# Do you quarantine or treat new plants?



## Lindsey Dindsey (Jul 14, 2004)

Just wondering if there are any problems that could arise with placing new plants right in the tank. I have had a ton of issues in the past with introducing new fish with diseases (learned to quarantine them first), but can plants bring diseases or other issues?

I want to get some java fern to grow on my aquaterra 3d background. Any ideas how to attach it?


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## Cento (Mar 30, 2005)

Its very possible to bring minute snail eggs with the plant and not notice. There is a "plant dip" to kill any eggs but is harmless to the plant itself...

As far as attaching it to the foam background (I'll assume its foam), I'm not sure what your background looks like, but if there is any protrusions, you can try to tie the plants on with thread. Other then that, I can't think of a way without permanently making a small hole or mark on the background.

I'm sure others will chime in with some great ideas...


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Snails are plant hitch-hikers. You aren't talking about "wild" plants, right?

I'm going to try something with my 3D background. I bought old-fashioned black hairpins. I'm going to cut them back so there is just a little "U" and try pronging them into the foam over the java fern rhizomes.

Can't tell you it will work yet though, LOL.


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

I always sterilize any plants I buy no matter how clean they look. There can be worms or other critters besides snail eggs and snails on plants. I recently put a bunch of very clean looking anacharis into a plastic tub for a couple of days before sterilizing them and sure enough I saw a small red worm crawling around. You can use alum, bleach or potassium permanganate to sterilize the plants. PM me if you want directions.


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## Lindsey Dindsey (Jul 14, 2004)

Thanks for the replies. No not wild plants, and yes my background is foam, There isn't really anywhere to tie anything to. I don't mind making some small holes if I have to. The hairpin idea sounds good, maybe I will have to try it too.

All I really am going to have is java moss and maybe some java fern, I am not good with plants and my tank is low light so these sounded best to me. Sounds like I will definitely want to do some pretank procedures.

748- Sending a pm


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## SupeDM (Jan 26, 2009)

Beware the hairpins if they are metal they will rust or corrode and can get toxic.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Because they are made for use in hair which can be wet or sprayed, etc. I'm betting they are stainless. But in any case if they start to rust, they should be easy to remove and replace. Or with any luck by that time the plant will have rooted into the rough surface of the background.

Is there something you use instead?


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## kriskm (Dec 1, 2009)

A user here, fmueller, has several great planted tanks. Check out this link to see how he added plants to a DIY rock wall in his 240 gal.

http://www.fmueller.com/home/aquaristic/240g/plants/java-fern/


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

He built wells for the plants. That's not an option unless you have a DIY background. But it did inspire me, LOL!


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## kriskm (Dec 1, 2009)

If you scroll down the page, there's a picture of long staples he used to anchor java fern to the background. Sounded like it works well, if your background has something to stick the staples into.


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

In my South American tank I simply used push pins to hold my java ferns onto my driftwood. After about 8 weeks the ferns had a good hold so I removed the pins. They weren't even rusty.

I only test this water every couple of weeks or so, but I find it hard to believe a few grams of metal are going to corrode badly enough to harm any fish.

kevin


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Well I'm pretty sure staples are not stainless, LOL. So hopefully my hairpin idea will work. I'll let you know. :thumb:


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## Lindsey Dindsey (Jul 14, 2004)

Thanks everyone, lots of good ideas. Seems like any of them should work okay and like ridley said, I will probably just remove whatever I use after a short time anyway.


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## leopartner123 (Jun 29, 2009)

I always quarantine my plants for a few days after I buy them. I scrub and re scrub during those days. I made the mistake of putting them right in tank awhile back and ended up with a TON of snails and also HYDRA which was impossible to get rid of.


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## baseballer19 (Feb 5, 2009)

If you go to the hardware section of Home Depot and go to where they carry the staple guns you can get stainless steel staples. Also in the electrical department they will have rubber coated ones.


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## adder70 (Feb 23, 2010)

Lindsey Dindsey said:


> All I really am going to have is java moss and maybe some java fern, I am not good with plants and my tank is low light so these sounded best to me. Sounds like I will definitely want to do some pretank procedures.


Just an FYI on plants. Anubias is a pretty hardy plant type that grows slowly but steadily in low light situations. It's actually best in low light since algae will grow on it in bright lighting. It is compatible with almost all rift lake cichlids, and I have personally had it in with various cichlids (mbunas, peacocks, haplochromis) with no noticeable plant loss. There are several species that fit well in many different sizes of aquariums as well.


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