nuisance algae. Now I may put protocols in place if Aptasia was living on the shell, which I have seen. I just completed a tank change and when I moved the snails I didn't worry about the algae too much as each tank is different regardless of common measurable parameters being the same. I put a turbo snail will hair algae all over it's shell in my new tank and the parameters for that hair algae were no longer met and it simply disappears. Good luck to you in your algae free journey.

 

[fishyjoes]

ugh, didn't realize this was an old thread

 

[fushi]

To prevent unwanted algea in my new tank, I plan to clean all my snails with hydrogen peroxide.

I plan to invert the snail upside down and just let its shell touch the hydrogen peroxide and try to scrub the shell with a razor or brush while trying to not let the snail touch the hydrogen peroxide.

Has anyone done this?

That is pretty much what i do, you just gotta try not to get any hydrogen peroxide in the shell. I pick off any spirobid worms with a toothpick and then then scrub off any leftover junk on the outside of the shell with a toothbrush soaked in h202. I usually buy extra snails as some shells are just not worth the effort to clean.

I would also recomend getting Caribbean nerite snails, their shells are usually pretty clean and they surprisingly eat a ton of algae. Just be aware they will lay eggs on your glass but they scrape off easily.

 

[Delatedlotus]

Easy fix... Throw more clean shells into the tank..? I do that all the time... NICE ONES TOO...

 

[Farhan ahmed]

I think it’s easy to clean with old toothbrush scrub. I just clean them with brushes and it’s works fine. But remember frequently needed.