Zebra Mussels

Zebra mussels are impossible to control fully. One zebra mussel has the ability to lay five million eggs in a lifetime. The main control that is possible, however, is to limit the spread of Zebra mussels into other bodies of water. They were brought to the US by attaching themselves onto boats and thriving in the waters. By educating the general public, it is possible to control the Zebra mussels into a specific location. The best method of educating the general public is to teach proper boat cleaning etiquette when anyone sails or goes into zebra mussel infested areas. This is because Zebra mussels are able to stick onto boats, and be transported around all bodies of waters on the sides and bottoms of the boat.The simple steps to stop the spread of zebra mussels for boat users and sea goers are as follows
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1. After leaving the water, remove anything that may have gotten a zebra mussel attached to it before leaving the water access area
2. Drain any areas of water that may be on the boat, trailer, or equipment
3. Empty any bait buckets that you have onto land and not into water
4. If you do plan to dip your bucket back into the water or release fish, release it in the same body of water that it came from, and not into a different body of water
5. Become familiar with how Zebra Mussels look in order to be able to recognize it if you do come across the zebra mussel

After controlling these zebra mussels, it is possible to kill off the population of zebra mussels through three easy steps. Have them inside a single location and apply Zequanox into the areas of water. Zequanox kills mussels because it feeds dead bacteria to mussels. After this, EarthTec QZ is added in order to fight against the zebra mussels. Lastly, potassium chloride is applied to the body of water in order kill off the population of zebra mussels. Although this procedure is detrimental to the ecosystem in the water, it is the only solution available at this time. In the future, there are hopes that scientists may develop a way to remove zebra mussels and control its population without harming the rest of the wild life in the waters. Until then, it is safer to keep them trapped and quarantined into one location instead of spreading them throughout different bodies of waters. That way they will be able to be removed when scientists come up with a method of removal for the zebra mussels.