View Full Version : "sanitizing" plants
lesley
01-30-2003, 5:50 PM
I have some java moss (actually, I'm not entirely sure that it's java moss) that I got from the giant filter at my LFS. The only problem is that there are a ton of snail eggs in it as well as planaria and some worms and leech-looking things. I remember that some people used something to kill the unwanted organisms on their plants before putting them into their tanks. I would assume that a bleach dip would not work for java moss. Do I have any other options?
wetmanNY
01-30-2003, 5:52 PM
Potassium permanganate. The bleach dip is rough on moss.
lesley
01-30-2003, 5:56 PM
Ah. That's right. I'll have to raid the lab shelves next week. Thanks!
By the way, what conc. and how long?
kveeti
01-30-2003, 8:34 PM
The article I have says, "Mix at 10 mg/liter of water for a 10-minute soak."
Don't forget to wear rubber gloves (like the nice ones you had in your pic).
I'm not sure with the java moss I'd bother with this process.
lesley
02-03-2003, 11:32 AM
I rinsed my java moss in fresh water really well the other day because the water that it was in was getting kind of smelly, probably due to the die off of some of those foreign critters. But, after swishing it around A LOT, there were still some worms and tons of snail egg clusters. Gross.
Do I need to worry about my moss being toxic after the potassium permanganate treatment? Should I still keep it in a jar for a while?
TBA, why wouldn't this work for java moss?
GobyGuy5
02-03-2003, 3:14 PM
Do I need to worry about my moss being toxic after the potassium permanganate treatment? Should I still keep it in a jar for a while?
I know that some products that create 'clear water' use this for their active ingredient, so (depending on the concentration) it should be OKAY for your fish. Also, the products also tell you to take the carbon out of your filter when you 'treat' the tank, so I think carbon takes it out of the water, I'm not POSITIVE about that last part, does anyone else know about that?