I bought a couple of plants today and thought i would share my experience with disinfecting plants in order to get rid of any unwanted parasites (like Ich that can hitchhike on the little bit of water droplets attached to a plant). Even if the tank you bought the plants from does not contain fish, snails or snail eggs can travel on plants, which in turn, can have parasites.
Required: Potassium Permanganate (PP) - also called Condy Crystals, purchased from most any chemist. Apparently they used PP to disinfect lettuce back in the day :)
To Make A Stock Solution (courtesy my forum at thegab.com):
"Thoroughly wash and dry a 1 liter coke (or other) bottle.
Fill the bottle half full of hot tap water.
Add two and one-half (2-1/2) LEVEL TEAspoons (about 15 grams) of PP to the bottle.
Cap the bottle and shake very well for one minute.
Let the resulting purple-black solution stand for 10 to 15 minutes. Shake occasionally.
Invert the bottle and inspect the bottom and sides for any PP crystals which have not dissolved. Continue shaking until all have dissolved.
Top-off the bottle with additional tap water (hot, cold, warm... no matter) and shake once more to mix.
The resulting "stock solution" contains 15 grams of potassium permanganate per liter (15g/L of KMnO4 or a 1.5% dilution).
Then using that stock solution:
1 ppm = 0.25 mL of stock solution per US Gallon.
Then you use the stock solution at the following doses to get the ppm you want to use.
1 ppm = 0.25 mL of stock solution per US Gallon
2 ppm = 0.50 mL of stock solution per US Gallon
3 ppm = 0.75 mL of stock solution per US Gallon
4 ppm = 1.0 mL of stock solution per US Gallon
5 ppm = 1.25 mL of stock solution per US Gallon
6 ppm = 1.5 mL of stock solution per US Gallon
...
10ppm = 2.5 mL of stock solution per US Gallon
So if you have a 10 gallon tank and want a 3ppm concentration, You'd add 7.5 ml."
I used an 8L plastic bucket, filled it with cold water and added a 5ml concentration to it (since 1US g = about 4L) (tsp used = 0.625ml x 8)
Soak the plants overnight (not just 30 minutes). Drain and add fresh water. Stir in some water conditioner/dechlorinator which will neutralise the PP. Double the dosage on the dechlorinator. Rinse plants again. Add to tank
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