Preparing New Plants

When you buy new plants, what is your routine for prepping them before you put them in your tank? The first time I bought plants, I ordered online and when they arrived I ran them under tap water and let them soak in tap water for a couple hours and that was it as far as cleaning. I ended up with bladder snails, planaria, hydra, detritus worms, and some kind of aquarium bug that might have been seed shrimp / ostracoda. I treated the tank with fenbendazole to kill all of the worms and I let the snails live because I want to get a pea puffer one day so having a good supply of snails built up will actually be helpful.

I have another order of plants coming tomorrow (from the same company that caused all the trouble above... I got a gift certificate for xmas..) so I need a plan for how I am going to treat these new plants before planting in my tank. This time I don't want hitchhikers.

I know some people do bleach, hydrogen peroxide, some people do alum dips, or potassium permanganate.. I'm thinking about soaking in fenbendazole water and just going over the leaves more carefully to check for snail eggs.

What has worked best for you for cleaning plants before adding them to tank? Thanks!

 

I like using a salt bath. 1 cup salt to 1 gallon water. Dissolve the salt then dip the plants one at a time for 15-20 seconds then rinse the plant. Use aquarium salt or iodine-free salt.

 

I like using a salt bath. 1 cup salt to 1 gallon water. Dissolve the salt then dip the plants one at a time for 15-20 seconds then rinse the plant. Use aquarium salt or iodine-free salt.

Interesting! That is one I have not heard of, thank you! So a 20 second dip is enough to kill the hitchhikers? I know salt can hurt plants but I would think a 20 second dip would not be enough to do damage.. I wonder would it be ok to use organic sea salt?

 

I just rinse and put them in. Snails are a concern, as are hydra (but this seems more rare, so not really a big concern), but the other things could have come from other sources in your tank, not just plants. Planaria and detritus worms seem to come out of nowhere. As the only harmful thing is hydra, I would just treat for that if you're going to treat for anything.

 

.....the other things could have come from other sources in your tank, not just plants. Planaria and detritus worms seem to come out of nowhere.

I know someone who is convinced planaria come from tap water... disturbing!

 

Yes the salt bath is enough to kill what ever is hitching a ride. Some plants may be a little more sensitive to it and have some leaf melting but if the plant is healthy and the aquarium is stable, the plant will bounce back. I had most the leaflets melt off the Echinodorus tennellus I got but it’s bouncing back nicely. And my tiger lotus leaves wilted a bit but it too is growing nicely.
Actually about 3 weeks ago I got some plants from eBay and did a salt bath with organic sea salt. Worked great. Just use water around the temp you have in the tank or even slightly warmer, dump in the salt and stir it like crazy until it dissolves. Dip the plant take it out and rinse. I had a moist paper towel to lay the plants on until I get them all dipped and rinsed.