How to wash a plant before adding to my tank?

[Beckett]

Hi there!

I am trying to get a floating plant for my tank. I have not been able to get any at my LFS so am going to try online. I am trying Dustin's Fish Tank, has anyone ordered from there and had good luck?

I am wondering how to clean the plant safely to make sure there are no snail eggs or anything else on the plant before adding it to my tank. I already have fish in my tank so I don't want to risk anything messing up the parameters etc.

Thanks!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I am trying Dustin's Fish Tank, has anyone ordered from there and had good luck?

Yes, that is a very good place. They are actually located about 40 min. away from where I live.

am wondering how to clean the plant safely to make sure there are no snail eggs or anything else on the plant before adding it to my tank. I already have fish in my tank so I don't want to risk anything messing up the parameters etc.

If you want to make sure you have no snails, you could always do a copper dip. This will kill all snails. I have heard of people bleaching them? Not sure if that is OK or not.

Why do you not want snails? Snails can be very beneficial to your tank. (And, they don't produce that much waste.)

 

[Beckett]

I am just worried they will multiply like crazy and be everywhere in the tank. But I also don't know if that's real problem, I feel like I've just heard people trying to avoid snails and assumed that was the reason. If I had 3 or 4 in my tank I wouldn't mind, jsut don't want them multiplying into 50 stuck all over the place.

Does everyone usually wash their plants in some way before adding? Or just add directly to the tank after it arrives at your house? I just want to be sure I am not risking my fish's health by adding the plant straight into my tank. =)

 

[Essjay]

If you have a spare tank or container of some sort, you could put the plants in there and change the water every day.

As Pheonix says, snails are a good part of a tank's ecosystem. They are only a problem when they get out of control. The way to stop that is to limit their food. Don't over feed the fish; siphon uneaten food and fish poo out of the tank and down in the gravel if that's what you have. Clean the filter regularly as they'll get in there and live off the brown goo which collects on the media.


If you treat with copper you can't keep ornamental snails or shrimps in the tank as copper will kill them too.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

If you want to make sure you have no snails, you could always do a copper dip. This will kill all snails. I have heard of people bleaching them? Not sure if that is OK or not.

Please don't use copper if you think you might ever want shrimp, or a snail like a nerite or mystery snail. Copper can remain in tanks for years, and will make the tank unsafe for them long after you've forgotten all about the time you copper dipped your plants. If you use a medication with copper in, it's good to run a treatment like Cuprisorb in your filter even after water changes, to remove any copper traces the medication left in the tank or silicone. I have heard of cases of people buying long empty and dry tanks that they set up for shrimp, only to keep losing them, and it was from trace amounts of copper left in the tank from medication used by the previous owner.

Better to learn how to do a cool bleach dip, and remember to rinse thoroughly repeatedly with clean water and declorinated water.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Please don't use copper if you think you might ever want shrimp, or a snail like a nerite or mystery snail. Copper can remain in tanks for years, and will make the tank unsafe for them long after you've forgotten all about the time you copper dipped your plants. If you use a medication with copper in, it's good to run a treatment like Cuprisorb in your filter even after water changes, to remove any copper traces the medication left in the tank or silicone. I have heard of cases of people buying long empty and dry tanks that they set up for shrimp, only to keep losing them, and it was from trace amounts of copper left in the tank from medication used by the previous owner.

Better to learn how to do a cool bleach dip, and remember to rinse thoroughly repeatedly with clean water and declorinated water.

If the OP didn’t want snails whatsoever (as he clearly indicated) my method works just fine.

 

[Essjay]

But if he ever wanted shrimps, copper would kill them as well.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I am just worried they will multiply like crazy and be everywhere in the tank. But I also don't know if that's real problem, I feel like I've just heard people trying to avoid snails and assumed that was the reason. If I had 3 or 4 in my tank I wouldn't mind, jsut don't want them multiplying into 50 stuck all over the place.

Does everyone usually wash their plants in some way before adding? Or just add directly to the tank after it arrives at your house? I just want to be sure I am not risking my fish's health by adding the plant straight into my tank. =)

I don’t wash my plants before, because I like snails. If you want snails, don’t treat the plants.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

But if he ever wanted shrimps, copper would kill them as well.

