Plant Quarantine?

[SftWrmRain]

I posted this in the newbie forum, but I think I should have probably posted it here instead.

I know plants can bring parasites such as Ich and other undesirables into your tank, so my question is, how long do I need to leave my new plants from PetCo in my Q tank before moving them to their final destination? Without fish, how do I know they are disease free? Should I treat them with something to "clean" them?

Thanks in advance!

Barb

 

[CaitxSith]

i think there's a rare chance that plants can bring ick. but i just put the plant in my tank anyways :huh:

 

[fresh_newby]

Plants won't bring in ick, but they may bring in many types of algae. As a rule of thumb <and if I am not lazy> I do a quick dip of all new plants in a 1:10 bleach solution for about 20 seconds then I plunge them in plain water with Prime in it to neutralize all of the Chlorine and let them soak for about an hour. After then they should be fine to put in your tank.

 

[echoofformless]

Plants can most certainly bring ick. Anything from an infected source is a potential disaster waiting to happen. All it takes is one drop of water, with one free-swimming ick parasite to infect your whole tank.

The bleach dip is sort of a good thing - only keep in mind that some plants are very sensitive to it, and also you can't dip the roots.

I do both bleach dip and qt. It's the safest way to go. Plus in my growout/plant qt tank I can overdose Exel because it's only 5g and thus won't cost me a lot of money. Overdosing excel is not only a good algaecide, it also boosts the growth and gets the plant good and ready to make a jolly good show in its new home. This is especially good for plants that might have been sold as emersed growth because as those leaves die off, there is less unsightly crap to foul up your main tank.

 

[jgulecas]

A good LFS will keep its plants for sale in fishless tanks to avoid this problem.

Petsmart has its plants in an entirely separate section, and I thought "great, I don't have to worry".

Then what do I see swimming in the plant tank but a feeder goldfish!

Permoxyn is good for this, if you can find it.

 

[fresh_newby]

Plants can most certainly bring ick. Anything from an infected source is a potential disaster waiting to happen. All it takes is one drop of water, with one free-swimming ick parasite to infect your whole tank.

The bleach dip is sort of a good thing - only keep in mind that some plants are very sensitive to it, and also you can't dip the roots.

I do both bleach dip and qt. It's the safest way to go. Plus in my growout/plant qt tank I can overdose Exel because it's only 5g and thus won't cost me a lot of money. Overdosing excel is not only a good algaecide, it also boosts the growth and gets the plant good and ready to make a jolly good show in its new home. This is especially good for plants that might have been sold as emersed growth because as those leaves die off, there is less unsightly crap to foul up your main tank.

Quarantining plants for ick makes no sense. How would you know if they have the parasite if they sit in a tank alone? You don't. It doesn't show up on plants and there is not critter in there to test it. So how long will it sit?

The bleach dip is best bet. The plant has to be in contact with the parasite at some point beforehand, and with no fauna in there a parasite has nothing to feed off of so it is more than unlikely anyway.

 

[desertgoldhound]

Plants can most certainly bring ick. Anything from an infected source is a potential disaster waiting to happen. All it takes is one drop of water, with one free-swimming ick parasite to infect your whole tank.

While they may have and probaly do have ick I would not be concerned with this. Your aquarium probaly has ick as it stands. As long as your fish are not stressed they probaly will not get it unless there is a major outbrake and I doubt a plant is going to do this.

I would treat them for snails though if you don't wont these could be pests. I like snails but only ones I have chose.

Sorry for spelling my spell checker is down.

 

[SftWrmRain]

Plants won't bring in ick, but they may bring in many types of algae. As a rule of thumb <and if I am not lazy> I do a quick dip of all new plants in a 1:10 bleach solution for about 20 seconds then I plunge them in plain water with Prime in it to neutralize all of the Chlorine and let them soak for about an hour. After then they should be fine to put in your tank.

Thanks for this tip! I appreciate it!

I do both bleach dip and qt. It's the safest way to go. Plus in my growout/plant qt tank I can overdose Exel because it's only 5g and thus won't cost me a lot of money. Overdosing excel is not only a good algaecide, it also boosts the growth and gets the plant good and ready to make a jolly good show in its new home. This is especially good for plants that might have been sold as emersed growth because as those leaves die off, there is less unsightly crap to foul up your main tank.

Ok, bear with me here as I ask a couple of questions. What is Excel? I could and will do a search, but assume it's a sort of Prime product for plants? Is there any way to identify if I have plants that have been sold as emersed growth? How do I indentify those that I may want to buy as being emersed, or not?

Quarantining plants for ick makes no sense. How would you know if they have the parasite if they sit in a tank alone? You don't. It doesn't show up on plants and there is not critter in there to test it. So how long will it sit?

The bleach dip is best bet. The plant has to be in contact with the parasite at some point beforehand, and with no fauna in there a parasite has nothing to feed off of so it is more than unlikely anyway.

While they may have and probaly do have ick I would not be concerned with this. Your aquarium probaly has ick as it stands. As long as your fish are not stressed they probaly will not get it unless there is a major outbrake and I doubt a plant is going to do this.

This brings to mind the question I never seem to get a definitive answer to: Is ICH a bug that is ever-present, waiting for bad water conditions or stress to show it's ugly face, or is it a parasite that requires a host to feed, and if present, is for the most part visible? I keep hearing LFS people saying it's always there, etc, and will only present under less than desirable conditions, but I can't figure how a parasite than live, reproduce and survive in/on a fish yet not harm them or my tank. Ich, for example, has to fall off the fish to reproduce, and reproduces millions of new parasites, so I can't figure how they're all invisible indefinitely until some form of stress occurs.

Barb

 

[desertgoldhound]

This brings to mind the question I never seem to get a definitive answer to: Is ICH a bug that is ever-present, waiting for bad water conditions or stress to show it's ugly face, or is it a parasite that requires a host to feed, and if present, is for the most part visible? I keep hearing LFS people saying it's always there, etc, and will only present under less than desirable conditions, but I can't figure how a parasite than live, reproduce and survive in/on a fish yet not harm them or my tank. Ich, for example, has to fall off the fish to reproduce, and reproduces millions of new parasites, so I can't figure how they're all invisible indefinitely until some form of stress occurs.

Ick is a parasite. When it ataches to a host it will remain there for a while and feed then drop of so that it may produce its off spring. In the whild this is not a problem becouse there is such a good amount of water per fish. In a crouded aquarium however stressed or unhealthy fish will catch it quite easly. If it blooms this provideds more of the ick parasite and the grater number will find food easyer. I had just been reading about ick the other day and that is what I gathered from several articals. I am not a expert on this but I look for expert advice and then varifie that with another sorce. Just do a search on ick you will find all sorts of information on it.

 

[Ms.Bubbles]

Quarantining plants for ick makes no sense. How would you know if they have the parasite if they sit in a tank alone? You don't. It doesn't show up on plants and there is not critter in there to test it.

Well, ick needs a host to survive, and will die without one. So a few weeks in a fish-free quarantine tank would likely be enough to kill off the parasite, since it would have no source of food...