plants Do you quarantine plants?

[Kat_Rigel]

While plants don't necessarily host fish diseases, I am concerned about adding them straight to my tank in case of hitchhikers. Does anyone here recommend quarantining plants? From what I have read online, 2-3weeks is enough time for any potential parasites/diseases to die off due to not having a host. I'm not concerned about snails because I have oodles of assassin snails; and I've never really heard of a plant killing the other plants in a tank due to some kind of plant disease.

I suppose it wouldn't be too tough to set up something small to quarantine. Do you think it would be reasonable to have them hang out in an outdoor tub for 2 weeks? The plants in question are anubias nana petite and crypt lutea.

TIA, I am learning so much on this forum. 

[Daniel]

I don’t quarantine my plants. 

[MickS77]

I don't bother with it. If you put them in an outdoor I'd worry about them getting some funky algae on them, then bringing that into your tank. 

[shkote]

I don't quarantine plants from reliable sources. I did lose an entire tank of anubias a few years back that had been established for years after introducing 1 plant that ended up having a weird fungus that I didn't catch.

I've never had an issue with Aquarium Coop plants causing any problems and don't bother treating or quarantining them, but if I were to get plants from another place that I'm not familiar with, I may consider it.

Another place had plants grown outdoors and I have ended up with dragonfly and damsel fly nymphs through hitchhiking eggs. I know a lot of hobbyists that grow plants out in their ponds and sell excess, another good reason to treat and quarantine from new sources or places you aren't familiar with. 

[Solidus1833]

I don't quarantine my plants either. While some may think the bladder snails 'hitchhikers' are pests, i enjoy them. My clown loach pack love to hunt them. 

[Meow Aquatics]

I don't. But I have gotten plants from a place that I assume just flips them after buying as emerged. They send a card that warns they may contained pesticides and that they should be quarantines for a few weeks. So I try to avoid those kinds. 

[varanidguy]

I don't but probably should lol.

I've toyed with the idea of having a conversion tank where I can house plants before adding them to the display, not caring about living creatures simply blasting it with co2, tons of light, and nutrients. But then figured I'd still get transitional melt when changing over to the livestock friendly display tanks (one high tech with co2 and one low tech dirted).

[Streetwise]

I put new plants in my utility tanks for a while, but only because I usually can't plant them right when they arrive. Sometimes they will grow out, and I will get more bits to plant in more places. I probably have a dozen cups underwater awaiting inspiration!

Edited August 11, 2020 by Streetwise

[Andy's Fish Den]

I don't quarantine plants, I do look them over good to check for snails or snail eggs, and I fill a container full of room temp tap water that I dip them in and run my fingers over the leave, but kind of hard to do with most stem plants. I just figure if there's anything on the leaves it will help wash off, then I dump that water down the drain. I have a tank that I have been collecting plants in and getting them converted to submerged growth, and will be replanting into other tanks as I get my fish room redone this fall and winter.

[Ryo Watanabe]

I don’t quarantine plants. I think most people do it because they are afraid of snails but even if there are snails that enter your tank from the plant, they won’t multiply very quickly unless you’re over feeding or there’s too much organic waste material in your tank. Just my opinion 🙂

[dublicious]

My mentality is usually "better safe than sorry", especially when it's as easy as throwing plants in a different tank for a brief observation period. I don't do it for long (week or two) because I don't think fish pathogens would often survive long without a host, and even if they did you can't really look at plants for symptoms of fish diseases. You'd also get a sense of what hitchhikers you might get. I don't always worry about snails, but it's good to know what you're putting in your tank in either way.

Edited August 11, 2020 by dublicious
clarification

[Shadow_Arbor]

I always quarantine plants. I have a ten liter bucket with a light and an air stone that I use for this purpose. I quarantine for four days with No Planaria. This is done by adding the plants, turning on the light, adding some fertilizer and the airstone. Then I add a X5 dose of no planaria every day for three days. Then I rinse the plants really well, soak them for another day in clean water, then add them to my tank.

This works great for me with all types of plants, even high tech plants.

 

Edit: for fish pathogens, because I soak my plants for three days then rinse them really well, then soak them again and rinse once more before adding to the tank, I believe that the chance of a pathogen getting in my tank is very low as the original water on the plant has been heavily diluted

Edited August 11, 2020 by Shadow_Arbor

[Dean’s Fishroom]

While I don't typically think of myself as a plant person. I do quarantine any new plants to rid them of snails before going into my tanks. If it weren't for them potentially having snails, I'd just rinse them off and add them to the tank.