Quarantine newly-purchased plants?

[ralliart12]

Hi fellows.

Firstly, Is it okay to quarantine newly-purchased plants floating in their loose form, in a cycled tank for a week to 2 weeks with minimal photoperiod, i.e. 1-2hrs everyday, before planting them?

I'm unsure if any of the plants I want can withstand a PP/H2O2/salt bath, so I was thinking if I have a cycled tank around, perhaps I can just "soak" them in it for a couple fo weeks.

Secondly, I should not wash the plants with tap water upon purchase right? Any washing (to remove physical pest) should still be done with de-chlorinated water right? Otherwise the chlorine will still do some damage to the plants right?

Thirdly, what other measures to do to process newly-purchased plants? Besides the usual chemical soaking?

[VSGenesis]

Hiya bro, I can only answer the second one which is yes. I did the same, I don't use the tap water.

I've never quarantine. That would mean another tank and light set to set up. Maybe do in a bucket or something? I don't quarantine, what I get in a matter of a week are snails. I just add assassin snails. It's the ich parasite that can be irritating. So far the LFS I bought them have not given me any ichs.

I remember Shadow giving an advice on this before. Can't remember what he did.

[ralliart12]

...I remember Shadow giving an advice on this before. Can't remember what he did.

Yah, he said this

sorry I do not know what is the dosage to kill snail egg and yet save for plants, I never use h2o2 for plants. Actually I never quarantine plants

[VSGenesis]

Eh?? OMG! LOL My bad ralliart12.

Here's from stormhawk (where he go, so quiet these days)

"Given that your tank is now empty and has no livestock in it, dosing the tank with flubendazole/fenbendazole should be sufficient in eradicating all the pests, and rendering everything else in the tank as being pest-free.

I typically soak any new plants on driftwood in a tub with a weak solution of potassium permanganate for roughly 10-15 mins. It is far easier to just leave the plant in a spare plastic tank for a week or so to see if any pests appear."

Apparently, bleach also can. 1 part bleach / 20 parts water. But don't take my word for it. Check first. LOL. I already made a mistake on Shadow posting about quarantine. I go by memory and apparently its been failing me today. Haha.

This one is from fisherw
"If you mean potassium permanganate, you can get them at pharmacies (NTUC Unity Healthcare, Guardian or Watson's). It is usually in lotion form and at the section where they sell bandages and the stuff for home healthcare like saline solutions, glycerine, alcohol, etc. It is often prescribed by doctors for bathing sores or wounds. Sometimes available in crystal form which you need to mix with water. Probably cheaper but a little troublesome.

Less "caustic" than bleach but it can colour things brown.

Also see this:

http://theaquariumwiki.com/Potassium_permanganate

The article recommends not dipping the roots. I soak the entire plant. "

[mincedmeat]

I would just wash the plants before planting them in, just to be safe.

[astro]

Get a pufferfish for snail control

[ralliart12]

@VSGenesis

..."Given that your tank is now empty and has no livestock in it, dosing the tank with flubendazole/fenbendazole should be sufficient in eradicating all the pests, and rendering everything else in the tank as being pest-free...

Actually, what is "flubendazole/fenbendazole"? Is it a form of anti-bacteria? What brands/model are its more popular commercial form?

...I typically soak any new plants on driftwood in a tub with a weak solution of potassium permanganate for roughly 10-15 mins...This one is from fisherw
"If you mean potassium permanganate, you can get them at pharmacies (NTUC Unity Healthcare, Guardian or Watson's). It is usually in lotion form and at the section where they sell bandages and the stuff for home healthcare like saline solutions, glycerine, alcohol, etc. It is often prescribed by doctors for bathing sores or wounds. Sometimes available in crystal form which you need to mix with water. Probably cheaper but a little troublesome.

Less "caustic" than bleach but it can colour things brown.

Also see this:

http://theaquariumwiki.com/Potassium_permanganate

The article recommends not dipping the roots. I soak the entire plant. "

Is potassium permanganate significantly less damaging than hydrogen peroxide? I did manage to kill a Giant nana with a short dip in H2O2; that's why I'm more apprehensive about using artificial chemicals to do baths for plants nowadays.

