Cleaning live plants from any flukes

[ryanattard]

Hi,

Recently i have emptied my tank to treat against gill flukes. Fish are being treated with formalin. However I have a number of live plants which I don't wish to throw away...is there any way how to clean these from flukes without any harm to the plants?

if no, how much I should wait before putting the plants back so that I get rid of flukes naturally? I know that flukes will die if they don't find a host to live on.

[rickztahone]

Without ANY harm to the plants? Not likely. I have always loved plants, but I always love my discus more. Which means, if I have to subject the plants to harsh chemicals in order to ensure that nothing is catching a ride on them, then I do what I always do and I bleach dip them, which is really harsh, and most melt, but I know that the end product is clean. YMMV. There are other dips to help with hitch-hikers. None of which I feel are as effective as bleach.

[Moon]

I have always used Alum. One minute dip takes care of all the critters.

[Skip]

I have always used Alum. One minute dip takes care of all the critters.

i am a fan of ALUM for Snails on plants..

but Flukes are Parasites.. not sure why they would be found on plants..

also.. how did you know you had FLUKES in first place?

[Skip]

also have dipped with bleach solution..

[pitdogg2]

bleach or Potassium permanganate but many plants will not like either.

[ryanattard]

my discus were scratching all the time and shaking their heads sometimes, even new discus which I brought in after 2 wks they started scratching. I have lost also a couple of discus due to a breathing problem...so I said better treat and be safe then being sorry later on.... now i have some plants which I don't want to throw away (if possible).



can you describe the bleach-dip/ alum-dip procedure please?

[pitdogg2]

https://www.google.com/search?q=live+aquarium+plants+bleach+dip&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

[Akili]

my discus were scratching all the time and shaking their heads sometimes, even new discus which I brought in after 2 wks they started scratching. I have lost also a couple of discus due to a breathing problem...so I said better treat and be safe then being sorry later on.... now i have some plants which I don't want to throw away (if possible).



can you describe the bleach-dip/ alum-dip procedure please?Not too long ago someone asked about sterilizing plants in a discus tank,take a look at this it will useful be whatever method you decide to use. I went with Al's ( brewmaster15) method

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?115907-Sterilizing-plants-in-discus-tanks&highlight=clout

[Jack L]

i am a fan of ALUM for Snails on plants..

but Flukes are Parasites.. not sure why they would be found on plants..

also.. how did you know you had FLUKES in first place?

is ALUM on plants safer than bleach dip?

[Jack L]

my discus were scratching all the time and shaking their heads sometimes, even new discus which I brought in after 2 wks they started scratching. I have lost also a couple of discus due to a breathing problem...so I said better treat and be safe then being sorry later on.... now i have some plants which I don't want to throw away (if possible).



can you describe the bleach-dip/ alum-dip procedure please?

FWIW, these symptoms were the same i saw in mine after adding fish i didn't qtank correctly. flashing, gill scraping and 130+ breathing rate.

When the temps dropped i would then see ICH on them, at high temps it was just the symptons. i thought it was flukes, because i didn't see ich at first.

i never saw the gill problems associated with flukes. and i don't have a microscope to be certain.
i DID see ich only when temps dropped.

maybe i had flukes and ich both, not sure. but i know there was ich, it lives in gills and can go unseen. just and FYI.

[Akili]

is ALUM on plants safer than bleach dip?I think Alum that you find in the grocery store for pickling should be better than bleach and if it is good for humans than it should be good for the fish.I have used both alum and bleach to get rid of snails at different times over the years and found with Alum the snails came back many of the times on the other hand with bleach dip got rid of the snails but the some of the plants turned a bit on the brown side and was not able save those plants. For those failures I have concluded that my mix ratio was not correct.Last week I treated some plants with "Clout" a half a tablet in 2 gallons of water, soaked the plants for 24 hours . So far no snails and no plant damage.

[bonsai dave]

I have used food grade hydrogen peroxide in the past and have not killed any of my plants. Here is a link

http://theaquariumwiki.com/Hydrogen_peroxide

[Filip]

is ALUM on plants safer than bleach dip?

