Pick yer poison...info re: brand names, dilution, length of dip also muchly appreciated. Thankee.
Your favorite dip to rid new plants of algae, bad bacteria and snails
- Thread starter gingerinaustin
- Start date
So no one treats their plants before putting them in their tank? Ya just throw 'em in and hope for the best?
I do a ~1:20 bleach & water dip for a minute or 2(most of the time). I don't dip the roots except for a very fast submersion right before I rinse & soak in heavily dechlored water. Sometimes leaves melt a bit but usally recover.
hmm.. Ive heard of dipping your plants before you introudce them into your tank.. But personally I dont do it. Why would i want to? To remove algea? If thats the case... i just dont buy plants with algea... What are the other benifits to diping??
A short dip in a 5% (1/20) chlorine solution is the easiest and cheapest way to treat algae clinging to leaves, imo.
But I'm not sure I understand why you would want to do this before you put the plants in the tank. First of all you're going to stress the plant. Second to prevent algae from forming at all means to keep your aquarium completely sterile and I just don't think that's possible in the home environment. Better to grow your plants under the proper conditions and prevent algae naturally, right?
I will say that I have treated entire plant-only tanks (not containing fish!!!) by dosing a 0.05% chlorine solution (roughly 25 ml per 15 gal) directly into the tank with great success against brown diatom and green hair algae. I allow it to sit for about an hour followed by a 100% water change and twice the normal amount of dechlorinator. Much easier than removing and dipping the plants individually and also less stressful on the plants in general. But of course I stress these were PLANT-ONLY tanks. Be very cautious about the amount of chlorine you dose and NEVER put chlorine with a tank containing fish regardless of the dose. You should also only do this if you're very confident about what the plants can take and what the algae cannot. There is a fine line. I conducted several experiments before treating an entire tank.
But I'm not sure I understand why you would want to do this before you put the plants in the tank. First of all you're going to stress the plant. Second to prevent algae from forming at all means to keep your aquarium completely sterile and I just don't think that's possible in the home environment. Better to grow your plants under the proper conditions and prevent algae naturally, right?
I will say that I have treated entire plant-only tanks (not containing fish!!!) by dosing a 0.05% chlorine solution (roughly 25 ml per 15 gal) directly into the tank with great success against brown diatom and green hair algae. I allow it to sit for about an hour followed by a 100% water change and twice the normal amount of dechlorinator. Much easier than removing and dipping the plants individually and also less stressful on the plants in general. But of course I stress these were PLANT-ONLY tanks. Be very cautious about the amount of chlorine you dose and NEVER put chlorine with a tank containing fish regardless of the dose. You should also only do this if you're very confident about what the plants can take and what the algae cannot. There is a fine line. I conducted several experiments before treating an entire tank.
I've not dipped plants as of yet, but then again I've gotten a couple algae outbreaks after adding some lfs plants. You cant always see algae or spores, and just be warned I've heard of some nasty outbreaks of some of the worse algaes like Clado that might possibly have been prevented with a dip.
Has anyone dipped with H2O2? I've been spot treating with it with great success, but curious how well it would work as a dip.
Has anyone dipped with H2O2? I've been spot treating with it with great success, but curious how well it would work as a dip.
I've used standard drugstore 3% H2O2...worked well but once I left the plants in too long (forgot them for a half hour) and damaged them. Maybe limit to 3-5 minutes next time and redo if needed.
Thanks for the input, all. I decided to use potassium permanganate. I wouldn't mind a bit of algae (in fact, I have some now) or a snail or two, I just wanted to avoid a huge overgrowth/infestation.
I got a tiny pond snail from plants. I thought no problem my loaches will love them. Now I have a colony that lives in the filter sponge, a bit of a PITA. The ramshorn I did want but the kuhlis eventually killed it.
I have dipped to kill bba etc, I don't want any new kinds.
I have dipped to kill bba etc, I don't want any new kinds.
