So I have a thread algae issue in my 60L tank. My Rotala rotundifolia has been impacted the worst, with every stem basically becoming a fuzzy green stick. I was considering doing a dip of some sort to see if the algae could be removed without doing tedious manual removal. I saw great results for bleach and hydrogen peroxide dips online; however, I don't have any at the moment. I did see one older Reddit thread mention Isopropyl alcohol as a potential choice in a plant dip. Luckily, I still have a 1L bottle of 99%! The thread did mention they used 70% but didn't mention what ratio the mixture was.. So I decided just to try a couple stems in my own mixture. In the end, I went for 300ml of water, 125ml of Isopropyl alcohol. I left them for 4 minutes and then rinsed twice in old tank water. After rinsing, they did not look good. Some even looked shrivelled
. However, after putting them in fresh water for 10 minutes, I noticed there was no thread algae! I've since planted them back in the tank and the stems have opened up and look healthy.
I do think bleach and hydrogen peroxide are probably a better option though. I think any longer than 4 minutes, those rotala probably would have snuffed it. Might also be a wise option to just buy new plants..
. However, after putting them in fresh water for 10 minutes, I noticed there was no thread algae! I've since planted them back in the tank and the stems have opened up and look healthy.I do think bleach and hydrogen peroxide are probably a better option though. I think any longer than 4 minutes, those rotala probably would have snuffed it. Might also be a wise option to just buy new plants..
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