Do I need to clean these plants?

[EliasG]

Hi!

Bought some new plants for my tank (with fish). Already have snails.
The guy in the store (its a good store, not like a petco) said I do not need to bleach these plants unless I want to avoid snails, as the plants can not contain any disease/parasites that effect fish. His motivation was that the plants were grown in a "factory" that had no fish in the tanks with the plants being grown. And the plants were in a fishless tank in the store (that tank used to have fish in it, but haven't had any for months).
Thoughts; is this correct, or is it still necessary to bleach the plants?

 

[ruud]

Most plants are grown emersed. Some "clinically".

In any case, you bought them from a store that offered these plants in a tank, correct?
So the origin is irrelevant.

If the store's tank has had any snails, you can assume some snails or eggs hitch-hiked.

Any overpopulation of snails is caused by too intense lights / algae and overfeeding of fish (or inverts). If you keep the lights off for a week and don't add fish food for a week, you can collect all the snails with a calcium rich food source.

That said, there's no reason to use intense lights and too much food, ever...

In which case, your tank will benefit from the few snails you have.

 

[EliasG]

Most plants are grown emersed. Some "clinically".

In any case, you bought them from a store that offered these plants in a tank, correct?
So the origin is irrelevant.

If the store's tank has had any snails, you can assume some snails or eggs hitch-hiked.

Any overpopulation of snails is caused by too intense lights / algae and overfeeding of fish (or inverts). If you keep the lights off for a week and don't add fish food for a week, you can collect all the snails with a calcium rich food source.

That said, there's no reason to use intense lights and too much food, ever...

In which case, your tank will benefit from the few snails you have.

He said snails likely are on them, but I already have those in my tank, so killing those eggs is not something I would bother doing.
So decent chance they actually are safe for the fish without cleaning then? Would prefer not bleaching them if possible.

 

[ruud]

In which case I fully agree with the shop owner.

 

[EliasG]

In which case I fully agree with the shop owner.

Awesome, thanks!

He wishes he was the shop owner It's a large chain of stores. Actually like a home depot, but with an excellent aquarium selection for some very odd reason (makes no sense that they have aquariums, but they do, and a great selection at that).

Bettas kept in planted and filtered 30 liter display tanks for sale (none of those dying cup bettas), 400+ liter tanks for the discus they sell, and special L plecos often available. Uncommon and large selection of plants, etc.

 

[TClare]

I have never washed or quarantined plants, I also don’t care if snails come with, they are useful, I have not had any issues with snail overpopulation, if I did my big cichlids would gladly eat them - the only tank that does not have snails is the big SA cichlid tank, and that is the one that gets most algae on the glass. Some other factors may be involved as well of course.

 

[FishDin]

I've always welcomed the snails, but not the algae that can hitchhike on the plants. If they were grown in vitro the chance of algae is greatly reduced.

 

[hevvyc]

I would just rinse them under the tap and then dechlorinated water, but if you put straight in they'd be ok.

 

[EliasG]

Realized one of the plants has been in my small guppy tank, which has had a guppy death recently.

Maybe I still should disinfect them.

Suggestions on easy methods?

 

[hevvyc]

Realized one of the plants has been in my small guppy tank, which has had a guppy death recently.

Maybe I still should disinfect them.

Suggestions on easy methods?

I found this online:
Bleach Dip For Aquarium Plants

I would go extra heavy on the rinsing though as I'd be paranoid about bleach in my aquarium.

 

[EliasG]

I found this online:

I would go extra heavy on the rinsing though as I'd be paranoid about bleach in my aquarium.

Only natural bleach I could find has "27g disinfectingagents" in it. No further description if that is just bleach, or something else..

Also dechlorinator is hard to get and expensive here. Our tap water has virtually no chlorine.


Any other suggested options? Enough to keep them in a bucket without fish for a week? Salt? Anything else that works?

Maybe the odds of a guppy having something that can infect a pleco or yoyoloach is super low?

 

[MasterPython]

If you don't care about getting new snails I would not bother dipping plants. Not many diseases can be spread from one species to another.

 

[EliasG]

If you don't care about getting new snails I would not bother dipping plants. Not many diseases can be spread from one species to another.

I think I'll let them sit for 1.5 days in a bucket, then a vinegar dip, proper rinse, and call it a day. Sound safe enough?

Vinegar seems pretty safe, even if a tiny amount remains after proper cleaning?

 

[cichlidman]

No offense but I really think you are over thinking this. Personally I would just rinse them off and put them in my tank.

I have been putting plants straight in my tanks for 20+ years and never any issues. Every dip I can think of is usually pretty hard on plants. Often can damage / melt the plant.

Obviously your tanks/plants do as you wish. Vinegar can mess with the waters PH.

 

[hevvyc]

No offense but I really think you are over thinking this. Personally I would just rinse them off and put them in my tank.

I have been putting plants straight in my tanks for 20+ years and never any issues. Every dip I can think of is usually pretty hard on plants. Often can damage / melt the plant.

Obviously your tanks/plants do as you wish. Vinegar can mess with the waters PH.

Yeah I think Cichlid man is right.