Cleaning Artificial Plants

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NixMix

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 1, 2010
1,151
6
38
South Carolina
I know this isn't for real plants but I had a quick question... As far as "cleaning/sterilizing" my fake plants, I've heard that you can boil them in water to take algae and stuff like that off... How long do you have to boil for and is it safe to do so? I was looking into trying some of that this weekend to clean up the tank a bit.

Thanks guys!
 
Fake plants look great... In the garbage where they belong! ;)
Seriously man, why not get some real plants?

As to your question, try a hot water and bleach soak, cleaning the gunk off with your hands. Then soak them in water with a dechlorinator like Prime to counteract the bleach.
 
I'm giving real plants a shot in my smaller tank to see if I can get the hang of it first. I've got clown loaches, and severums in the big tank that would just dig them up so I'd have to get a pretty large root system in there to begin with first.

I"m going to change over to a plant-friendly substrate soon enough. Then I think I'd give it a serious shot in there.
 
Are we talking about fake plants that are all plastic, or the more realistic ones that have fabric like leaves?

I would boil and scrub them with a clean toothbrush before breaking out the bleach.

If we are talking about the all plastic ones:

Make sure you have plenty of water in the pot and don't let the plants touch the bottom. If you have to, hold them up with tongs or something. I'd start with boiling for 30 seconds then see how soft they are. If they are ok, scrub with the toothbrush then boil again for 30-60 and check then again.
 
I have this dark green almost fuzzy algae taking over. Not a light issue...not sure where it's coming from. Anyway, it doesn't budge when I scrape it. Anyone relate? Gonna follow this thread...
 
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