Dissenfecting plants

M

mina

Guest
I know there is another thread on this, but I need to disenffect some plants.I had a fish die, and I didnt see it for a few days, so it got fungussy or something. anyways, iknow there arecertain timesits bettertojust hrow it out, but irregardless, how should I dissnfect them,and I alsoneed to disenfects a smallplastic tank, what ratio of bleach to water. thanks! I also have an unidentified pleant I need a name for.
 
The disinfecting with bleach ratio is 1 part bleach to 10 parts water.
Why don't you post a picture of the plant you need a name for?
 
I dont know if I would use bleach. Try a more natural products, boiling water will kill fungus and bacteria.
 
Bleach dips work great for aquatic plants and decorations that would melt if boiled, so long as you make certain to rinse them thoroughly after the process.
 
Boiling water can kill fungus and bacteria, but with some of the species that produce spores or with parasites that encyst it may not be enough. Also, boiling water can easily misshape plastics.

Most sterilization techniques require both high temperatures and pressure to kill microorganisms. Bleach should remove even more contaminants than straight boiling water, but time is an important factor. Bleach should be applied for at least 20 minutes but up to an hour to have a decent effect. That is the time it takes to inactivate Clostridium botulinum a bacteria that forms spores. Bleach also won't work on some protozoans that encyst like crytosporidosis.

Why do you need to disinfect? If a fish died and you were worried about the subsequent fungus, I wouldn't be. Dead organisms rapidly decay under water and fungus is a main component of that. The fungus you saw was more than likely a detrivore and not pathogenic.
 
I would not sterilize under these circumstances. Remove anything with obvious fungus, do a major water change (20-50%) and that's probably sufficient.

By the way, are the plants live or artificial?
 
There's a creek near where I live with some watercrest and moss in it. Is watercrest okay to use in a newt tank? I picked some up and have them in a separate tank of water. Would you suggest treating them with bleach? Are there any other methods? I'm kind of nervous about using bleach. After soaking them in the bleach/water solution, would I have to rinse the plants with water and then resoak them in clean water to make sure there is no bleach left on them? Thanks for your help.

is this actually watercrest?
80187.jpg


I'm not sure what type of moss this is or if it's okay for a newt tank. Does anyone recognize it? It was growing on a rock just barely above the surface of the water, still damp.
80188.jpg
 
hmm... I read on an fish aquarium forum that someone suggested using Potassium Permanganate (KMn04) to disinfect plants. Has anyone here tried or heard of using it? What would the dosage be and for how long? I read that you can buy it at Home Depot.

Also, what about using a product such as Pimafix (antifungal) or Melafix (antibacterial) that are normally used for treating fish diseases? I've got some now since I use it for my fish tank. The active ingredient in Melafix is melaleuca and in Pimafix it's pimenta racemosa.
 
Thanks for that link, Rebekka. I've heard of using potassium permanganate, but have never seen instructions for it.

The problem with most plants from outdoors is that either they need more light than a normal aquarium provides, or else they need different temperature or other conditions. They usually die off sooner or later.
 
It should be noted that potassium permanganate will dye your clothing or anything else you splash it on. It's really a pain to remove stains from this chemical. The website didn't mention this, so I thought I would bring it up.
 
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