Treating new plants and rock for parasites

[Davids21]

Not sure if this belongs in this forum or not but I'm going to be introducing hyacinths and a few Lilly's to my koi pond and was wanting to treat them for parasites before introducing them to my pond. Also will be building a new waterfall and stream out of lots of flat rock I got from a friends creek that's down stream from a rock quary and was woundering if I should treat them for parasites also. So if anyone knows what I can use I would appreciate some imput

[richtoybox]

Putting the plants in a tank with 10% bleach and water, or about 10ppm of PP for several hours will take care of the parasites on the plants. As for the rocks, unless they are coming over and being used in the stream with water flowing over them the same week that they are harvested from a stream, would not be an issue. Parasites need a food source, and drying out or away from the host for a few days will cause them to die of starvation.

[nmtsaki]

After the bleach or pp treatment, don't be surprised if the plants look pretty cruddy for quite a while. Before putting them into your pond, try to keep them in a separate water garden because they will be shedding a lot of debris. This crud will clog up your filters and also add to your bio-load. It may take a few weeks to recover. As for the rocks, if they have been submerged for quite awhile, it may also take a long time for them to dry inside and out. I tend to be on the overly cautious side, especially where it concerns putting anything into my pond that may have had contact with other fish. I would try to dry them out for a couple of weeks too.

And as an aside, I think 20 ppm of potassium permanganate is what's recommended for a few hours to disinfect plants; I'm looking for the source now and will post it when I find it. here are some calculators to help you figure out how much to add:

http://web.archive.org/web/200810242...rs/calcwgt.asp

[nmtsaki]

Here it is: about halfway down.

https://www.koiphen.com/forums/archiv.../t-138505.html

a 1:20 bleach solution for a couple of minutes can be done, but it can also kill the plant. Potassium permanganate is a lot safer on the plant. You do not have to remove blooms or leaves. The blooms may die anyway.

I found this in a thread as a protocol:

PP doesn't kill everything. It won't kill leeches. And (maybe my snails are tough!) but, Alum didn't kill my snails. PP kills snails. And bacteria along with other critters. Alum for leeches. Seems the only posts I answer are about snails, leeches and aphids! I'm the Queen of critters! So, for disinfecting plants - I have a bit of experience here, I ship plants every week, and they are inspected by the USDA prior to shipping. So, here goes - Mix 4 oz of PP into 32 oz or water. This becomes your stock solution. Use 1 drop of stock solution in 1 gallon of water to achieve 2ppm. You want 24ppm to disinfect plants. You want to mix the PP stock solution into the container that your plants are going to be in, so I just run the hose until it is all mixed up. CAUTION #1 DO NOT USE THIS STRENGTH OF PP WHEN THERE ARE FISH PRESENT!! You'll kill them for sure! Since PP works on the "organic" material if you leave the dirt on your plants you will use up the PP before it can disinfect anything! You must wash off all of the dirt, and remove any leaves, pads that are history, before you put the plant into the PP. Most plants I leave in over night, but some are more sensitive and I only leave it in a couple of hours. CAUTION #2 - PP WILL STAIN ANYTHING IT TOUCHES! WEAR GLOVES AND OLD CLOTHES! CAUTION #3 - LIKE ALMOST EVERYTHING IN LIFE, PP HAS IT'S DANGERS! WEAR A DUST MASK, AND DON'T WORK WHERE THE WIND CAN BLOW THE PP BACK INTO YOUR FACE! PP should be treated with the same respect you would use while working with any other chemical - read the precautions and don't get cocky.
Alum will kill leeches (Ucky! I don’t like them!) 1 Tablespoon per 100 gallons. Now, look, I’ve been told that Alum will crash your Ph, so don’t use it in your pond! Use it as a pre-treater. I only found leeches in one of my marginal tanks, the only fish in there were guppies. I way overdosed the tank, and didn’t have a single guppy casualty. But I would never try it in the Koi pond! Tammie



Also:
Just to stress: Don't do this with fish present! This is an external method for plant disinfection.

[montwila]

Nice find and post Nancy.

[Davids21]

Quick question what is PP?

[Davids21]

Never mind I see it potassium permanganate. I skipped right over it. Thanks everyone is very helpful.