Sophie and Mom

Is there a regular procedure for disinfecting locally harvested plant life? I would love to have some stuff from my own area in my tank, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Any tips would be appreciated.

The Trigger

Some would say use a bleach dip but depending on the plant and how sensetive it is, it can kill it. I have used straight 3% hydrogen peroxide to dip plants for 3 or 4 minutes than rinse them off. I've never had a problem with this method. It will like most algae and parasites with ease. Don't think it will like snails though.

The Trigger

Kill algae* and won't kill snails*

Tex Gal

A potassium permanganate dip will kill snails. I've also read it will kill the eggs too. It will not kill the hair algae. I would do a bleach and P.P. dip to be safe.

corsair75

You can dip the plants in a copper solution and then rinse in saltwater to kill most stuff. Probably wouldn't affect algae, but I typically avoid that by selecting carefully at the river. The best solution is to quarantine them for a little while.

Most of the hitchhikers I've gotten have been pretty benign, but there are some freaky things on occasion. In my 6 gallon there is a pretty sizable insect that showed up (presumably much smaller) on one of the plants. It's neat, but it would be a nightmare if it was in a stocked tank!

Sophie and Mom

Thanks, folks. It isn't really collecting season here, yet, but I like to have knowledge ahead of time!