Bleach Dip for New Plants

[katt-ja]

i did a simple bleach dip for some news pants i got for my aquarium because i noticed some snail eggs on them. 1 part bleach to 19 parts water and dip them for 2 minutes. i then rinsed them twice with de-chlorinator. put a bit of dechlorinator in my tank and then put the plants in my tank. i noticed the sacks of snail eggs still stuck to some parts of the plant. do you think they are still going to hatch? i'm really not sure.... it is the first time i did a dip for new plants.

[bs6749]

It's doubtful that the snail eggs were harmed. In general, using chlorine to kill off algae and snails is not the best idea since it can kill the plants quite easily and it doesn't do as good of a job and isn't as safe for the plants as other alternatives.

To kill off snails and snail eggs you should use aluminum sulfate (Alum/Alum USP) at a rate of 3 tablespoons per gallon of water as a dip for 2.5-3 hours. This is MUCH more effective for getting rid of snail eggs.

[katt-ja]

where do i get that stuff??

[marnold]

I belive you can get it at a local greenhouse.It is used in gardening as well!

[bs6749]

Sorry, I forgot to leave that info in my post. You can get the aluminum sulfate at a pharmacy.

[SimplyMe]

Got my Alum at India grocery shop.

[katt-ja]

the bleach dip worked with killing the snails and eggs. and the plants are fine.

[TankWatcher]

I've used a bleach dip with anubia before (for algae) & it worked great. Wasn't so sure how it would go with more sensitive plants though. Which plants did you bleach katt-ja?

[katt-ja]

some vals and a renkii. i think that is what they are called. there is slight blemishing on the renkii but it's growing well.

[ewolfe315]

I use the bleach method on my annubias with success. Dipped them for 2 minutes,wiped them off, re dipped them and then placed them in dechlorinized water. Placed them back in the tank and had Angels laying eggs all over the leaves.

So I (imo) would do this again if needed. I forget what other plants I did it to, but that was the end of that algae so far.