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Some time ago I think I read in this forum about how to bleach plants to get algae off.

My anubias has a very dark green coating of algae growing on its leaves that I can't simply rub off. The poor plant is getting covered.

My mistake I believe is having it in direct light 3.5 wpg, with c02 and liquid ferts.

Any suggestions to getting the algae off my poor plant, including bleaching if need be.

Mr Gudgeon

I would like to know too. More specifically, when you dip the plant do you also include dipping the roots, or just the leaves?

I believe it is a 19:1 Water to Bleach ratio with a dip for up to a minute.

I also thought I read somewhere that anubias can survive in a damp baggie that is placed in a dark closet for a few weeks to kill off the algae. Has anyone heard this?

I do 10:1 bleach solution (1 part bleach, of course). I don't actually measure it, just fill a sink and pour in a little bit of bleach and dip the plant for a minute. Anubias is pretty strong, but other delicate plants might not take this treatment very well.

After dipping the plant, the algae will die and become white. It will take a couple of days for it to detach from the plant and for the plant to look as new.

I dip the whole plant, roots too. Never killed any of my plants.

When I did this one time with hair algae, it turned bright red when I had returned it to the tank . I ended up clipping off the worst leaves after it wouldn't come off a few days later. If I had left it, it would have come off, or was it taken out too soon?

Can you name some of the other plants you succesfully bleached?

I know for a fact that val's cannot tolerate it. How about Java Fern? I don't have a leaf on my java fern that isn't covered in a velvety mossy algae. I only recently started adding co2 and was hoping to see it die off, but I think it is really entrenched . Could the Java Fern roots be bleached like the anubias?

I now bleach every new plant before I put it in the tank because I read a theory somewhere where the guy said that new species of algae may be introduced to your tank with new plants, algae that you would otherwise not have. Now, I'm very sceptical about "new theories", but I thought to myself that this doesn't require too much effort and that even if it doesn't help anything, it wouldn't harm them.

I have never had hair algae, so it might turn red. I remember some of my algae turning black too. The first time I bleached a plant I cut the worst infected leaves off because I couldn't scrab the algae off them, but the little algae that was on other leaves went away after a while, so I don't bother anymore and it always go away after few days, but again, this might not be true for all algae.

Basically almost every plant can be bleached. I don't have a list of plants that can't be bleached, but I would use common sense with it. I wouldn't bleach java moss for instance. I never bleached vals (just because I got mine before I started bleaching all plants, but I think I would give it a go if you didn't tell me they can't stand it). Java fern is an excellent candidate for bleaching. Like anubias it is very sturdy and can stand more than the recommended one minute, but you don't really need to dip it for more than a minute any way (at least in my experience).

Plants which I have bleached: java fern, anubias nana, ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata ("Cuba", limnophilla aromatica, stargrass and didiplis diandra. They all did well afterwards.

In the case of the anubias, I would bag the plant in a tightly sealed plastic bag with no more than 3 tablespoons of water. Put it in the closet for a week. At the end of the week, check its state. You should be able to replant it sans algae.
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This is from the Algone company website http://www.algone.com:

Plants can also carry fungus, bacteria, snails, algae, and diseases. It is advisable to disinfect the new arrivals. Potassium permanganate (10 minute bath) will rid the plants of bacteria.

Snails and their eggs can be removed with a 2 day bath in alum using 1-2 tablespoons and one Gallon of water.

Commercially available plants are kept without fish, which will eliminate the risk of introducing diseases. If in doubt a 3 week holding period will eliminate most threatening diseases such as velvet or ICH due to the lack of a host.

Plants showing algae growth can be dipped in a 1:20 bleach solution for not more than 2-3 minutes. Rinse and wash of the plants after the dip in water treated with a conditioner to de-chlorinate the plants before placing them in the tank.
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I would not dip the roots in the bleach bath.

Last edited by bob wesolowski at 13-Mar-2005 17:19

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Thanks Bob. I knew somewhere I read tht Anubias, Java Moss, and maybe even Java Fern may survive well in a few tablespoons of water in a baggie, then placed in a dark room. Somewhere I read that a guy had forgotten about it a month or longer, and it was just fine. Talk about low light.

I use Alum, followed by Potassium Permangenate (Jungle's Clear Water).

I bleached my Java Moss and it looks perfectly fine, in fact I did it a few minutes ago, using 20:1 water:bleach solution, for roughly a minute or two. I do have a bunch of Java Moss in a 1L bowl that I can test it on, to see if Java Moss can tolerate, but I'm pretty sure it can.