Desinfecting the plants ?

This can be a risky proposition. I've washed them briskly in a hard stream of tap water with no introduction of the pathogen, but I've also killed plants that way (which doesn't do wonders for the water chemistry of the new tank).

Unless you've got some 'spensive plants, you could either toss them or nuke them with medication for the prescribed length of time. Some meds don't cause problems for plants, some do. Don't use salt.


Oldtimers back in the days of yore used potassium permanganate (called permanganate of potash)-- a purple substance that looks like rock salt, dissolved in water. It's a powerful oxidizer and will disinfect plants well. Good luck fining it, it's a hazmat in most states.

Jungle's "Clear Water" product is dilute potassium permanganate. I have used it to disinfect plants, however, I was never sure if my solution was concentrated enough. I mixed it in with the water untill it was a light pinkish colour (yeah, I know, not a very accurate dosing recommendation). When I felt I wanted something heavy duty I dipped my anubius in a 1:20 bleach:water solution for 2 min and them rinsed them under the tap before dipping them in a bucket of dechlorinated water. I would not recommend the bleach for anything other than thick-leafed, anubius-type plants. I still ended up with snails in my tank but they may have come in with the jave fern or java moss that only got the weak potassium permanganate dip. Watch ot with the potassium permangante though, if you make the concentration too strong you will kill your plants as happened to me once when I was mixing it using potassium permangante crystals (which I can't find anymore anyway). Also, if your main worry is parasites you could look up the life cycle info for the critters you are worried about and see how long the particular pathogen can live without a fish host and then quarantine your plants for that time plus maybe a couple of days.