# Small egg sacs in Hornwort



## Manwithnofish (Mar 12, 2008)

I'm seeing a lot of small egg sacs, in my Hornwort. Most likely snails? How can I tell if they are from fish or snails?

I think they are snails. I read a thread somewhere (far far away) about taking the plants out and dipping or soaking them in some kind of water treatment (maybe salt) that would kill snails and eggs. Recommendation was in regards to dipping plant from lfs before introducing them to tank.


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## Manwithnofish (Mar 12, 2008)

Oh, here it is.

Snails are usually introduced into the aquarium with live plants or live food. A simple procedure of dipping your plants in a 10 mg/l potassium permanganate solution for 10 to 15 minutes then rinsing them with clean water prior to their introduction to the aquarium will get rid of snails and snail eggs. An alternative method would be to soak the plants for 2 to 3 minutes in a 5% bleach solution for 2 to 3 minutes, then rinse the plants in water with chlorine remover added (the same chlorine remover that you would use in your aquarium). 

Thank you, you're such a nice man(withnofish).


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## FrostyNYC (Dec 16, 2007)

Offhand, I'm not aware of any aquarium fish that lay snail-like egg sacks. If the eggs look like 5-20 white dots with a coating of slime around the group, odds are that they're a hitchhiker snail. I'd go with the potassium permanganate did if only because hornwort is such a delicate fine-leaved plant and the bleach solution might cause it to melt. Someone else with experience with dipping that plant could chime in here.

How long has the hornwort been in your tank? It's possible some snails already hatched and escaped into your tank if its been in there more than a day or two. They're tinnny when born. Good luck


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## Manwithnofish (Mar 12, 2008)

Oh, no, I have a tank full of snails (along with algae, it's my specialty). I just want to keep them under control. I did the chlorine treatment. I don't really care about the Hornwort so I'll see what will happen. Don't want to keep Potassium Permanganate around the house just to kill a few snails.


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