The quarantine: it is one of the most important things you can do before you do anything else when you are introducing new plants or fish to the aquarium.
Unfortunately for hobbyists, many different parasites and unwanted organisms can hitch a ride into your tank on the back of your new fish or plant.
A quarantine ensures that you can remove any incoming parasites or general nasty critters that may have otherwise made it into your aquarium.
It is probably one of the most important aspects of keeping anything in an aquarium, even when buying from sources you know you can trust.
Quarantining need not be a stressful affair however, it is important that the time is taken to ensure that newcomers are clean and there are several ways of doing this with your plants.
A ten minute soak in Potassium Permangenate (also known as pale purple) works wonders.
This is particularly effective in killing bacteria and pathogens.
Alternatively, available from many drug stores, a two-day soak (one tablespoon per gallon) in alum is good if you want to kill snails and their eggs.
It is worth noting that if kept out of an environment which contains fish for roughly 21 days, parasites such as Ich and Velvet should die in the absence of fish hosts.
Another method of control is a soak in a 1:19 diluted bleach solution, two minutes for stem plants and three for tougher species.
It is very important that a thorough rinse of water is used to remove all traces of bleach.
This may kill plants and should only be used as a last ditch attempt to restore health.
There are many different methods of applying an effective quarantine to plants, the method you use should depend on the state of the plant and what it can cope with.
It is vitally important that quarantines are used in all circumstances, even if you can not detect anything wrong with what seems to be a perfectly healthy specimen.
Many of the nasty organisms which can make it into your tank or aquarium may not, in their initial stages, be visible to the naked eye.
In addition to the methods mentioned above, you could find many other different kinds, which may or not be more affective when trying to rid your plants of parasites.
If you are particularly struggling to control an outbreak in an existing aquarium, the more you know about the parasite and ways to kill it the more success you will have.
Unfortunately for hobbyists, many different parasites and unwanted organisms can hitch a ride into your tank on the back of your new fish or plant.
A quarantine ensures that you can remove any incoming parasites or general nasty critters that may have otherwise made it into your aquarium.
It is probably one of the most important aspects of keeping anything in an aquarium, even when buying from sources you know you can trust.
Quarantining need not be a stressful affair however, it is important that the time is taken to ensure that newcomers are clean and there are several ways of doing this with your plants.
A ten minute soak in Potassium Permangenate (also known as pale purple) works wonders.
This is particularly effective in killing bacteria and pathogens.
Alternatively, available from many drug stores, a two-day soak (one tablespoon per gallon) in alum is good if you want to kill snails and their eggs.
It is worth noting that if kept out of an environment which contains fish for roughly 21 days, parasites such as Ich and Velvet should die in the absence of fish hosts.
Another method of control is a soak in a 1:19 diluted bleach solution, two minutes for stem plants and three for tougher species.
It is very important that a thorough rinse of water is used to remove all traces of bleach.
This may kill plants and should only be used as a last ditch attempt to restore health.
There are many different methods of applying an effective quarantine to plants, the method you use should depend on the state of the plant and what it can cope with.
It is vitally important that quarantines are used in all circumstances, even if you can not detect anything wrong with what seems to be a perfectly healthy specimen.
Many of the nasty organisms which can make it into your tank or aquarium may not, in their initial stages, be visible to the naked eye.
In addition to the methods mentioned above, you could find many other different kinds, which may or not be more affective when trying to rid your plants of parasites.
If you are particularly struggling to control an outbreak in an existing aquarium, the more you know about the parasite and ways to kill it the more success you will have.