I picked up a bag of used plastic plants for next to nothing and was wondering about the best method for cleaning them. I was concerned about tranfering an unwanted disease into my tanks if not cleaned properly. Will soaking them in boiling water kill everything or should I use bleach and water. If bleach, will rinsing them in clean water with declorinator remove any residew of the bleach after. Thanks for your help.
cleaning plastic plants
- Thread starter rslinn
- Start date
you can buy this stuff made my aquarium pharmacueticals called plastic plant cleaner, you add some of it in a bucket of water and soak them over night or for 8 hours and then rinse for 3 minutes, works miracles
dont boil them
you will most likely melt them
jsut rinse em good
throw em in a 5 gal bucket with water and add about a 1 cups of bleach
then rinse well
if you want, after your done rinsing fill the bucket up reg water and add some dechlorinator to the water, triple the dose on the bucket and you can say by by to any chlorine left.
I've started throwing mine in the top rack of the dishwasher. I tested them after in a small setup with only a couple fish but I've never had any problems, the rinse cycle works great so no residue.
I soak mine in a bucket with vinegar for a few hours and rinse the off. If I need to scrub any part of them I use salt. All my plants are seagarden so I can't use bleach.
I went with the bleach and water then rinsed and soaked in clean water with dechlorinator. Seamed to work fine. I guess time will tell if I have transfered any disease into my tanks. I am going to try the dishwasher next time I try cleaning my own plants. Thanks for all the tips.