Is this setup ok for quarantine?

[Karen B.]

Greetings 

Plants hate me and I am not blessed with a green thumbs, sadly. I tried many ways to sterilize or quarantining plants and quite often everything die on me before I can put them in the aquarium. Plants are not cheap and I am about to become the first homeless person with 9 aquariums… 🤪

I found an online site in Quebec and bought (way too) many plants (because of shipping).

I let the plants soak for a night, rinced them, had them rest in dechlorinated water. 

I put gravel, root tabs, dechlorinator, excel and fertilizer in the tote. Added air, a light and the heater is on its way.

However many of the plants/leaves are touching so I am wondering if it will cause damage to the leaf and plants? Should I buy a 2nd tote to space out the plants?

Any other advice to help the plant acclimate to being submerged? I will leave them in the tote for a week or 2 before transferring them in my aquariums

Thank you!

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

This thread on preparing plants for an aquarium is super interesting!  It involves an overnight seltzer soak in a dark area.  The carbon dioxide is good for the plants, but it kills pest algae, planaria, snails, amongst other things that could be coming in on plants. I really like your plant quarantine setup.  And... that's a lot of plants!  They look good!

 

[Karen B.]

On 11/4/2022 at 10:38 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

This thread on preparing plants for an aquarium is super interesting!  It involves an overnight seltzer soak in a dark area.  The carbon dioxide is good for the plants, but it kills pest algae, planaria, snails, amongst other things that could be coming in on plants. I really like your plant quarantine setup.  And... that's a lot of plants!  They look good!

 

Thanks!

I hope they will stay that way. My fear is that since leaves are touching, it may damage them?

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/4/2022 at 8:09 PM, Karen B. said:

I hope they will stay that way. My fear is that since leaves are touching, it may damage them?

I think you'll be alright. Especially grouping them by the same type of plant in an area is beneficial to stop the chemical wars that plants do to one another to try and survive.  The plants are trying to adapt to your water and the new surroundings and I think they are almost always going to be in fight or flight mode.  My QT tank is a bucket with water and an airstone for however long I need to.  If it's for 3+ days then they get a light or set next to a window or something.  Plants can handle a week or so of pretty poor conditions, but the urgency after shipping is to get them wet, let them recover a little bit, and then get them in a place where they can grow and thrive without struggling to do so.  Whenever that place is ready for them, after you're done with dips and everything else, you're usually ok.

I've been there, and definitely struggled with plants. I feel your pain, and best of luck with these ones!