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Quarantine Plants

567 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  thisisabbylee
Hello,

I've just bought new live plants for my aquarium. This isn't the first live plant in my aquarium but it's the first time I'm adding a live plant with a betta fish living in the tank as well.

The plant is frog bit. I rinsed it in tap water and it's sitting in dechlorinated water now. I'm wondering how long I should quarantine the plant for (if at all) and if I should be dipping it in a solution to make it safe for my fish. It doesn't appear to have any visible pests on it.

I don't like the idea of using chemicals because everywhere online seems to have a different idea of which measurements are safe and I don't want to end up killing the plant, or worse, harming my fish. I'll use chemicals if necessary but I'd rather not.

I understand that not using chemicals may mean having to quarantine the plant longer, or it may mean a higher risk to my fish. If that's the case, I will just not add the plants.

I've seen online that it is recommended to quarantine plants from between 2 weeks and a month. I'd feel more comfortable hearing from some people who have done it with success.

So a summary:

Is quarantining the plant necessary?
Is quarantining the plant enough to make it safe for my betta?
How long should the plant be quarantined?
What are the chances that my plant could still carry something harmful to my tank after quarantining?

Thank you for your time!
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Hi! Welcome!!

Let me see if I can find a thread I saw not too long about about this, although I don't know if frogbit was mentioned specifically...
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Well, drat, I can't find the thread, but I seem to recall some people suggested 24 hours in dechlorinated water. Other people, if they really trust their source like @RussellTheShihTzu don't quarantine at all.
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Well, drat, I can't find the thread, but I seem to recall some people suggested 24 hours in dechlorinated water. Other people, if they really trust their source like @RussellTheShihTzu don't quarantine at all.
Thanks so much for your effort and the information!
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Thanks so much for your effort and the information!
Did you buy them from somewhere that has them in the tank with fish? My supplier has a bucket of solution that he soaks them in for 5 mins before we take them home, he also doesn’t have fish in his plant tanks so I feel good about putting them right in.
I bought a bunch of hornwort from petsmart a while back, rinsed in hot water but nothing else...and now I have a pond snail problem 🙄
You can use hydrogen peroxide if it’s super diluted. I can’t remember the ratio now but I want to say around 2ml per gallon of water. I used to do this for 2-3 mins then rinse really well.
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Did you buy them from somewhere that has them in the tank with fish? My supplier has a bucket of solution that he soaks them in for 5 mins before we take them home, he also doesn’t have fish in his plant tanks so I feel good about putting them right in.
I bought a bunch of hornwort from petsmart a while back, rinsed in hot water but nothing else...and now I have a pond snail problem 🙄
You can use hydrogen peroxide if it’s super diluted. I can’t remember the ratio now but I want to say around 2ml per gallon of water. I used to do this for 2-3 mins then rinse really well.
I did buy them from a store that kept plants separate from fish.

Thanks so much for the info I really appreciate it!
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