New tank

Some plants have their own odors, especially if grown out of water(lots are as it's cheaper and quicker)

I would say to keep them out of your normal tank for now and get a positive id first... Or maybe post a picture here so someone can better help out.

Maybe say specifically how you bleach dipped them... Length of time, ratio of bleach to water, and specific type of bleach.
 
dougall said:
Some plants have their own odors, especially if grown out of water(lots are as it's cheaper and quicker)

I would say to keep them out of your normal tank for now and get a positive id first... Or maybe post a picture here so someone can better help out.

Maybe say specifically how you bleach dipped them... Length of time, ratio of bleach to water, and specific type of bleach.
Click to expand...
I filled a bucket with 10 liters of water and used 200 ml of bleach, dipped plants for 2 minutes. It is mostly saggitaria, 2 swords and rotalas. I thought it was only the saggitaria because the person that i bought it from put a lot of them into plastic bags and I could not get them out until 2 days later.

I have all the plants in a bucket for now.

the rotalas and swords were grown in a tank but the saggitarias were taken from a stream
 
I don't think you have anything that should have much of an odor.

I would maybe rinse off the plants q little more, if in a bucket, change water and let them sit in water another day and see if the odor goes down, otherwise change the water again.

I don't think anything should get harmed if you plant them now, but I don't want to suggest doing so in case there is a deeper issue. But see how it goes for a couple of days, it should start to get better.

Make sure the water you are keeping them in is dechlorinated too.
 
The only odor I can think of for "regular" tank plants is from fertilizers or fish poo in the substrate. Really, I've never smelled anything "bad" & I trade plants pretty often. I'd call it an "earthy" smell like the garden after a rain. Dead snails maybe? Slightly sharp like ammonia? Were they in soil rather than sand, gravel or a plant substrate? I usually remove substrate from new plants but mostly because the color is wrong in my tanks.

I often, but not always, rinse my new plants in running tap water (with its low level of chlorine). Some soak plants for an hour in chlorinated tap water to kill any "critters". It depends on what you might be worried about, snail eggs will need more effort. I don't mind a few snails.

I have killed as many plants with a 20:1 bleach dip as I ever saved fish from whatever the plants may have carried. I did go through a paranoid stage where I didn't want to introduce anything into my tanks but I've relaxed my standards. If I get plants or fish from a fellow hobbyist that I know & trust I don't bother with QT for fish & have not bleached plants for close to 20 years. But I do quarantine fish & plants from shops or online. I don't risk an entire tank for the sake of a new group of fish or a few plants. Actually I haven't bought plants in a dozen years & not very many fish. I belong to an awesome plant club!
 
Sometime food or whatever gets on the rim and rot and stinks - so if you have one of those tank with the plastic rim around the top - check the area where you pour stuff into the tank and try wiping it with a damp paper towel.
 
Good thought jake! I've also had moldy/algae/food/duckweed on the underside of my tank lids from the filter splash. I should clean that more often but it's easy to ignore.
 
over 90% of the plants died :( should've planted them instead of keeping them in a bucket
 
Yeah, I've done the bucket"o"plants for quite a while when I first moved to CA. Anubias, bolbitus & Java ferns were ok with some window light & a small over the bucket light. No water movement or ferts. All the other plants died...live & learn...
 
I got this new substrate. it has a liquid inside the bag which I assume is to keep the "live heterotrophic bacteria" alive. My question is should I wash this substrate before adding it to a new tank or should i just dump it with all in with that liquid? I bought it all black, just putting the brown colored one for description.

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I don't know that product but when I bought Eco Complete years ago it said NOT to rinse. Eco looks similar to your substrate, I like it. I still use it almost 20 years later. It's not a soil but lava rock more like fine gravel with a high CEC (cation exchange capacity, look it up). It (sort of) grabs fertilizer ions & releases them as plant roots need them. A very simplistic explaination, lol.

I find it easy to plant in & I can lightly vacuum it if I want.
 
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