Disinfecting plants?

[Sharpy]

Hi there. I recently put a fish in QT with some (I think) large amount java moss. The fish died (I still am unsure of the cause, I believe it may have been swim bladder disease). The fish that passed had been in the community tank when it started showing symptoms, and the other fish are still looking fine.

I was wondering if it was still possible to salvage the plant, and use it in a tank with fish ever again? I rinsed the plant thoroughly, will that be enough? Is there any kind of chemical I could use?


Oh, and I'm fairly certain it was a passable disease, as a bunch of the fish at the LFS I bought it from had it when I went back there the other day. (possiblilty of it just being a defect from that batch of them is there, but I'm not sure how much of a chance that is)

 

[Devilishturtles]

I was wondering if it was still possible to salvage the plant, and use it in a tank with fish ever again? I rinsed the plant thoroughly, will that be enough? Is there any kind of chemical I could use?

Alot of people use Potassium Permanganate, which can be found sometimes OTC at your local Pharmacy. Otherwise, you can mix a solution of 1 part bleach to 30 parts water, and soak the plants for about 10 minutes. I've never done it, but this is just what I have read from others.

 

[Jchillin]

I was wondering if it was still possible to salvage the plant, and use it in a tank with fish ever again? I rinsed the plant thoroughly, will that be enough? Is there any kind of chemical I could use?

Alot of people use Potassium Permanganate, which can be found sometimes OTC at your local Pharmacy. Otherwise, you can mix a solution of 1 part bleach to 30 parts water, and soak the plants for about 10 minutes. I've never done it, but this is just what I have read from others.

*You got it right DT.

I did the bleach solution to treat some java ferns I recieved from a member whose tank had suffered an ich outbreak. Plants are doing well and no problems with ich in the tank.

 

[dskidmore]

I was wondering if it was still possible to salvage the plant, and use it in a tank with fish ever again? I rinsed the plant thoroughly, will that be enough? Is there any kind of chemical I could use?

Alot of people use Potassium Permanganate, which can be found sometimes OTC at your local Pharmacy. Otherwise, you can mix a solution of 1 part bleach to 30 parts water, and soak the plants for about 10 minutes. I've never done it, but this is just what I have read from others.

Be careful not to overdo the bleach thing. I nearly killed the stem plants I tried it on, but the broadleafs came through ok.

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

For really frilly plants (hornwort, cabomba) you really need to cut down the bleach time. Java moss may fall under this category. Generally, most pathogenic bacteria have a very narrow host range and a limited lifespan outside of a host. If you don't need the qt, time could do the work for you. Another option is to treat with antibiotics that can be removed with activated carbon.

 

[An t-iasg]

I had a nice anubias and some crypts in my 5 gallon betta tank. The betta died suddenly and I suspected parasites. I put the plants in a critter keeper for three weeks. Without a fish host, I thought that any parasites on the plants would die. I wasn't sure how long to leave the plants in the critter keeper, but three weeks seems to have been a good guess! I have had those plants (and also new ones) in the tank with the "new" betta for 8 months now, and everything is fine.