# How do you "quarantine" plants or make sure they are clean?



## Ankit (Dec 9, 2006)

I'm going to be having plants come in from a few different sources and so I'd like to be sure that they didn't bring along any snails like I have had a big issue with in the past (maybe 8 years ago?) and anything else that might be harmful.

I have seperate 10 gallon tanks for this, but is there any chemical or something we can put in a bucket with the plants to kill of things besides the plant itself?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Here you go... Aquarium Plants | My views, Steve Hampton, on how to succeed with aquarium plants


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Yes, for plants only, you don't need to put them in a q-tank. A quick dip using one of the methods in the link Trena provided will do the job for you.

If it's fish, on the other hand, then a q-tank is necessary, IMO.


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## irish (Aug 12, 2006)

Im assuming that those will also work for any hitchhikers? :boxing: 

Irish


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

irish said:


> Im assuming that those will also work for any hitchhikers? :boxing:
> 
> Irish


Yes, as a rule the different dips will take care of most things.

On the other hand, on occasion you can get hitchhikers like baby shrimp (I guess I've sent some to people) or desirable snails like Nerites, so if you want to spare them, you might just want to stick the plants into a bucket of water before using a dip, to be sure there isn't something in there you want.


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