# Cleaning Live Plants



## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

Hi- when I came home from work, I smelled something really bad- no, it wasn't the unwashed dishes (well, they didn't help) but I found it coming from my bucket of new plants I was going to put in my tank!

I bought the plants a few days ago, but wanted them to be in my fresh water for a few days. I see nice healthy growth, but the stench! Something rotted!

How can I make sure that they don't poison my fish? I'm going to trim any dead leaves, but I was thinking of rinsing them in water w/baking soda. I don't know why I think this is a good idea- I guess I'm trying to think of a way to remove "cooties" for lack of a more scientific term. Has this happened to anyone else?

This is also not the 1st time this has happened to me. These are aquatic plants; they should be able to be in a bucket of water a few days, right? It happens w/ plants I've purchased on-line & @ Petcosmart. If I leave the foliage outside of the water, it dries up, but submersed, they rot!


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## jstn (Feb 10, 2013)

What kind of plants did you get? sounds like you got something nonaquatic. Maybe mondo grass or purple waffle? They are commonly sold as aquatic but like peace lily and lucky bamboo, they cannot be submerged for very long before they rot. your plants should never make your place smell worse. 

Without knowing what kind if plants they are i would just chuck em.


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## mushumouse (Dec 29, 2012)

so you're saying some of the leaves rotted, but meanwhile it was sprouting new growth? i think that's pretty normal when a plant is taken out of one water source and put in another. it happened on the plants i got, a few leaves would die or "melt" off and then new ones would sprout as it adjusted to new conditions. i read that this happens a lot at the time, so i just got rid of the leaves that were getting gross and it turned out fine. i don't think you need to worry about bacteria or anything as long as it didn't get moldy or something, though i don't know for sure so hopefully someone else will answer. maybe you should just leave them there for a few days with a light over them, change the water and keep pulling off dead leaves & mooshy parts, see if it stops after a while. 

i googled aquatic plants melting and came up with this video which talks about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYS-0Nmos2w


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

The problem is that I spend a TON of money on plants only to have them "melt", so chucking them is what I've been doing. If I just have to keep tossing them, I may as well just use plastic plants. I need to know how to get live ones to survive that rinse/QT period b/f I plant them.
These are fully aquatic, but I don't know the names; a couple of ferns & stem plants- I can take their picture.


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## Jayloo (Mar 13, 2013)

@Xaltd1 : I bred bettas for a year and a half before I purchased live plants. In saying this, the point is, I am no expert on plants. BUT in my opinion (which probably doesn't count for too much) I would purchase only "easy to keep" plants. I'm pretty sure you can google for a list. I just keep java moss, anarchist, and moss balls. Just thought I'd offer an idea so you don't become discouraged with your plants.


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## jstn (Feb 10, 2013)

Xaltd1 said:


> The problem is that I spend a TON of money on plants only to have them "melt", so chucking them is what I've been doing. If I just have to keep tossing them, I may as well just use plastic plants. I need to know how to get live ones to survive that rinse/QT period b/f I plant them.
> These are fully aquatic, but I don't know the names; a couple of ferns & stem plants- I can take their picture.


Ohhh i understand dude. So heres the thing about fish tanks: sometimes some plants dont work in them. There really isnt anything you can do besides some measures that may end up being more expensive thab finding a plant that works with your set up. 

2 or 3 plants and some java moss is plenty of greenery if you propogate all your plants. have you considered large rocks?

Pics would be awesome. I would also like to see your tank as a whole.


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

I'm battling an algae problem in my 29 gallon right now, which is why I bought more plants. I've put so much work (& heartache) into this tank that I'm dying to have a nice picture. I got a new background (black) & some colored fake plants for accents. I have driftwood & large chunks of slag glass that match the gravel (bright blue). It would be camera-ready IF I didn't have bronchitis right now. I keep starting fish projects & I run out of energy after hauling a few water pails... the bleeping algae on the tank sides seems to come back the minute I scrape it off. I went to buy some more oto cats yesterday (SUPER algae vacuums!) but Petco was out. The otos are wild caught & incredibly prone to die-off; I only have the 2 from the original 5 I bought. I bought some MTS on-line & they were all DOA! I have been having bad luck!!!


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## jstn (Feb 10, 2013)

That rough bro. You should be able to find some mts at your lfs. They might not even know they have them and you can usually get them for free or like a quarter a piece. 

Im not so much interested in the asthetic value so much as i would be able to offer more info if i had a pic l. But dont stress yourself out about it bro, i will get an email when you post lol


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

I'm off work for the rest of the week so I can take my time w/ the fish...
Stay tuned.
I do have a nice RCS farm I started in a 5-gal hex I used to use for bettas. I planted it w/ the semi-aquatic dracena I had. The RCS LOVE to climb the stalks & eat the rotting plant tissue. I was actually thinking of putting my new plants in there for a week so the shrimp can eat the rotten leaves! Right now they are all baby shrimp (about 30); when they get larger, I can send them off to do battle in my betta tanks (a suicide mission!).


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## Aluka (Dec 25, 2012)

is your plants getting any light while in the bucket? Even in qt, you need to give them some light, or else they will melt and die =<


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## Xaltd1 (Dec 9, 2012)

They haave some light, but you're right. I didn't think a day w/o full sun would melt them- they just melt soooo quickly!


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