Washing Plants

[tez2k007]

What should be done after getting the plants back from the lfs.

 

[Dave Spencer]

Plant them! It is that simple.

Cue the snail horror stories and myths.

Dave.

 

[james morrisontoxic2]

take them out of there pots depending what kind they are ,take the wool stuff off the bottoms,gently trim the roots ,and wash the plants to get any snails eggs off under the tap ,thats the tip i was giving works a treat

 

[OldMan47]

Although I agree with James Morrison Toxic2 , I must admit that I am more often likely to do plants as Dave Spencer suggests. I just don't have the inclination to actually do as James suggests.

 

[pippoodle]

i never take mine out of the pots i know lots of people say to do that but i never have done
they still grow really well and need a lot of pruning so i must be doing something right

then i replant the cuttings by loosly wrapping filter floss around the ends and the rio 180 i've been doing that in is pretty full of plants , the rest of my tanks have been cultivated by the plants in that tank lol
i even got some pots of someone and potted some up i just find it easier that way

good luck with the plants

Sarah xx

 

[james morrisontoxic2]

well after taking advice from this forum on plants,i washed mine and i can say im glad i did they were covered in snails eggs,if your not bothered about snails in your tank then dont wash them ,but im glad i did because theres nothing worse then having them all over the place,but eache to there own

 

[MHunt]

Depends what snails, the little 'pest' snails are a pain and will take over the tank with no real benefit. Now the ramshorn/trumpethorn snails are a different matter. You might end up with quite a few, but they will burrow through the substrate and generally look after the tank for you in my experience.

 

[james morrisontoxic2]

im on about the pest snails mate,i cant stand them

 

[MHunt]

im on about the pest snails mate,i cant stand them

The ramshorns have wiped out the pest snails in my tank. I don't think they eat them, but they out compete them for foor or something, but they've just taken over.

 

[Goodygumdrops]

There is a procedure for bleach dipping plants (watered down pure bleach solution),but since search is kaput I can't find it.This also helps eliminate algae but not everyone is in favour as some belive it can also damage your plants to an extent.
The best thing is just to trim off any brown or dying leaves,for anubias,snap the leaves off at the base of the stem next to the rhizome with your finger and thumb,pull off as much of the potting wool as you can,give the roots a light trim and wash them under cold running water(or if you have a mixer tap,tepid).
The odd snail is easily removed,just nab them as soon as you see them.

 

[aaronnorth]

There is a procedure for bleach dipping plants (watered down pure bleach solution),but since search is kaput I can't find it.This also helps eliminate algae but not everyone is in favour as some belive it can also damage your plants to an extent.
The best thing is just to trim off any brown or dying leaves,for anubias,snap the leaves off at the base of the stem next to the rhizome with your finger and thumb,pull off as much of the potting wool as you can,give the roots a light trim and wash them under cold running water(or if you have a mixer tap,tepid).
The odd snail is easily removed,just nab them as soon as you see them.

The bleach dip method is

water: bleach - 19 parts water : 1 part bleach

But i just plant mine too

 

[mark.w.jones]

The bleach dip method is

water: bleach - 19 parts water : 1 part bleach

Then hold the leaves of the plant only in the solution for 1 minute before thoroughly washing. Kills snails eggs but can also ruin more sensitive plants such as vallis so stick to doing it on sturdier aquatic plants with thicker leaves. Most of the time a good power wash under the tap will clear most snails. Once you have snails just learn to live with them, they are next to impossible to get rid of once you have them.

 

[tunerhead24]

How would you vacume substrate in a heavily planted tank or would you skip that part when it comes to maintenance?

 

[Truck]

this is for the people that are on about the pest snails, if you have a sudden boom in a snail population, 99% of the time your overfeeding your fish and lots of food is left over, ive been conducting an experiment in the past few months on snail populations.

these are my results:

month 1, food fed daily : boom in snail population (could count up to 50+ at one time)
month 2, food every second day: snail population reduced (about 5 were visable)
month 3, food fed daily : another boom in snail population
month 4 (december) fed every second day, and the snail population was decreased again,

my conclusion is that snails over populate a tank, if the tank is over fed.

so IMO dont wash the plants, and dont over feed, snails are brilliant tank cleaners (even the pest ones).

How would you vacume substrate in a heavily planted tank or would you skip that part when it comes to maintenance?

if there is no visable substrate, theres no need, fish poo is of benefit to plants, but if you have a carpet or something similar, just wave the vac over the plants to pic up excrement