How to keep (fake) aquarium plants clean?

[eco23]

I've got lots of nice decor in my new 48 gallon, and in past tanks I've had they always get nasty with algae and other stuff. Are there any good tricks to keep them clean and looking new?

 

[siva]

My nerite snails keep everything clean.

 

[smarsh7903]

+1 to nerites. Don't reproduce either. Otocinclus is good too

Sent from my X10a using Aquarium

 

[McLumpy]

My artificial plants get some algae build-up too. Surprisingly this even happens w/ a Pleco and 2 Clown Loaches in my tank. I think they just get too lazy to clean them. lol

What I normally do, (during an extensive pwc), is rinse the plants one at a time in the bucket of old tank water and rub the plants down w/ my finger tips. However, if you really want to get them clean, you could use a sterile soft-bristle toothbrush. Of course you don't want to go too overboard and remove the beneficial bacteria from the plants.

 

[jakeandwendy]

maybe off topic but has anyone had rust colored spots appear on the fabric of their fake plants? we washed them off and it looks like a stain but it was on the plastic flower too. it came off the flower but not the fabric leaves. any ideas?

 

[eco23]

Jakeandwendy, are you on city water or a well? It could be iron. Iron deposits in well water set into things and are notoriously hard to scrub off (I work for a water purification company and we have lots of well water customers who had iron staining... looks like rust).

 

[McLumpy]

maybe off topic but has anyone had rust colored spots appear on the fabric of their fake plants? we washed them off and it looks like a stain but it was on the plastic flower too. it came off the flower but not the fabric leaves. any ideas?

That rust colored stuff is called Diatoms. My 10 gallon just started getting a mass of it growing everywhere. I had a silk plant in my 55 gallon when I had a Diatom bloom and it stained the plant so bad that I just took it out of the tank. I'm not sure if there's anything that you can do to get the stains out of a silk plant.

 

[jakeandwendy]

are they dangerous? is there anyway to prevent them?

 

[McLumpy]

are they dangerous? is there anyway to prevent them?

All algae can become dangerous to your fish if it gets out of hand. From what I understand, Diatoms usually present themselves in newer tanks, (like my 10 gallon that's only 1.5 months old), or if the water quality is poor. I don't know exactly how to prevent them, but I would think that if you keep up on water changes and closely monitor your parameters, you should be fine.

I believe that any pleco or snail would be a beneficial addition to your tank as well. Unfortunately, I will be forced to use an algae scrubber on the sides of my tank to remove the Diatoms. Sadly, I don't have a clean-up crew in my 10 gallon, just my Betta and African Dwarf Frogs.

 

[Humanis1993]

Get an Otto or a Cory cat

 

[McLumpy]

Get an Otto or a Cory cat

Are you suggesting this to me or jakeandwendy?

 

[Humanis1993]

To anyone who needs something to clean their tank from algae and diatoms. Plecos do clean but they are very messy and make bigger messes then what they clean.(poop alot)

 

[McLumpy]

To anyone who needs something to clean their tank from algae and diatoms. Plecos do clean but they are very messy and make bigger messes then what they clean.(poop alot)

Gotcha. I was just checking because I don't think I can add algae eaters to my tank because of my ADF's.

Eh, yep, Plecos do poop a lot! LOL I have a Common Pleco and he's a messy bugger!! But, he's one cool cat and keeps the others in check, so I let him get away w/ all teh poops!

 

[Humanis1993]

Ottos love diatoms and will eat that stuff up. Depending on your tank size get 1-5 of them as they are schooling fish but they can also be kept alone. But make sure the other fish in the tank are peaceful because these little critters can't defend themselves as they only get to 1.5-2" in length.

 

[Humanis1993]

I thought ADFs were peaceful fish? Lay time I checked they get along fairly well with other bottom feeders. But then again I don't have any. Do they make a lot of noise?

 

[McLumpy]

I thought ADFs were peaceful fish? Lay time I checked they get along fairly well with other bottom feeders. But then again I don't have any. Do they make a lot of noise?

Yeah, they're extremely peaceful. However, I don't want to chance them becoming someone's dinner. That would make me uber . I have yet to hear them make noise, but from what I understand, the males do a mating call whether there's another frog around or not.

Btw, I knew you meant to type "frog" not "fish".

 

[siva]

I'm sorry, no, cory cats do not eat algea.

 

[siva]

Hey I've never heard any of my frogs do it either, what's up with that..

 

[Humanis1993]

Cories help keep the tank clean by eating leftover food that sits on the bottom. You're right silva. But I never said that they did eat algae. The Otto on the other hand does eat algae and diatoms.