Preparation for planting

[Ron Hudson]

In conversation with discus breeder who appears reputable on website, he advises bleach (dilute!) soaking of new plants, followed of course with dechlorination, to remove contamination before planting my 125 gal tank planting.  Do you fell this is necessary with you quality plants?

[FrozenFins]

14 minutes ago, Ron Hudson said:

In conversation with discus breeder who appears reputable on website, he advises bleach (dilute!) soaking of new plants, followed of course with dechlorination, to remove contamination before planting my 125 gal tank planting.  Do you fell this is necessary with you quality plants?

I don't personally do it. This is to get rid of any hitch hikers or any potential parasites but I find that doing this maybe a bit over the top. To get a direct response from aquarium co-op email them: 

[Ken]

@Irene did some extensive testing on getting rid of hitchhikers (and not killing the plants in the process), she did at least one video and a blog on the topic. She settled on alum. I've been using her method successfully.

[Irene]

13 hours ago, Ken said:

@Irene did some extensive testing on getting rid of hitchhikers (and not killing the plants in the process), she did at least one video and a blog on the topic. She settled on alum. I've been using her method successfully.

FYI some of my more sensitive plants (e.g., guppy grass and some crypts) did not react kindly to the alum recipe (1 Tbsp alum per gallon soaking for 3 days), so I've done some experiments to limit the amount of time the plants soak in the alum. So far, my limited testing has shown that ramshorn snails, their eggs, and planaria were successfully eliminated after soaking for a mere 4 hours (at the same concentration of 1 Tbsp per gallon). The sensitive plants also survived the alum dip much better with that shortened time period. However, I need to do more testing to make sure that the recipe works for other types of pest snails.

[CT_]

On 1/13/2021 at 9:57 AM, Irene said:

FYI some of my more sensitive plants (e.g., guppy grass and some crypts) did not react kindly to the alum recipe (1 Tbsp alum per gallon soaking for 3 days), so I've done some experiments to limit the amount of time the plants soak in the alum. So far, my limited testing has shown that ramshorn snails, their eggs, and planaria were successfully eliminated after soaking for a mere 4 hours (at the same concentration of 1 Tbsp per gallon). The sensitive plants also survived the alum dip much better with that shortened time period. However, I need to do more testing to make sure that the recipe works for other types of pest snails.

Do you know if mosses take well to the Alum soak?

[Irene]

@CT_ My java and Christmas moss did fine with alum. I can't remember which other types of mosses I've tested before.