# How to care/clean plants when brought home?



## flyboy320 (Feb 6, 2010)

I'm fairly new to the aquarium scene, so sorry for the newbie question... 

I have seen some anubias (spelling?) that I would like to introduce to my 6g tank which has three other small crypt already. When I went to my LFS, the ones they had looked not to bad, but had what looked like fine strands of algae, almost like hair around them. Also, looks like the tank has many small pond snails as well as in the plants. So for obvious reasons, I would like to minimize the algae and snails I bring home! Is there a usual practice of cleaning plants before introducing them to a tank? What about the algae that's growing and intertwined around the plant, can that be removed, or will it not spread once I plant it in my own tank?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

The most common dips is the bleach dip. This consists of a 19:1 water:bleach dilution. As you are dealing with Anubias spp., they generally tolerate bleach dips better than some other more sensitive species (such as mosses). You may be able to get away with a 2-3 minute bleach dip, but I would err on the side of caution.

Some people also like using potassium permanganate dips, and these are generally more well tolerated by plants than a bleach dip. I have also tried alum dips in the past, but these require longer periods of immersion.


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## flyboy320 (Feb 6, 2010)

Thanks Anthony...and thanks for replying in my other thread as well...


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