What chemical does Cory put in aquariums that only kills snails?

[Jakipmon]

Corey has mentioned a few times on podcasts that he discovered a certain chemical or medicine that, when put into an aquarium, kills snails, but doesn't kill fish, plants, or shrimp. I'm listening to old podcasts trying to find where he said it but I thought I'd make a post here too. Does anyone know what chemical it was and the dosage? Thanks 🙂

[lefty o]

anything that kills a snail will kill shrimp.

[Arcite]

I don't remember him mentioning this... he loves snails and enjoys them being in his tanks.

[ARMYVET]

I have to agree with @Arcite I have listened to almost all of @Cory videos and he truly believes in a complete ecosystem that includes snails.  Im not saying there isnt something out there but something that only affects snails and not shrimp I have not heard of. 

What kind of snails are these and what size tank?  

I had a 90 planted tank long ago with shrimp and I didnt want snails...that was before I knew the benefits of them.  I added in a clown loach and in a matter of a week or so...not a snail to be found and all the shrimp were untouched.

 

[Stash Beardsley]

Don't know about shrimp. But I think No Planaria kills snails also.

[Cory]

Starve out the snails, Chemical methods often affect other things in the aquarium also.

[Andy's Fish Den]

7 hours ago, Stash Beardsley said:

Don't know about shrimp. But I think No Planaria kills snails also.

I think this may be what the OP was thinking about. I know it's been asked several times in live streams about no planaria and Cory has said that he's still been testing to see what the appropriate dosage would be. 

[CalmedByFish]

Just making sure. It sounds like you'd still at least have shrimp for cleaning the substrate? 

If you have beneficial worms in your tank, it's worth noting that whatever kills planaria and snails would kill the good worms too. 

Someone mentioned a fish that eats snails. There's also "assassin snails," which might be an option for you. 

[Jakipmon]

Wuddup Nermz. I appreciate all the replies, even the one from the big man himself. Luckily yesterday I was listening to some old Co-op podcasts and I found the segment that I was talking about! Cory said that, after doing a small amount of testing, 1ml of Fenbendazole to 10 gallons of water was killing the snails in his aquarium, and was not doing any noticeable damage to fish, plants, or shrimp. For anyone who wants to listen to Cory talk about it, it was a podcast/livestream titled "What makes a good aquarium?", at time 23:15; uploaded to the Co-op podcast app on January 17, 2019. Again, at the time of the podcast Cory wasn't 100% standing behind this method, he just mentioned that it worked once for him. 

Follow-up question after learning about Fenbendazole: It's pure liquid form is pricey online lol. Would an animal de-wormer or "fish-bendazole" work the similarly to Fenbendazole if I portioned it correctly? I realize the de-wormers might have chemicals that I don't want in my aquarium. Thanks for the help 🙂

Edited June 19, 2021 by Jakipmon