# Sterilizing Plants



## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

I plan on tearing down my 10 gal guppy tank because there is something in there that has been killing off my guppies.

What I would like to ask everyone is, is it necessary to sterilize the plants from that tank and if so, how should I go about doing so? I plan on keeping quite a few of them since they are in great shape to put back into the tank once it's been thoroughly cleaned out.

Thanks.


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

personally, I'd try my best to figure out what's killing the guppies first... 
If you're not sure what's killing them, how can you be sure that thoroughly cleaning out the tank will fix whatever's broken?

On the OTHER hand...  
if you're going to tear down the tank, sterilize EVERYTHING. 
Nets, hoses, filter, etc... everything that goes in the tank.
(it would be quite a bummer to go through all that work, then discover it was something as simple as bacteria on the net.  )


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## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

Ive got the same issue. I dont use nets and the tank is 40 tall, lots of water, 3-4" of flourite black and over 100w of light.

they are dropping like flies. PWc more then PWC nothing has helped, even replaced the filters completely with new units

The only thing I can think of is when I soaked my plants in alum I soaked a piece of wood that had fern and moss tied to it.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

Big_Fish said:


> personally, I'd try my best to figure out what's killing the guppies first...
> If you're not sure what's killing them, how can you be sure that thoroughly cleaning out the tank will fix whatever's broken?
> 
> On the OTHER hand...
> ...


I have a strong feeling that some type of bacteria is what's been killing them. One of the guppies died very suddenly. So quick that I didn't even have time to get him out of the tank. He was bloated and his scales were sticking out which is why I think bacteria is to blame. Some of my guppies had callamanus worms which I treated the tank for but I know that wouldn't have made the others bloat out like a pine cone. There was only one that didn't bloat but the rest all had the symptoms of Dropsy.

Since I do plan on tearing down the tank, how should I go about sterilizing everything? What I normally use is water and vinegar(mostly vinegar, not a lot of water) and then I rinse everything very well. I don't like to use bleach since the mere scent of it makes me want to pass out. Would the vinegar and water suffice or should I use something different? Also, would the plants be able to handle being dipped in a vinegar/water solution?



WhiteDevil said:


> Ive got the same issue. I dont use nets and the tank is 40 tall, lots of water, 3-4" of flourite black and over 100w of light.
> 
> they are dropping like flies. PWc more then PWC nothing has helped, even replaced the filters completely with new units
> 
> The only thing I can think of is when I soaked my plants in alum I soaked a piece of wood that had fern and moss tied to it.


It's frustrating, isn't it? I'm wondering if someone or something is trying to tell me that I shouldn't be keeping guppies. I have two left who are in a hospital tank right now and the one doesn't look too good today which is upsetting because I've had him for almost two years. If I lose all of my babies, I'm tempted to get a betta for that tank instead.


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

I use vinegar to get rid of the Chlorine smell....  
although I'm NOT positive, I don't think vinegar is gonna do the trick in this case... 

Boiling, or bleach/chlorine are the only things I'm aware of that will kill anything in the tank. (although there may also be specialty products on the market)


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## Ridgeback (Feb 6, 2010)

Red_Rose said:


> I plan on tearing down my 10 gal guppy tank because there is something in there that has been killing off my guppies.
> 
> What I would like to ask everyone is, is it necessary to sterilize the plants from that tank and if so, how should I go about doing so? I plan on keeping quite a few of them since they are in great shape to put back into the tank once it's been thoroughly cleaned out.
> 
> Thanks.


I would try one of the two options for sterilizing plants:

Give the plants a bath in 1 part bleach to 19 parts water for two minutes (I used this to remove some pesky algae from some plants...it worked great). Follow this up with a bath in dechlorinated water for at least 5 minutes.

Another option is to give the plants a 15-20 minute bath in Potassium Permanganate (KMNO4) solution. I know AquaBotanic.com sells a pre-mixed solution you can buy. You may also be able to get some concentrated solution elsewhere and make the solution yourself (Aquabotanic uses a 3% solution...mix 1 oz per 1 gallon of water.) This will take care just about everything evil that could be on your plants. :laser:

Hope this helps...


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Potassium permanganate. Sears sells it in the water filter/plumbing area.(Sears Hardware any way)
Becareful not to get any crystals on your skin. Add enough crystals to turn the water a dark pink. Soak for 20 min. and rinse and then use dechlor to neutralize.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

I'll give the potassium permanganate a try. I'd really like to keep my crypts so I'll try disinfecting them in this stuff.

Thank you!


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Wear nitrile gloves and safety glasses when handling. The crystals and strong solution can burn.


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