Didn’t think of shrimp - good call.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

If the OP didn’t want snails whatsoever (as he clearly indicated) my method works just fine.

A lot of people don't realise how long copper can stay in a tank after using a medication, or copper dipping a plant. I like to warn people about that because if he decides he wants shrimps a year down the road, he would have a hard time figuring out why they're dying.


That's why I mentioned shrimp.

 

[Beckett]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I might not bother dipping the plant. I have no plans for shrimp or snails but you never know what the future holds.

If it's no risk to the health of my fish, I will probably just drop the water sprite plant right in the tank when it arrives, save myself more work! =)

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I might not bother dipping the plant. I have no plans for shrimp or snails but you never know what the future holds.

If it's no risk to the health of my fish, I will probably just drop the water sprite plant right in the tank when it arrives, save myself more work! =)

Sounds good. Some people go through all the trouble of quarantining the plants, and then dipping them, and then waiting a week. I have never done that, and my plants/fish are happy and healthy. Good luck!

 

[StevenF]

Please don't use copper if you think you might ever want shrimp, or a snail like a nerite or mystery snail. Copper can remain in tanks for years, and will make the tank unsafe for them long after you've forgotten all about the time you copper dipped your plants.

That is simply not true. Copper sulfate is water soluble. You can dip the plant in a copper sulfate dip and then rinse it off 2 times. After that the only copper left will be copper in the tap water you used to rinse off the plant. If you rinse with DI water there will be no copper on the plant.

Copper levels in tap water range from about 0.01ppm to about 1.1ppm (the maximum allowed by the EPA Most of it comes from copper pipes in your home. My tap water has 0.050ppm of copper in it ( I have never used it in my aquarium because it is hard).

Plants need about 0.01ppm of copper to due well. If it is not there the plant will die. And shrimp also need copper.. IN people our blood is iron. in shrimp it is copper based.

https://animals.mom.me/animals-copperbased-blood-8379.html

https://aquariumbreeder.com/how-copper-affects-dwarf-shrimp/

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I might not bother dipping the plant. I have no plans for shrimp or snails but you never know what the future holds.

If it's no risk to the health of my fish, I will probably just drop the water sprite plant right in the tank when it arrives, save myself more work! =)

Never drop the plants directly into your tank.
You should always rinse them in case some farmers sprayed pesticide or chemical to kill the pest on the plants.
There are reported cases of shrimps dying after putting the plants into their tank due to the chemical that was sprayed on the plants.

Plants can come with all sort of things even parasites like Ich, Flukes or even Hydra, Planaria, etc.
In the past, my tank was infected with ich after putting in some plants.
If you don't treat ich fast, it will kill your fish.

If flukes get into your tank, it will take you a few months to eradicate them.
And there are people who couldn't eradicate flukes completely from their tanks.
Flukes will kill your fish slowly...

Recently, I bought some Hornwort plants but I didn't pour away the water that came with the plants.
When I poured the plants into my quarantine tank, there were two tadpoles in it.

Usually, I will put my plants in a QT tank with Praziquantel or Flubendazole for a few days to kill off any flukes(parasites).
Flubendazole is also effective in killing Hydra and Planaria that will kill shrimps.

I will also do a quick dip of 1-2 minutes with Potassium Permanganate to kill off any bacteria, virus, parasites.
Some people will use Hydrogen peroxide for the dip.
Then I will rinse the plants a few times.

Some internets articles:

Moving Pond Plants to the Aquarium | Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine

When fall and winter approach, it's time to transfer aquatic plants from the pond to the aquarium. One hobbyists shares her strategies for storing her specimens.

www.tfhmagazine.com

Dipping Plants to Eliminate Snails

www.thatpetplace.com

Beginner's Guide to Aquarium Plants - INJAF

A beginner’s guide to aquarium plants is something that most of us with established tanks would have found very handy when first starting out in fishkeeping! Hopefully our version here will help you find your aquatic green fingers. Have you

injaf.org

 

[Fishmanic]

You can make a chlorine dip by mixing 19 parts of water to one part of bleach. Leave plant in the solution for 90 seconds. Then rinse with tap water. Then put plants in a bowl of water with dechlorinator added to it for several minutes. You can then add plants to your tank worry free. I have done this many times.. I even did it to remove algae from plants.