Wednesday 14 November 2012

How to Quarantine Aquatic Plants

So you finally bought home a nice aquatic plants... so do you put them directly into your tank?

My advice is DO NOT PLANT directly!! the reasons are fairly simple

  • LFS/Farm tanks/ponds are filthy may have pests like snail or even parasites
  • The plant you bought may being laced with pesticide , which is poisonous to shrimps and invertebrates 
So how do you actually clean them? there are several ways

1) Repeated rinse with tap water, soak in tap water for several hours; for me, i soak for 1-2 days .I will put it back into the plastic bag ( after cleaning) put in some water and let it float in the tank ( with light, it won't die so easily). During the soaking, you can monitor whether is there any hitchhiker floating/crawling around the bag.

2) Soak with anti snail/ diluted salt solution. The soaking is not 100% effective as i still can see some hitchhikers now and then. Note: must rinse the plant and soak it with tap water at least 2-3 times before introducing plants.

3) Soak with diluted bleach( warning, try this at your own risk) some people diluted bleach (1:10) and soak the plants in it for 1 minute. Then, rinse with anti chlorine treated water until there is no more chlorine smell. FYI: I did try this for algae infested plants and this does not work well with some plants as the plants withers away after few days. It works with some hardy plants like ferns...but i do not recommend it if you do not know what you are doing, just to share how it works.

4) It is best if you have a quarantine tank with lights, some fish and few cheapo shrimps to spare. This is to check whether there is any residue pesticide after your "proper" cleaning

The reason i wrote this because my friend (bluebubbles) and i accidentally bought some pesticide laced plants and caused few casualty despite we soak and quarantine it for several hours. 

After this incident, i always clean, soak, quarantine, try out with cheapo shrimp before introducing the plant into my shrimp tank... hope you guys learn from our experience...:)

FAQs

Q: My cheap plants are like 1 dollar per bunch, so tedious to quarantine and clean them?
A: There are no right or wrong answer, some people just plant them and no problem at all but better play safe if you have sensitive critters

Q: My plants are cultures plants 10+ bucks, do i need to clean them?
A: My answer is yes, you still need to clean off the gels on their root. I find them rich in nutrient and causes some fungus growth

Q:my plants are expensive, i worry i might kill it
A: i do agree there is a chance for you to mess up and kill the plants. well at least flush it with de-chlorinated water and quarantine them if you have doubts

Q; my plants are emerge plants from farm, do i need to quarantine them?
A: yes, emerge plants may have pesticide too

Q;do you have expensive plants? how you manage to buy them
A; i buy from hobbyist, LFS, farms....you want to know how i buy them? pay money or exchange with my existing plants lah... hahaha

Q; I got no money, can you give me some plants?
A; i admit this hobby is not rewarding, i can't give you money or plant but i can show you how to earn some passive income, check out the below links.

Patric Chan's website
George Brandon's website

its better for me to teach you how to fish rather than pass you the fish directly.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

IAPLC Rank #1379...lucky i am not last....:)








The result for IAPLC is OUT!!!!
http://en.iaplc.com/results12/results12.html

i am ranked 1379..... not too shabby..at least not last...wahahaha

So now my headache is next rescape.....hmmm what should i do next... any suggestions??