FishShack
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I just bought some plants from the LFS. Should they be rinsed off with tap water before putting in my tank?
I just bought some plants from the LFS. Should they be rinsed off with tap water before putting in my tank?
jcolon said:Before that, dip them for a few seconds in hydrogen peroxide ... helps to kill off snails and any other possible parasites. Then a rinse in tap water.
tulip55555 said:I have done some research on this and I don't think that h202 kills snails. I actually just today used potassium permanganate to disinfect. It worked GREAT!! tons of little snails fell right off. This is the link to the procedure I used. Postassium permanganate is the active ingredient in Jungle's Clear Water and it's pretty cheap.
Jake’s Planted Aquarium Pages | Disinfecting Plants – Before or After
I didn't know about it being the active ingredient in that product (though I don't ever remember seeing that brand in local stores). I agree that potassium permanganate is effective...the problem was always where you could find it when hydrogen peroxide is on the shelf of every grocery and drug store on the planet.
However, seeing pond snails alive on plants, then appearing dead in a bowl of h2o2 (once I left them on a paper towel long after the bath to see if they moved...they did not) and never having a single snail in my DT despite all the plants I have is proof enough for me that the hydrogen peroxide is effective...and also easily available.
A) 3.5% Pharmaceutical Grade: This is the grade sold at your local drugstore or supermarket. This product is not recommended for internal use. It contains an assortment of stabilizers which shouldn't be ingested. Various stabilizers include: acetanilide, phenol, sodium stanate and tertrasodium phosphate.
jetajockey said:Looks like something worthy of some testing. I know of using PP, I have some, not that I've bothered, but yeah.
I've used peroxide to keep fungus off of fish eggs, so I wonder what % concentration it needs to actually kill snails and their eggs.
One thing of concern with using pharmacy grade H2o2 is the extra stabilizers that are in it. Here's a snippet from The Many Benefits of Hydrogen Peroxide By Dr. David G. Williams
I've no idea what effect those stabilizers have in aquaria, so I can't comment further.
Either way, if I continue to feel motivated then I may experiment a little and do some testing to see just how effective both it and potassium permanganate are.