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Id like to use this to clean my new plants ill be getting for my 90g, as i have had problems with getting snails and have heard ich can even be transfered on plants.. does anyone use this? How much do u would you suggest if you where preparing the plants in a 2.5g bucket? Would a heavey salt bath of like 20 mins be a better (safer) option? any advise will help..

THNKS A TON!!!
-CJ

Potassium permanganate...

"A dark purple salt KMnO4 used as an oxidizer and disinfectant."

I suppose you could use this disinfectant but a safe amount to dose for plants is unknown to me.

Most hobbyists choose to soak their new plants in a bucket of chlorine-free warm water, shaking them on and off for an hour.

The water is poured off, new water added and the process repeated.

--garyroland.

I've never used KMnO4. If you haven't bought it yet, go get some Alum (aluminum sulfate) from the grocery store. It works just as well and is pretty cheap. That's the stuff I use at the store I work at. It will kill prozoans and bacteria, no problem.

Even pest worms that sometimes get into hygro and anachris can't survive ten minutes in that stuff. Needless to say, it'll get rid of snail eggs and shock snails enough to knock them off the plants.

Dose a tablespoon per gallon of water, mix it in as well as it will allow, and then soak the plants for about ten minutes. DON'T FORGET to rinse them off really well after you dip them... I don't think it would hurt the fish, but alum can't be all that great for a tank; you want to rinse off dead and dying material, anyway. Don't worry too much about dechlorinating the water for a rinse; the plants don't care. I usually just rinse mine off under the tap.

Last edited by wolfie8113 at 29-Oct-2004 14:13

Good stuff!!!.. will try the Alum.. and will wash really well, sounds like that should kill any nasties on the plant.. i just want to be as carefull as possible as i just lost 5 fish to ich, and dont want to interduce anything at all to the dissinfected tank without taking all precausions.. after all if the plant dies due to treatment i just have to buy another plant.. if it infects my whole tank ill have a big problem again..


Thnks again!!!!

CJ

Last edited by Wompa at 29-Oct-2004 18:48

I swear what I told you to do won't kill the plants you buy. I use this method on hundreds of plants every week and have for the last two years... it won't hurt them. If you do have problems with the plants you're adding, though, there might be something else wrong with the tank (old ich meds destroy some species).

Cool, thats the method ill use then. thnks again for the info!!!

-CJ

I agree with Wolfie. I have used alum and keep a couple of jars in my house. I found snail eggs on some anacharis in several clumps. The only info I could find on the net at the time was to soak them in an alum solution for 2-3 days to rid of snails and eggs.

I put them in a bucket and provided light 12 hours a day and some agitation with an airstone on and off.

I watched as the snail egg clumps dissolved from one day to the next until they were gone by day 3. It did take the full three days. Now maybe they would have been destroyed regardless after a few hours. However, I never had snails in my tank and didn't want them in there. I figured I'd rather throw the anacharis out if it didn't work out.

I had also read that the stuff was good for killing parasites, planaria and hydra.

I have used Potassium Permangenate, but I bought it as Jungle's Clear Water. After I do an alum soak and rinse well, I pour Clear Water into a bucket of water as much as was needed to turn it a dark purple. I soaked for 10 minutes.

I used water that had been conditioned and sitting at room temp for several days. I have found that if you freshly condition water and use the PP, it can turn brown. Whatever is in the conditioner seems to react with it. Once brown it is not good. The reason I use this is that it destroys bacteria. I did not do this with my valisneria as I had read that it may be the most sensitive.

Call me overprotective, but I'd rather throw out a plant any day and take that loss over putting my fish at risk, or getting unwanted snails.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 30-Oct-2004 10:56

[link=http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1445&highlight=potassium+permanganate]http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1445&highlight=potassium+permanganate" style="COLOR: #FF4040[/link]

When potassium premanganate is used correctly, it is not as harsh as bleach, yet kills more than alum does. I've soaked new plants in it and watched little tiny snails fall off, and it takes care of algae spores as well, not to mention anything else that's small and biological. You use just enough to make the water you're using as a dip a light pink, which is next to nothing. I have a 6 oz. bottle of the stuff and it will probably last me years even though I use it as a net dip as well.

Correctly used, it is less likely to kill delicate plants, or cause delicate plants to "melt" initially.

Alum is good, but takes days and does nothing for algae. It's more for bugs / snails.