# Plant dip?



## Animal House (Jun 1, 2006)

Hello all,

I’m redoing my planted aquarium after an infestation with worms has jumbled my substrate and suspended all my natural soil. I’m looking for a recipe to make a dipping solution for my plants when tearing down my tank so that any invertebrate eggs will be killed off but not harm my plants as I am looking to replant them in my newer hi-tech tank. Thanks!


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Jungle makes a product called Clear Water. The active ingredient is potassium permangenate and it's great stuff for dipping plants in. Make sure you rinse them in clean water before introducing them into the tank. 

Mix up a batch of water and Jungle Clear Water until it turns purple. Soak the plants for an hour or two and then rinse.


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

So you did decide to tear down your tank, Animal House. I hope the worms don't appear and cause problems in your new tank! What are you going to do with the worms from the soil in your current tank? It would be interesting to catch a few and see exactly what they look like. 

Oh, and do be careful with the potassium permangenate dip - I've noticed some plant species melt or die completely after being soaked for a while. 

From Alex.


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## Animal House (Jun 1, 2006)

*Thanks guys*

Yeah I did decide to tear down the tank, the worms made the tank so cloudy that you couldn't see through one side to the other. I've tried just about everything and have decided to just knock them out but am looking forward to getting some revenge on them when I dig up the dirt. I'll definitely be careful with the potassium permanganate, I work at a research lab so I have access to the stuff but does anybody know what percentage or molar solution I should be using. Thanks again everybody, you've been most helpful!


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I'm not sure on the exact solution. I suppose you could look at the recommended dosage on a bottle of Jungle Clear Water and figure it out that way. I've never used the pure stuff before.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

People use alum and dilute chlorox as plant dips.
I would Google or check one of the other forums for this information.


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## Minipol (Jul 4, 2006)

I've heard people use a 1 to 20 sollution of bleech to dip plants in (not the roots). 1 or 2 minutes max and a lot of stuff is out.
I have only done that for algae infested bogwood and it worked.
You have to rinse the bleech of quite well before putting anything back into the aquarium.


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## Animal House (Jun 1, 2006)

I think I'm going to need to dip the roots as well to get rid of possible worm eggs. Dose anyone have any ideas as to what would work in the scenario?


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

Animal House said:


> I think I'm going to need to dip the roots as well to get rid of possible worm eggs.


Wouldn't you normally dip the entire plant anyway? When I dip plants I always submerge the entire plant in the solution.

When I read that you wanted to get rid of worm eggs, I thought it would be interesting to find out if worms actually lay eggs or not (I always thought they mainly reproduced asexually by dividing), so I had did a quick search. I found some interesting articles on Wikipedia about Annelid worms:

This one is about Annelid worms in general. It seems that some kinds of aquatic worms, such as blackworms, do divide, whereas others reproduce sexually and secrete fluid filled cocoons in which the larvae develop!

This short article is about the Oligochaeta, which includes blackworms and Tubifex worms.

This article is about the Polychaetes, which are the closest thing I can find to the "feathery" worms I have in my tank.

And, just out of interest, this article is about a newly discovered worm called the Bone Eating Snot Flower! I'm not joking! And if you think the name is odd, just wait until you read where it lives and what it eats!

From Alex.


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## Minipol (Jul 4, 2006)

Wow, i can't see myself going to the LFS and asking for treatment against the "Bone Eating Snot Flower" 
That would be hilarious  arty:


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Miss Fishy,

You continue to entertain and enlighten us with some very interesting information.  

The whale-eating worm website is awesome!


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## Animal House (Jun 1, 2006)

Thanks everybody for all the help! I'll let you know how I make out!!


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