# New plants qt and disinfecting?



## Friendlyfishies (Aug 16, 2012)

I got my new plants about 4 days ago, ive had them in qt tank without light and filter, just water to see if there was any snails or anything...I did have a snail but it appeared dead in the delivery bag...I havent seen any other snails but I would like to get these plants in the tanks so they can get some light...i dont think these plants were ever in a fish tank with fish, i ordered them from a nursery so im not too worried about my fish getting anything but i would like to disinfect them before placing them in the tank...is 4 or 5 days enough time for qt and should i just use salt to disinfect them...if so how?


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

I've never disinfected plants, and I have snails.

Mystery snails are $1, but my ramshorns were free.  I like the free clean-up crew.


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## rosy delta (Jul 17, 2012)

i have snails now too... not sure how happy i am. i dont mind one but i keep finding new ones. i washed my plants before putting them in the tank, but the snails must have been either very tiny or just eggs. my LPS suggested rinsing the plants off before planting in your tank.


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

you can do dips for snails such as bleach, potassium pomogranite or alum, some plants will melt in bleach dips so you have to be careful. The trick to controling snail populations is to not overfeed your fish and to keep the tank clean. You can easily cut down on snail populations by dropping a piece of veggie, like lettuce into the tank at night and in the morning it should be covered in snails. It wont completely get rid of them but can cut down the population. or you can get some assassin snails. 
TBH I think you need to quarantine for a few weeks to assess snail population on new plant, and they need some light while you quarantine.


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## Sowman (Aug 19, 2011)

I just got a bunch of plants and put them in a QT. The first few days it looked good until today; i have 3-4 snails. I'm just going to remove them until I don't see any for at least a week. Also, you'll have to give the plants light as they need it to survive.


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