Do I need to dip the plants?

I have tried with 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. You can dip for 2-5 min and then rinse under running water. Some people do this; some people don't. It all depends on how careful you want to be. Nowadays, I couldn't care for one more snail or two mre duckweeds so I don't really bother. I do, however, let the new plants stay in a bucket full of fresh water for at least 2 hours before I plant them.


Paul

Here's an article by Steve Hampton on this specific topic. Very infromative on various methods. Please read!

http://www.aquariaplants.com/plantdipsbaths.htm

If you're talking chlorine bleach, I strongly suggest you don't go stronger than a 5% bleach (1 part bleach to 19 water) dilution. I have lost sensitive species at 2 minutes in this concentration, and it's the one that is recommended generally.

Amber,

Why you need to dip the plants? Unless you have heavily algaed plants, I question the need for this. I have collected plants from the wild several times and the only treatment I have done to them is to rinse them well with running water. Thoroughly inspect them visually to remove anything hitching a ride, and let them sit in a bucket for a couple of hours. As Aquaverde said, be careful with the bleach.

Hey Bert

I got some plants from an auction and am just being cautious, the plants have been sitting in a bucket full of water since yesterday, I decided against dipping them in bleach and water; did a thorough check this morning (the sun was out ... yaaaay) and found nothing unusual so the plants are in my tanks right now.

Thanks for the advises and link.

Cheers 8)