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Tap water for plants - and moving them

Alex C

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13 Jan 2020
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Berkshire
I'm sure this is silly question but just to be safe!

I assume plants don't mind untreated tap water? I am going to transfer some plants /moss from my old tank to my new one but want to go through a 'quarantine' tank first to make sure I don't bring across any unwanted hitch hikers. Will I be OK with water straight from the tap or should I dechlorinate it?

Thanks in advance
 
Just taken the old tank apart and removed the plants for transferring, one of them had a half decent set of roots (been in there untouched for over 2 years).

When putting it in the new tank do I just leave them and try spread them out in the substrate or am I best to cut them to try promote some new growth and help it 'ground' itself?

If cutting is the way to go, how much should I aim to take off?

The leaves are approx 35cm from top of the roots to tip to give an idea of size.

Thanks in advance!
 

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I would trim the roots purely from a practical point of view. Just take off the extra long bits so that you have a root mass you can actually work with when planting. Lols like you have about 10cm of a root ‘ball’ to wrestle into the substrate as it is! That a healthy looking plant!!
 
Yep, trimming the roots will not harm the plant in any way. It will encourage more growth as the plant will have to send out more roots to find nutrition.

When Transferring plants, if you want to Disenfect them. You can use a few mls of Pottassium Permangenate or PMG from the Koi section. Its great for zapping anything on the plants. Be careful though, as it stains hands etc heavily from my own experience.
 
Thanks a lot, snip snip it is!

That a healthy looking plant!!

I'm a little sad we're having to move it all at, it's grown in a very low tech, no ferts, only water changing every few months and the 'ecosystem' that had built up was ticking along quite nicely. Although, the fish seem to be making full use of the extra space they now have which is never bad!

Hopefully I won't kill it in the move (I wouldn't put it past me :lol:).
 
how much should I aim to take off?
Trim back fairly close to the rosette, when removing plants from substrate etc it’s very difficult not to damage root fine structure, and these will often rot once transplanted to the new medium, so trimming is recommended

Also remove any damaged and older leafs

Swords are not really that keen on free-floating, so I’d anchor the plants in some fashion (eg plain clay pots - with bottom drainage holes, and some substrate/rock wool etc)

Tropica plant handling video E ‘Ozelot Green’

I’m unsure what you’re hoping for in terms of the “quarantine” or how long this will be
For water changes, don’t worry too much about matching temp but make sure to add cooler rather than warmer water
I’d not add bleach - this should not be applied to roots anyway - as it will damage delicate leafs
There are gentler solutions to use depending on what you’re targeting
 
I’m unsure what you’re hoping for in terms of the “quarantine” or how long this will be

The old tank had a fair few ram horn (?) snails that got in , we don't really want these in the new tank so the 'quarantine' is just a couple of weeks in a 'clean' space to make sure we catch any before it goes across
 
I’m not sure this will be that effective - ramshorns are sneaky little devils and it seems to take only a few missed eggs for them to reappear (eventually)

Fortunately there are lots of possible fish that will keep them in check (you’ll rarely see a ramshorn snail but may find the tiny empty shells when sifting through the substrate)
 
I'm going to be putting a bit of veg at the edge every few days to temp them all over for picking off, hopefully between than and a wash every couple of days I'll get them!

If not, I'll be back to ask which are the best at sniffing then out! I've seen loaches pop up a lot but don't take want any more bottom dwellers in the tank

Thanks for the help!
 
Most dwarf cichlids, gourami (even the smallest chocolate gourami species will snail hunt)

I tend to avoid loaches as they almost all do better in social groups, and can hassle other fish (sometimes just by their relentless activity) - with the exception of the Rosy Loach :)

What size is your new tank?
 
It's approx 165L of actual water , bow front corner. Currently got 2 peppered and 6 panda cory and 5 forktail rainbowfish.

We're planning to get a few more forktails to increase the size of the group to 7-10, and a similar number of rummy nose tetra, and few shrimp.
 
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