# Plastic Aquarium Plants



## fishtankswimming (Jan 22, 2009)

Hi

I have a few plastic plants in my tank, anyone know what's the best way of cleaning them please?????


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## SuzannePetPhotographer (Jun 9, 2009)

Take some water out of your tank, wash the plants in your tank water. Don't use tap water as you will kill all the bacteria


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## fishtankswimming (Jan 22, 2009)

Thanks for this. It sounds a lot better than putting them in the washing machine or dishwasher, which someone had suggested to me, even though the plants are really dirty :eek6:


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## Prinzessin (Jun 6, 2009)

Did you ever thought of putting real plants in your tank? Living plants are so much better for the ecosystem of an aquarium.


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## fishtankswimming (Jan 22, 2009)

I have done in the past - but with the size of my parrot fish and pleccy and sinos, they just eat them and if they don't like the leaves, they uproot them so they are floating.


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## SuzannePetPhotographer (Jun 9, 2009)

Ha you say that, I have mollies and guppys and they are the same! They just eat um so we went for plastic plants.


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2009)

You could just wash them in tapwater, especially for killing off pest snails and algae growth. While you will lose bacteria the number of bacteria on the plants will only be a tiny percentage of the total bacteria population in the aquarium, they should recover very quickly.


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## bichonsrus (May 16, 2009)

i agree with pleccy on this one, also when i kept tropical fish i found some of the fish were getting caught on plastic plants so went for real ones instead.


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

I clean my plants with tap water and if its particularly dirty just rub at the dirt with my finger.
Though I aquired a few plants that had been sitting for a while so put them in hot water then left them to soak before rinsing.

x


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## fishtankswimming (Jan 22, 2009)

Thank you all for your help. Will have a go at the weekend.

Also, it's not just the plants they move: They also move the logs, gravel (to clear a space), plastic plants with very heavy bases and the tube for the air bubbles, so much that it is now hanging up the side of the tank:eek6: and every time I change it back,it only lasts bout a day ha ha. They are terrors lol


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## Garyy (5 mo ago)

Cleaning aquariums regularly will go a long way in preventing moss and debris build-up. There are some tips to clean artificial plants for you. Wash the plastic aquarium plants with running water. Using warm water is ideal as it can help sanitize and loosen debris tucked into them. You will need a bleach mixture when you are dealing with heavily contaminated plastic plants with algae.


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## Konears (1 mo ago)

Place the plant under warm running water and splash the plant over the water making sure the entire surface is wet. Debris will begin to peel off the plants and be washed away, with the exception of algae. So you can add pure apple cider vinegar at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 5 liters. Then dip the plant in a bucket and soak for 20 minutes. This will soften debris or algae for easier cleaning. And use an old brush to scrub the surface of leaves, stems, and roots to remove dirt and algae.


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