How to kill a sword in 3 simple steps

[Jchillin]

First, take a BBA infested sword.

Second, give it an excel bath

Third, submerge the roots...make sure you leave it in for >10 minutes

Viola!

Morale - Don't submerge your plant roots in Excel.

 

[JDogg]

Good to know, sorry about your sword

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I've submerged several plants in 150ml Excel in 1G water with excellent results, roots and all. I did it with Java moss, crypts, R. Rotundafolio, and 2 swords. I soaked for approx 10 minutes. No damage to the plants, and the algae dissolved away in 3-4 days.

 

[Jchillin]

I will say, all of the BBA is gone from the leaves. At least that portion of the method worked.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Is it completely dead or are you going to let it see if it will send out new leaves? Maybe the old leaves are dead, but the roots might still be ok.

 

[Zezmo]

I have done the pure Excel rinse as well. In moderation, followed by a good rinse it will destroy algae. But, at some point the dousing will kill nearly anything. I had an Anubias that I soaked for a while, the leaves and roots were burnt, and disolved. The rhizome, was also damaged on the outside, but it did survive.

 

[An t-iasg]

Sorry, JC. You gave it a good effort! I hope the sword comes back.

Once I mixed a small amount of water (just put a little bit in a plastic cup) and put a very small amount of Excel in the water. I dipped a Q-tip in that mixture and wiped an Anubias nana off. I only rubbed for two or three seconds per leaf and then rinsed for about 30 seconds. The plant didn't die but it looked like all the shine came off the leaves. They didn't look any better than before I tried. It did grow new leaves, so in time I cut all the bad-looking ones off. I learned my lesson! I guess the mixture was stronger than I thought it was.

 

[7Enigma]

I'm still partial to the bleach dip (2 min). Any ideas on whether that would have been a better choice for the sword?

 

[Jchillin]

Is it completely dead or are you going to let it see if it will send out new leaves? Maybe the old leaves are dead, but the roots might still be ok.

No, the roots were completely destroyed...completely brown and a bit slimey. She is gone.

I dipped a Q-tip in that mixture and wiped an Anubias nana off. I only rubbed for two or three seconds per leaf and then rinsed for about 30 seconds.

Sword leaves are so huge...but your method sounds a bit better. I believe the dosage I used, along with the accidental submerging of the roots caused the problem.

I'm still partial to the bleach dip (2 min). Any ideas on whether that would have been a better choice for the sword?

I have two smaller swords and I will be testing both your method and An t-iasg's this weekend. I'll post the results.

 

[Argblarg]

I also was successful with the bleach dip at 1/20th strength for a few minutes. I left it in there until the BBA started to turn a lighter shade of red. Rinsed it off and everything was fine.

 

[Vmax911]

Don't feel too bad. I recently gave a bunch of anacharis and hornwort a bleach bath. I remembered the mix ratio was 25:1, but I neglected to concern myself with the time in the bath. Ten minutes later the anacharis had melted and the hornwort fell apart.

I actually kept some of the anacharis I thought would survive. The leaves went transparent in a few days and I thought all was lost. Now, the very tips are turning green and getting new growth. Plants can be pretty resilient.

 

[7Enigma]

Forgot to mention mine was 1:20 dilution!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Cool, good info in here. Last time I did a bleach dip, it not only killed the algae, but also the plant, lol. But then again, at the time I thought I had read a 10:1 solution for 3 minutes. The plant didn't make it. Haven't done bleach since.