Will a plant from my lfs bring disease to my tank?

mel_20_20

mel_20_20

AC Members
Sep 1, 2008
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Deep in the heart of texas
I have been testing my water religiously, and have been keeping the water nice and clean, but this afternoon I tested and found that I have 80ppm nitrates.

I ran to the lfs for some anachris to throw in there until I know for sure what I'm going to do with this tank, in the way of plants. (I have a trade in the works)

My question: Is there anything I need to do before I put the anachris in my tank to prevent possible contamination by ich or any other parasite or pathogen?

The anachris was in a tank that had a single oscar in it. He looked OK. The tank looked to be a 40 gallon and had gravel and lots of anachris and this one oscar.

Thanks for your advice.
 
the nitrate seems high, is it a cycled tank or newly setup?

if the plants have bugs on them you could do a bleach wash on them. i usually put the plants in water and wash alot. even put them in a bucket of water and wiggle them to see if anythingcomes off. i look over the plants well i got from my lfs sometimes they have bugs like dragonfly larva.
 
I prewash the plants also with 1 gal warm water and a drop of baby shampoo just rinse real good. I do just leaves and stems then rinse the whole plant upside down.
 
It is cycled, though I experienced a a spike a few days ago. A helper overfed while I was out of town, and I had to do a very thorough vaccum and water change when I got back. Since then I had another day with about .25 nitrites, but I've been monitoring closely and making 50-60% WCs when any nitrite present. Have had no detectable ammonia.

This is the first time the nitrate has been over 20.

I have only one plant, a short sword that is looking crummy.

My other params are great right now:

0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, ph 7.4, temp 78
10 gallon, 1 brochis, 1 mystery snail, 2 ottos, 2 ghost shrimp, gravel substrate

HOB filter AquaTech 10-20 gallon. Stealth heater 50w, Grow FL lighting.

Lighting periods appx 8 hours a day

EDIT: Forgot to mention the 2 ADFs
 
Fishy_Fun said:
The only way for the plants to carry pathogens or other problems like ick would be if they kept the plants with fish, now or recently.
Click to expand...
Excellent point. Doesn't hurt to use potassium permanganate dip for most plants although some will melt but they'll recover eventually.
 
Well.. it was in a tank with a single oscar... about 8 inches long. The tank was a 40 gallon breeder, it looked to me.

I scrutinized the oscar, took off my glasses and got really close. He looked fine, no ich, no other visible signs of problems.

It just worried me because the plant did come from a tank with a fish in it.

Where do I get potassium permanganate? Would that kill ich if it were on the plants?
 
Potassium permanganate is used to kill pests that attach on the plants although at that point, the ich are in cyst stage. If you're worried, quarantine plant for 3 days after a dip.
 
Hey Mel!:dance2::hi:
 
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