Bleached plants for a little too long

[AnthonyDuong]

I was changing my tank substrate so I needed to take all my plants out. I figured I might as well kill the hair algae on the plants too. The plants that had a lot of hair algae on them I dipped in diluted bleach water of a ratio of 1:20. Maybe I left the plants in there a little too long. Say 10-15 minutes? I read that I should've dipped them in for 3-4 mins but it still looked like the hair algae was on the leaves so I let them soak longer until I no longer saw algae.

I took them out of the bleach water and then rinsed them for a bit and let them soak in prime water for 15-20 mins. I smelled the water and the plants and they had no hint of bleach to them. I let it airdry to make sure all the bleach has evaporated then I put it back in the tank.

The plant looked really good for the first day. I haven't seen my plants without the hair algae for months. By day 3 the leaves started to wither away a little. Day 5 the leaves are completely gone!


The plant is a Hygrophila angustifolia.

Here's a link for a picture of a healthy plant
Aquatic Plants for Freshwater Aquariums: Hygrophila Angustifolia


Same thing happening to this plant, but it's putting up a fight not to die. Or just deteriorating much slower. It's a cryptocoryne plant

My question is, is the plant completely dead?
Will the leaves of the plants grow back eventually?
Should I remove the plants from the tank?


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[schoeplein]

They're pretty beat up, but still alive. I'd use hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach the next time. Fairly instant reaction with algae, and much, much less harmful to your plants.