Use of Copper

[isurus79]

Has anyone used copper as a way to kill pests? My terrarium is overrun with tiny centipedes that are getting larger each day and I have a ton of small snails eating my Dracula lotax buds. I tried using dry ice to kill everything, but they are still there.

I was thinking of adding a tiny amount of liquid copper (used in treating tropical fish with ich) into my misting reservoir so that a little copper is added each day. Has anyone tried this? I don't want to hurt my plants and am curious about how much to use.

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[Leafmite]

We use cu in our fungicide for spraying fruit trees. I don't know what it does to bugs and snails. Do you have creatures in the tank? There are some insecticides safe for indoor use.

[tropterrarium]

Get dry ice (solid carbon dioxide), works wonders on centipeds. Only use in well ventilated area, as it is a breathing hazzard. Have used it several times in my terrarium and works like a charm.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

We use cu in our fungicide for spraying fruit trees. I don't know what it does to bugs and snails. Do you have creatures in the tank? There are some insecticides safe for indoor use.

I don't have any intentional creatures in the tank, only stow aways!!

Originally Posted by tropterrarium

Get dry ice (solid carbon dioxide), works wonders on centipeds. Only use in well ventilated area, as it is a breathing hazzard. Have used it several times in my terrarium and works like a charm.

I did the dry ice thing and I think it worked, but the centipedes are back. I used a pound of the stuff in a 29 gallon tank and let it sit for a whole day. Also, I don't think it slowed the snails down at all.

[tropterrarium]

The problem may be eggs, that are more durable. I also had to do it twice with about a month in between. I used about 1-2 lb on a 90 gal tank. Give the eggs time to hatch, but not long enough for the animals to become sexually mature and lay new eggs.

The snails are not as much affected, absolutely true, but they do not seem to harm the plants.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by tropterrarium

The problem may be eggs, that are more durable. I also had to do it twice with about a month in between. I used about 1-2 lb on a 90 gal tank. Give the eggs time to hatch, but not long enough for the animals to become sexually mature and lay new eggs.

The snails are not as much affected, absolutely true, but they do not seem to harm the plants.

Ok, I'll hit them again with some more frozen CO2. The snails actually worry me more because I keep seeing munched flower spikes and am worried about my micro mini plants being fucked up in a night!

[Leafmite]

The snails are a different problem. There are commercial snail baits but you can also try home remedies. I have never seen a snail in my plants until this year so I have not yet tried any of these. Beer in saucers is said to drown them and placing potato slices near plants at night is said to attract them so you can just pull them out in the morning and discard. Good luck.

[tropterrarium]

I grow minis as well (Playstele, Lepanthes, Oberonia, Pleurothallids of all shapes, etc.) but the only pest that has really done damage are roly polies (Isopoda). The small (2 mm) snails have done nothing as far as I can tell.