What if the brown colouring stocks onto the plants?

What about stem plant cuttings with no roots? Will the open "nodes" on the stem be "burnt" by the potassium permanganate?

[QUOTE=VSGenesis;693508]...It is far easier to just leave the plant in a spare plastic tank for a week or so to see if any pests appear./QUOTE]

Worse come to worse my fall-back plan is to leaves the plants in a cycled tank for 2 weeks with no chemicals & minimal photo-period & just perform alternate-day water-changes.

I would just wash the plants before planting them in, just to be safe.

@mincedmeat: I supposed you do not wash them with tap water, right? In other words, do I rinse them with a pail of de-chlorinated water?

Get a pufferfish for snail control

@astro: if I were to only leave the new purchase in the quarantine tank for a week or 2, will a puffer fish be more effective than a pack of assassin snails? I was thinking of getting a pack of assassin snails as they can be placed permanently in my planted tank (instead of buying a puffer since if I have a puffer in the planted tank, I may have to choose its housemates more carefully).

[mincedmeat]

Some times i am just lazy and give it a quick rinse under tap water. Then again, it is best that the water is decholorinated.

I would rather you not add puffer because you would want them to be introduced in a stable tank. You might want to try adding in medical solutions not suitable for crustaceans (ie. protozin (copper blue solution), or melanine) as they are harmful to the snails. Don't try this if you have other crustaceans in the tank.

[VSGenesis]

Heya ralliart,
To be honest, i dont quarantine my plants these days. Neither have I place my plants in a quarantine tank nor clean them or soak them with chemicals.

I have this 20L ikea box that holds water treated with Prime. Taking the water from here, i use it to rinse the plants and place them in a bucket. They're ready for me to plant. For HC not in basket, i do the same.

5 out 5 lfs plants i bought from has egg snails. In conclusion, i'm a lazy guy. I only rinse and rinse.

[felix_fx2]

Hello Raliart,

I only wash the plants I buy under the tap directly then soak in tap water for 4 hours-overnight.

Why is there the need to treat with prime? Unless I'm putting in a tank with fish that are very very sensitive.

You can try 1:10 concentration of bleach and water, RINSE not soak.
Repeat few times, then rinse off the remaining bleach until you cannot smell it on the plant. Snails and pests should be dead before you move to to a temp storage tank before planting.

Btw, this is for larger more stronger plants like rotala and nana species. Don't do it to hc (but I know your hc is already lawn).

Ps: i don't religiously perform this for some other plants I grow emerse myself. Only brand new ones from lfs, that is less often.

Faster flood tank and plant more soon you will become carpet keeper haha.

[VSGenesis]

Shrugs on prime. I prefer to use water thats treated and since the water is just next to me, i use it to wash the plants i get. Kinda make me feel better. But now that you mentioned it, the cholorine in the water might kill off bacteria and microorganism on the plant. So i guess not a bad thing to clean it with tap water? We water house plants with tap water anyway.

[blurless]

I soaking new plants with water+bleach mixture for about 10min. Too strong a mixture and the plant didn't survive (Blyxa Japonica did not survive, but others like Crypts or Nanas did). Managed to keep a tank snail free by using this approach...but not algae free.

[wongce]

Just to share my steps of cleaning plants:
1)clean the plants under tap water, separating any rockwool/dirt from the roots and look out for any snails which may hitch hike on plants
2)Then, i will use anti snail solution + some salt to soak the plants for 40-60mins minutes
3)rinse it under tap water, then soak again in tap water for another 30-60 mins prior introducing into tank...

I also have 5 assassin snails to control the pest snails that managed to stay alive after the above ordeal....lol

[ralliart12]

So the common denominator is that nobody has experienced any problem with washing their plants with tap water...

[felix_fx2]

So the common denominator is that nobody has experienced any problem with washing their plants with tap water...

Nope, why do you ask so?
Plants, not fish not shrimp.

Is it due to the chlorine/chloromine?
Unless your keeping expensive shrimp, I don't see the need rinse flora in treated water.

[mincedmeat]

Agree with Felix there.