# Dip/Quarantine for plants?



## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

I finally got my hands on some narrow leaf micro sword. I still have it in the pot along with some rotala rotundifolia. Its in my quarantine tank. Should i forget quarantining and dip them? or are they too sensitive for that? how do you guys disinfect your new plants?


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

I'm in the same situation now. I got copepods and all other kinds of random crap from someone I bought plants off of not that long ago...you really gotta watch who you get your stuff on here from. one plant can f up your entire system and tank, if the dude wasn't a mod I would have given him a negative review but id like to stay on this forum lol 

I've tried everything and cannot get rid of the damn things. I did a bleach solution and it didn't work. It killed all the snails but none of these stupid bugs. I'll keep my eye on this thread as i'd really love to find out how to disinfect the plants.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

I heard peroxide is the best but i dont even know where to get the stuff and how good it really does work. i have never even tried the bleach solution before!


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## TorontoPlantMan (Aug 16, 2013)

lol you can get peroxide at any shoppers drug mart, wal mart, anywhere really. I'll have to look that one up


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## Mykuhl (Apr 8, 2013)

I suggest being careful using peroxide when dipping plants. If you use too strong a solution or leave the plants in to long it will melt them. This happened to me with a tough plant like anubias nana. The plant looked fine after the dip, but quickly went a gray/brown after.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

ok, so i did some research and found that the peroxide is good for killing unwanted algae but does not kill snails. Thats no problem for me considering i have an assassin snail but bleach or potassium permangnate seems to be the only snail killers. i guess ill do a hydroxide dip and get more assassin snails lol


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Bleach and potassium permanganate dips are the way to go


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

The old standard for plants is an alum dip, for about 1/2 hour. I don't remember the exact dosage but I think 1 tablespoon per gallon, is what I remember. Alum is available at the drugstore or in the pickling section of the grocery store.
If you have bought a plant in a pot from Tropica, unless it was kept with fish and snails, it should be clean as all Tropica plants are grown emersed.


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## pyro (Dec 6, 2010)

BillD said:


> The old standard for plants is an alum dip, for about 1/2 hour. I don't remember the exact dosage but I think 1 tablespoon per gallon, is what I remember.


This is what I used and it works well. Try putting a little dab on your tongue first! Lemons to the millionth degree!


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Very interesting, never heard of using alum to dip plants. PP, Hydrogen Peroxide, Bleach and Excel all kill algae, some kill snails, all have the potential to damage some plants, though most plants will recover eventually.

One reason I'm trying to raise scuds is that they are voracious algae eaters. I got some needle leaf java fern at the auction, but when I opened the bag, their leaves were covered in both hair and other algaes, almost jet black looking. No way was it going in my tank. 

Instead, I put it in the tank I'm using to raise the scuds, along with some ostracods and a few other tiny critters. There are also some small bladder snails in there. It is taking some time, but the ferns look better every day. No black left, only a few shreds of hair algae remain to be eaten.

So long as the scuds themselves are not starving, they're awfully good little algae eaters. If they're too hungry, they'll eat the plant too, but otherwise they're harmless. I give them some algae pellets to ensure they aren't starving if I put a plant in for them to clean.

Even if it takes longer I prefer less chemical methods of removing pesky things from plants, but the alum sounds fairly harmless, I may just give that a try.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

I wish i read that before i went out and bought hydrogen peroxide


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## Zidartha (Nov 16, 2012)

Kimchi24 said:


> I wish i read that before i went out and bought hydrogen peroxide


Oh well. I'm sure it will be fine. Anyone have a recommended mix for the hydrogen peroxide solution?

k.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

The alum isn't for algae but to otherwise sterilize the plants. I'll second the use of scuds to clean algae off of plants. They are voracious.


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## Mlevi (Jan 28, 2012)

Kimchi24 said:


> I wish i read that before i went out and bought hydrogen peroxide


Give it to the wife/GF and go "honey, I know you've always wanted to bleach your hair..." 

Al


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Mlevi said:


> Give it to the wife/GF and go "honey, I know you've always wanted to bleach your hair..."
> 
> Al


Sounds solid. Where do i get one of these gf/wifes. I hear they're expensive LOL


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## Mlevi (Jan 28, 2012)

Kimchi24 said:


> ....I hear they're expensive...


LMAO!!!

Too bad it ain't like this hobby, where one can start up with FW budget tank, and then trade up to an exotic SW setup....or even MTS 

Al.


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## Zidartha (Nov 16, 2012)

Mlevi said:


> Too bad it ain't like this hobby, where one can start up with FW budget tank, and then trade up to an exotic SW setup....
> .


hrm. i think you're wrong here. who wants a salty wife?

k.


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## Mlevi (Jan 28, 2012)

Zidartha said:


> hrm. i think you're wrong here. who wants a salty wife?
> 
> k.


She'd raise the blood pressure 

Al.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

trading wife for 180 gallon tank, she rarely cooks and cleans


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

5 percent bleach to warm water is a great solution. Just be careful with moss, hc cuba UG and some other small fine stem plants.


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