It seems like it might be handy!

I second the motion!! LOL, we do need one though. I was gonna get some live plants at a store, but the fish in the tank didn't look too good.

Bleach is used at 1 part bleach to 19 parts water. Dip the plant in the solution for 1 minute (for delicate stem plants), 2 minutes for tougher plants like java fern and anubias. Rinse several times in clear water, followed by a rinse in dechlorinated water.

Use 1 tsp Potassium Permanganate in 1.33 gallons of water to make a
good solution for plants or ornaments. Dip in this solution for 30 seconds. Rinse.

Hope this helps :-)

If you have a plant that is very fine leaved, try a small section first, just to make sure it can withstand the solution.

Thanks ToS - you answered it all succintly and accurately!

Maybe we can get it pinned now?!

I have two questions, will disinfecting work if i just do the bleach/water dip? I don't have the other stuff. Also, this sounds retarded, but how exactly do i do one part bleach to 19 parts water? Is that one cup bleach to 19 cups of water? How could i do that in a smaller amount?

Also Graham, what type of plants are those in your tank? They are both really cool looking.


Thanks!
Emily

Yes, the bleach solution is totally effective.

You can mix 1 ounce of bleach with 19 ounces of water or if you need more solution, double it and use 2 ounces of bleach with 38 ounces of water.

I will ask the other mods if they have any suggestions for disinfecting plants, then we can pin a post

Hello everyone,

I just posted this another thread but here's what I do:

1/4 cup of 5% bleach with 5 cups tapwater (1:20 ratio) in a ziplock freezer bag. Place plant in bag and shake bag for no longer than 2 minutes. Drain ziplock bag and fill with plain water, shake the bag, drain and repeat 4 to 5 times. I do not use the dechlorinator as the residual bleach leftover will be incredibly low (especially when considering that it is going into a large volume tank) but the rinse is VERY important.

I have had lots of success with this treatment on Anubias and Swords. However, within 3 days of the treatment my anacharis was destroyed and I have read it can do the same to some stem plants (cabomba, rotala, etc).

Kevin

Hi all,


Although I quit using live plants in my goldfish tanks, long ago, Here's my take on the whole concept of disinfecting plants for placing into fish tanks:


I think that disinfecting plants should be considered for what it is. It is for the safeguarding of our fish from parasites. Now, parasites have a very wide array of means of proliferation. Some have cystic or egg stages, some are born live. Yet others multiply by fission (splits into two). If one is to consider disinfecting a plant for parasites, they would have to take EVERY possible parasites life cycle into careful consideration before going about it.


A few facts:

Ich's life cycle has a cystic stage, in the gravel and wedged into plant tissues, that bleach, nor Potassium Permanganate, nor any other known (safe) product can touch. This cystic stage usually occurs for more than 2 days.

Dactylogyrus (flukes) lays eggs that cannot be touched by meds. Not even Praziquantel. This egg stage usually lasts for 3-4 days.



So, in knowing just those two facts above (there are more). One would surmise that a simple 30 second bath, a 30 minutes bath, or a 3 hour bath, would not be enough to purge everything that should be purged. So in the very least, there should be a bath, short quarentine for 4-5 days and then another bath before placing into a tank with fish.

Now, you might not like the results on the plants from baths, let alone two baths. But, most plants can and do grow back very well if pampered a bit afterwards. A small price to pay when it comes to the health of our fish. After all, are the sterilizing baths for the plants or the fish?

Trust me, you don't want to have to battle with some of the baddies that are out there these days......



Paul

Thanks for the tips, Paul. I will incorporate them into the pinned post on disinfecting plants. I always give my plants a quarantine period in a bucket ... maybe I am just lazy about planting them right away

Could you give a recommendation on what to use (dosage, etc.) as a pp dip?

I would like to pin accurate info on that subject, and since I have never used pp, I am not sure on dosages, etc. (the info posted above came from another source).

Well, I finally bought some PP long after I quit using live plants. So, I can only go on the avice of others.

Dr. Erik Johnson says that PP does not harm plants at a rate of 4ppm. For a 4ppm solution to be effective, the bath should go for 2-4 hours.

I found a very in depth page about plants and it seems that a 10ppm bath for ten minutes will do the trick. But, they also suggest that quarentine still be carried out for the same reasons I stated above. http://www.geocities.com/koifla/Garden_Ponds.htm


To get the proper ppms down, eith use Permoxyn (Kordon), Clearwater (Jungle Labs), or purchase PP powder and make yourself a stock solution as per these instructions:

Purchase a one-gallon bottle of distilled water, weigh 285 grams of potassium permanganate, add it to the solution, and mix thoroughly. This stock solution will deliver a dose of 1 mg/L when delivered at a rate of one drop per gallon. Therefore, to achieve the desired concentration of 2 mg/L (2ppm), the stock solution can be delivered at a rate of two drops per gallon. The stock solution should be stored in a cool, dark area and be replaced annually. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA027

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Paul