# Cleaning New Plants?



## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

I just purchased some anacharis earlier. It was floating in the store tank but I seen a snail on one of the potted plants. 
Is there a way to clean the plants before I put them in my aquariums?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

you can use a bleach solution. I do not know the strength, but I would not put it into the tank until you have done that. Snails once in are impossible to get out.


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## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

I don't want any snails. They creep me out, lol.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Try doing a search through this forum. I know even in the last few days people have posted about the bleach formula. If not go way back and read posts by JustOneMore20 or SueM. I mean WAYYYYYY back for that, but they will have posts that you would probably be interested in.


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## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

I looked on the last page in the plant section and found this:


> You can try a bleach bath (not recommended). Try 1 part bleach to 30 parts water.


It was in a thread about cleaning algae off plants, but do you think this is good to prevent snails too?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

1 part bleach.....19 parts water....submerge plants and swish them around for a couple of seconds......put something on top of them to keep them submerged...soak fore 2 minutes...not 10 seconds longer....not 10 seconds shorter....2 minutes....
remove and rinse several times in clean fresh water...this bath will kill both snails and their eggs as well as other critters such as leeches etc...


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## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

Thanks! I'll do that today, I have to go buy the bleach first


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Alum works. It won't kill the plants and sterilizes them well.


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## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

So once I wash the plants and rinse them off, they should be safe to put in a tank with shrimp?



> Alum works. It won't kill the plants and sterilizes them well.


Is it something I could find in wal mart?


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Yes they are fine to put back into the tank after you have rinsed them really well. If you are worried put some dechlor in the tank when you put the plants in. You don't need to do that but you can if it makes you feel better.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I haven't been able to find alum anywhere so I don't think so.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

alum is easy to find..drugstore..healthfood stores etc...i have used alum..works pretty good on snails...but not on snail eggs...
hmmmmmm.....i just googled "alum"..........very first listing was for alum at $2.99 a pound......
maybe california google doesn't work for certain things...


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I prefer not to buy off just any site as they could mess with our pay pal. I have looked at walgreens, cvs pharmacy, and a few other places and they didn't have any pure alum. Another way to sterilize plants is baking soda and water. (that's what I've heard, but I'm not 100 percent sure)


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## iheartfish:) (Jan 19, 2011)

Baking soda and water? I doubt it. All it does is raise the hardness. If anything it would make the snails happier as it would help them grow their shells. Maybe baking soda and vinegar?


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

That's what I've heard... Idk if it's true though.


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