# plant dip and quarantine directions...



## Hopethisworks... (Mar 24, 2011)

Ive been searching this subject but,i get lots of different answers. Whats the best way to do this,just put them in the quarantine take without a dip and watch them? or what shoudl I dip them it? roots too? how long? In the quarantine take,do you just have a glass bottom or do u have substrate so they can start to root n recover?

Im new to this so anyhelp would greatly be appreciated!


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## killacross (Apr 29, 2010)

never heard of a quarantine tank for plants

however...you can usually just dip them in a weak bleach water solution to kill algae or even a diluted H2O2 bath

or if you wanna be fancy...you can dip them in [i think] a permanganate solution to kill off algae and snails


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

I was searching for the same thing. So, if I'm not worried about algae or snails, do I need to worry about trying to disinfect them?

PS: Killacross, your crawly bug got me!


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hopethisworks... said:


> Ive been searching this subject but,i get lots of different answers. Whats the best way to do this,just put them in the quarantine take without a dip and watch them? or what shoudl I dip them it? roots too? how long? In the quarantine take,do you just have a glass bottom or do u have substrate so they can start to root n recover?
> 
> Im new to this so anyhelp would greatly be appreciated!


Hi Hopethisworks,

No Snails! No Snails! No Snails! I have to work at it, but all of my tanks are absolutely snail-free and I like them that way.

I have tried Potassium permanganate, weak bleach, copper threatment, salt treatment, and alum treatment; those are all that I can think of off the top of my head. I have not found a dip treatment that is 100% effective against both live snails and snail eggs.

However, all of my tanks are snail free and have been for several years. How? I quarantine my plants for at least 30 days before putting them in my tanks. When I first receive a new plant I check it thoroughly for snails and pull off any that I see. Then I put the plant in a 2 liter container with six (6) drops of Seachem Cupramine. The copper in the Cupramine kills any adult snails and any baby snails that hatch from the eggs I missed. After 30 days at normal room temperature all of the eggs have hatched, the snails (including babies) are all dead, and I rinse the plant and put it in my tank.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Hmm... that is actually a GREAT idea!

Do you keep the quarantined plants in soil, like in the picture? Do you dose them with ferts? With anything other than cupramine?

I'm actually not worried about snails. I don't mind them being in my tanks. The first time I kept planted tanks, I did see the snails in the plants, but I was happy to get them. They were never a problem. I kept my tanks clean. I gave them regular maintenance. And I never overfed the few inhabitants I had. So there were usually only a handful of what I thought were adult snails.

I did see their eggs often, but I hardly ever saw babies. There were a few, most didn't live long. I wasn't trying to be mean, but I did not want a snail invasion, and I was not keeping a snail tank. However, since they aerated the soil, I wasn't angry that they were there.

Still, the tip you gave is a great addition to my arsenal of tidbits, thank you very much.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi TankAaron,

Some stem plants I just "float" while others are planted as you see in the picture. The container as a little gravel at the bottom, followed by 1" of Miracle-Grow Potting Mix (not organic), followed by about 1" of Special Kitty cat litter (the cheap stuff from Walmart). I try not to dose the water column unless necessary so as not to promote algae. If I do see live baby snails during the quarantine I re-dose the Seachem Cupramine.


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## TankAaron (Aug 8, 2014)

Again, ty for the ingenious tip. I plan on having this tank up for only a year, so I'm not too worried. But this is a great idea for future tanks, because there WILL be more, lol.


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Even easier is carbonated water. All snails will die. Not sure about eggs, but you can always repeat this 30 days later like Roy does.


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