Transfer plants safely from ich/work tank or bin?

[AilyNC]

I need to go get more moss for the bonsai today in my new tank. Was thinking of getting play sand for the smaller tank. (Should I wait until treatment for ich/works over)

I don't have enough substrate (gravel) in it so plants' roots are all over the place - as in above the substrate. It's very messy. But also seeing my water wisteria & Elodea are growing lots and could do with thinning out a bit. They're all tangled.

My small tank has ich & half way through 4 week work treatment.

So is there a way to safely kill eggs/ich without killing the plant? To transfer some bigger tank? Or will I just prune & bin and keep brand new plants only in bigger tank? Do I switch substrate after ich/worm treatment?

Gut says prune & bin.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I would prune, replant the bits in the ichy/wormy tank and leave them there until treatment finishes. Then you can transfer them without fear. It's only another couple of weeks, although I understand that you're impatient to get to filling the tank! And no need to waste them by binning them when you can just stash the trimmings in the same tank for a fortnight.

ETA: Or just don't prune and trim them once treatment has finished. Another couple of weeks won't matter in terms of not trimming them, but moving them to the new tank and risking transferring worm eggs or ich parasites isn't worth the risk.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Forgot about substrate. Also wait on changing that until treatment has finished. Basically only get new things for the new tank right now, and put any tank design for the old tank on hold until treatment has finished and fish and tank are free of worm and ich eggs. Make sure not to cross contaminate by sharing buckets/nets/syphons between tanks.

Patience, grasshopper!
I was in the same boat while finishing up worm treatments, and had two empty tanks I was itching to get started on. My tanks in treatment looked ugly and messy to me, but I couldn't do anything with them until treatment finished. It sucks. But patience pays off since diseases spread easily, and it's not worth the risk when you'll be free to do what you want with both tanks in a couple of weeks.

 

[AilyNC]

Thanks. It's more than I'm worried I've made my fish tank too jungle-like for them with roots & plants tangled. I'm doing water change now so might try push/nudge some plants a little so less tangled up.

 

[seangee]

Ich can't survive without a host. So if it was just ich that would be fine as long as you weren't planning on adding fish for 2 weeks. Maybe a bit longer if you don't have a heater in yet. I'm not sure about worms though.
If your tank is looking jungle like now go ahead and prune it. Just don't prune too heavily. It will probably need doing again in a couple of weeks anyway

 

[Lajos_Detari]

It's better not to add substrate during treatment as I am afraid the eggs or parasites can hide among the substrate.

Also, don't add plants during treatment if the medications that you used can kill plants.
If you use medications like copper safe, malachite green, etc, they will be absorbed by the fast growing plants like Anacharis Elodea, Hornworts, Cabomba, etc. And this will kill the plants.

 

[AilyNC]

I just removed the leaves that were melting on any plants & let the Elodea float. It's freed space up a bit so while still heavily planted, everything isn't tangled. I'll wait to change the substrate once worming finished & ich treated. I've been battling this ich for 4-5 weeks now - definitely wouldn't want it new tank. I'm only on day 3 of cycle for new tank so new fish for a bit. I just have plants & the bonus MTS.

 

[AilyNC]

A bit better now. Scrubbed the glass with algae cleaner magnet too during water change.

Edited to add better pics​