Quarantining/Treating New Plants

[Nana Finopolis]

I have 3 planted tanks and have never quarantined/treated my plants (didn't know I maybe should have). I really don't care for snails but it's not the end of the world if they sneak in. I don't want other parasites that might be ride-a-longs though. I worry most about BBA which I learned about the hard way. What do you all do, if anything to treat and/or quarantine new plants when you get them?

I set up my first Aquarium Co-op sponge filter in my 20L yesterday. I really like it. I have a feeling the gold white cloud fry appreciate not having to spend so much energy swimming against the HOB current. Maybe they'll grow faster?

Thanks for your opinions,

Kathy & Dice. 🐟

Edited August 20, 2020 by Dice

[DaveSamsell]

@Dice, All I can speak from is personal experience.  In an ideal situation, sure, everything should be quarantined.  

Personally, I don't quarantine plants when purchased from reputable sellers and never had issues.  Now, that's just me.  

You maybe hard pressed to find plants with 0% snails.  I like and intentionally purchase additional snails because of the wonderful job they do with algae, uneaten food, etc.  But, that is a individual preference, in having snails or not.

BTW, some of my fish use the HOB water flow as a "fish treadmill" and like to swim against the current.  Kind of funny to watch......

 

[Nana Finopolis]

4 hours ago, DaveSamsell said:

@Dice, All I can speak from is personal experience.  In an ideal situation, sure, everything should be quarantined.  

Personally, I don't quarantine plants when purchased from reputable sellers and never had issues.  Now, that's just me.  

You maybe hard pressed to find plants with 0% snails.  I like and intentionally purchase additional snails because of the wonderful job they do with algae, uneaten food, etc.  But, that is a individual preference, in having snails or not.

BTW, some of my fish use the HOB water flow as a "fish treadmill" and like to swim against the current.  Kind of funny to watch......

 

Thanks for responding.  As you can see, I couldn't wait to give him his playground. Thanks Aquarium Co-op! He investigated every nook and cranny of those plants, lol. I don't have any hardscape wood or rocks in there, so not sure if things will be moved around or not. All my other tanks are planted, it was so hard to stare at an empty tank with one fish.

Edited August 24, 2020 by Dice

[DaveSamsell]

21 hours ago, Dice said:

Thanks for responding.  As you can see, I couldn't wait to give him his playground. Thanks Aquarium Co-op! He investigated every nook and cranny of those plants, lol. I don't have any hardscape wood or rocks in there, so not sure if things will be moved around or not. All my other tanks are planted, it was so hard to stare at an empty tank with one fish.

@Dice, Nice looking fish & aquarium.  95% of my aquarium plants are from the Co-Op & our experiences with the purchased plants have been wonderful.  Good luck with everything...

[ADMWNDSR83]

I just planted 8 plants from the Co-op, and found a few little surprises as the snails started emerging, but they have been helpful with the tank, especially since I've not gotten a clean up crew yet!  Right now I have 3 swordtails holding down the fort, but next payday promises at least a pleco of some sort or a start of a cory shoal, depending on availability at the LFS. 

[RunningRiot]

Hi @Dice - From personal experience, I would recommend quarantine of plants if (for you) the downside is high or a lot of work. And, important to note, the pests could be more than snails.

In a nutshell: "I got a great deal" on bulk plants from a reputable online store (not coop) and, without QT, it turned into more work than I saved on plants because of the types of tanks and fish/inverts I had. 

My teaching moment was planaria, leeches, and some red worms infecting: 1 mystery/feeder snail colony (also plant for profit tank), 1 shrimp colony(+another plant for profit tank), and 2 feeder snail colonies. It was a perfect storm where: no predators for the worms, I was away for a week (no problem with my tanks), and slightly overfed colonies to push production. The cost was a few weeks cleanup/medicating/clearing task and shrimp/snail losses because I can't be producing/giving away infested plants. Those tanks did contrast with no effect on my apisto and display tanks where I assume the worms were just extra fish food and only received a treatment to prevent cross contamination.

So I would just decide where your tanks sit on that spectrum and then decide to QT or not.

If wondering, my plant QT is (now): they spend four days in a tote with a light, old aquarium water, and pancur-C (fenbendazole) at 0.1 gram per 10 gallons (its another youtuber's inexpensive method...just giving credit as I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say their name)

Also note: when I say "for profit tank", its more "offset the cost of my hobby and have fun/trade experiment tanks" than a business

-RunningRiot

[genuine_red]

@Dice, if all the plants in the tank are from the same shipment, they're kinda already quarantining??