It's safer for plants, but not for discus.
Bleach is more of a "kill 'em all" in terms of any given nasties.
Alum is weakest, than comes Pp,and and at end of scale comes bleach in disinfection safety terms.

[Skip]

a buddy of mine gave me all his plants.. we were having some drinks at his house when i went to get them.. he was kind of wasted.. lol

so he was like.. hey.. i lets disinfect the plants before you take them.. he filled up his tub and poured ALOT of bleach.. lol.. we left them there while we had a few more beers.. when i left.. we rinsed them off.. and put them into my tank when i got home.. never saw any problems.. and the bleach/water was strong.. it was all in you nose.. LOL..

the plants were java ferns and Anubis.. :)

[rickztahone]

a buddy of mine gave me all his plants.. we were having some drinks at his house when i went to get them.. he was kind of wasted.. lol

so he was like.. hey.. i lets disinfect the plants before you take them.. he filled up his tub and poured ALOT of bleach.. lol.. we left them there while we had a few more beers.. when i left.. we rinsed them off.. and put them into my tank when i got home.. never saw any problems.. and the bleach/water was strong.. it was all in you nose.. LOL..

the plants were java ferns and Anubis.. :)

Those 2 are very resiliant. That isn't to say that they can withstand any ratio, but I have had the most luck dipping those 2 in the past with no problems. It is when you get in to the pricey plants that they tend to do really poorly with bleach dips.

[Jack L]

I think Alum that you find in the grocery store for pickling should be better than bleach and if it is good for humans than it should be good for the fish.I have used both alum and bleach to get rid of snails at different times over the years and found with Alum the snails came back many of the times on the other hand with bleach dip got rid of the snails but the some of the plants turned a bit on the brown side and was not able save those plants. For those failures I have concluded that my mix ratio was not correct.Last week I treated some plants with "Clout" a half a tablet in 2 gallons of water, soaked the plants for 24 hours . So far no snails and no plant damage.

okay thanks, i've only used bleach and it has been harsh on some plants.

[Jack L]

a buddy of mine gave me all his plants.. we were having some drinks at his house when i went to get them.. he was kind of wasted.. lol

so he was like.. hey.. i lets disinfect the plants before you take them.. he filled up his tub and poured ALOT of bleach.. lol.. we left them there while we had a few more beers.. when i left.. we rinsed them off.. and put them into my tank when i got home.. never saw any problems.. and the bleach/water was strong.. it was all in you nose.. LOL..

the plants were java ferns and Anubis.. :)

try that on crypts and i bet a different result will happen : )

[strawberryblonde]

I've always used bleach and never had any problems with my plants dying.

I use a 19:1 solution. So 1 part bleach to 19 parts water. Get two buckets ready, one with the bleach solution and one with a triple dose of safe or prime and water. Do this near your sink!

Dip the plant into the bleach solution by holding the roots in your hands. Count to 60 for normal plants (Swords, Anubias, etc) and count to 30 for crypts and vals. Now pull them out and quickly dip the roots into the solution, making sure that the base of the plant leaves also goes back into the solution. Count to 30 for normal plants and 15 for crypts and vals.

The minute the plant roots come out of the solution, run them under tap water to rinse well. Then toss the plant into the Safe or Prime treated bucket and continue on with the next plant.

When you're done with all your plants, dump the bleach solution, rinse the bucket well, then fill with water and add a triple dose of Safe or Prime. Remove the plants from the first bucket of Treated water, rinse lightly and dump them into the fresh bucket of treated water.

Let them sit for an hour, then rinse and plant them in your tank. Done. No more hitchhikers or pathogens on your plants.

[jimg]

some plants cannot tolerate any bleach strong enough to do any good, others can. i used to use pp then leave them in a separate tank for a few weeks to make sure no snails. plants need quarantine the same as a new fish would.

[ipace]

Just wondering.... if you treat the whole tank with a double dose of wormer plus to get rid of flukes..... wont this also kill them from the plants?

[jimg]

never tried it but it should.