How to Quarantine Aquarium Plants – While most of us are excited to introduce our recently acquired aquatic plants into our well-established planted tanks, freshly added plants have the potential to introduce dangerous chemicals and pests into the aquarium. Unless you bought tissue culture plants, pests like snails are a natural part of the ecosystem and may decide to make your planted tank their new home. Many of these rapidly proliferating pests might become unsightly, while others can damage your wildlife and cause you to lose your shrimp and fish.
This post will discuss the reasons behind quarantining new plants before adding them to a fresh water aquarium as well as how to make sure the plants are safe to introduce.
Before we go any further, let me clarify that tissue culture plants, also known as in-vitro plants, are safe to add to your aquariums right away since they have been sterilized and are free of pesticides, bacteria, algae, and other hazardous substances. For additional information, see this article: Tissue Culture vs. Potted Plants.
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How to Quarantine Aquarium Plants
Our new plants should be kept in a different fish-free tank or container than the one they will be placed in, just like we do with fish during the quarantine period.
Before putting them in the aquarium they are supposed to go in, it is advised that they be kept in this quarantine tank and observed for three to four weeks. To ensure that the plants thrive during this period, make sure they have enough lighting and fertilizer. It is not required to use a filter.
During the quarantine time, remember to do regular water changes as well. In order to reduce the duration of this period to one week, you should do daily full water changes and treat the quarantine tank with a water conditioner, such as SL-Aqua Black More Stabilizer, which will aid in the binding of pesticides and other residues.
Suggested Techniques for Sterilizing Water Plants
You should take out any dead or withering leaves from the aquarium plants’ roots as well as any rock wool before sterilizing. After giving the plants a good rinsing, set them aside. The sterilizing procedure comes next. You can use the following sterilizing dips and their corresponding methods to clean the plants in your aquarium:
Dip in Bleach
- Obtain some unscented bleach, and ensure that it is free of any additional chemicals that can damage the plants.
- To be safe, put on some disposable gloves.
- Take a jar and fill it with one part bleach to every twenty parts water for the dip.
- Get another container of water ready and add some dechlorinator to it. SL-Aqua Black More Stabilizer or Seachem Prime are the two products we advise using.
- If the plants are delicate, completely soak them in the bleach solution for around 90 seconds.
- Hardier plants can withstand submersion for up to 120 seconds, including most stem plants and species of Echinodorus and Bucephalandra. Hardy plants such as Java fern and Anubias can withstand 150 seconds of submersion.
- After the plants have finished soaking, give them a thorough rinse under a faucet for at least a minute. Make an effort to wash off any leftover bleach from them.
- Put them in the container with water and a five to ten minute dechlorinator dosage. After that, you can put them in their quarantine tank.