cleaning silk/plastic plants and decorations

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prettyvacant

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
Messages
159
Location
Quebec, Canada
I just have a quick question...
Today I was cleaning my tanks and noticed that my big grey/blue and pink/white rocks are really dirty...sorta brown. Also, my silk plants have become brown and especially my nice, tall green plastic plant. How can i clean these up? I have tried several times before, soaking them in hot water and attempting to scrub them...but it doesn't seem to work. Do any of you have any tricks on getting this stuff off?

Thanx
 
Dilute bleach usually gets stuborn algae off. Of course, then you have to rinse, rinse, rinse and then rinse again. Then, before putting it back in the tank, you must rinse again! :D
 
I was having real trouble with my HOB filter - it was not sucking up water well & going really slow. I kept scrubbing it but the brown slimy (I assume bacterial colonies) wouldn't come off & it didn't seem to help though I repeated this process over & over.

So I put all the parts in hydrogen peroxide & now my filter works like new. Hydrogen peroxide will break down & or kill living cells so I bet it would work on algae too. You have to rinse well but it doesn't seem to be quite such a problem as bleach & is not so toxic. When it breaks down it just releases water & oxygen.
Might want to give it a try. However, it might bleach you silk plants a bit - though bleach will do that too so . . .
 
I use vinegar. Take the plants out of the tank, soak them in a bowl or bucket over night and they should be clean the next morning. Dilute it though. I think I used maybe 1 cup of Vinegar and filled up a mixing bowl with water. Be sure to rinse and re-rinse before putting them back in the tank.
 
Oxyclean works fantastickly (is that a word?)! I wouldn't want to kill off everything in my filter.
 
every week i clean my the plants that in the section that I gravel vac that week. I use a toothbrush and the "dirty" removed tank water. I just use the toothbrush to scrub and in the tank water I don't have to rinse and rinse and then re-rinse. Works really well for me. The toothbrush is good too because it can get into all the little cracks and tight spots.
 
Pufferpunk said:
fantastickly (is that a word?)
It is when you spell it 'fantastically' lol. Not making fun or anything just letting you know, I am a good speller and like to correct spelling for some strange reason. :p
 
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