Plastic fish tank plants get gross black stuff on them that normally has to be scrubbed one leaf at a time. This method safely solves this problem in a matter of minutes! Heat around 3" deep water in a large pot or deep frying pan- until it just starts to simmer- then reduce to lowest heat.
Add 1/2 cup of household bleach to this water. (It can be scented or not) 3/4 cup for extra black coated plants
Add the discolored plastic plants to the water- keeping any glued fake rock root ends out of the water (hot water melts hot glue gun glue used to attach plants to rocks)
Swish plants around and let them sit in the bleach water until the discoloration is gone.About 5 minutes.
While its not necessary-rubbing the leaves a little will speed up the process.
plastic plants will soften while in the hot water but will return to normal once they cool.
After you finish cleaning - you must rinse them really well so fill a 5 gallon bucket with cold water in your sink. Put all the clean plants in it and swish around for 1 minute- dump all the water out and fill it up again - do this as many times as needed until when you smell each plastic plant - there is no bleach smell at all. Soak any plants that retain smell more then others. (Rarely necessary)
Last step is ti rinse one last time under running water. You can now safely return them to your tank.
This method was taught to me by a pet store. Bleach can be used to kill bacteria in fish tank gravel in the same way. Clean decorations and large rocks this way as well.
For gravel and rocks use 1 cup bleach per gallon of water. For this use- after rinsing several times- leave sitting under clean water over night- rinse one last time.
Allow to dry before returning to tank.
ALWAYS SMELL TEST CLEANED ITEMS it cant have any bleach smell. However- it's usually really easy to rinse the bleach off. Cheap brands of bleach may be harder to rinse off! Test rinse ability by pouring some bleach on your hand then try rinse it off under running water. All bleach will feel slimy at first- but it should still come off. Junk bleach never feels like it totally comes off.
**NOTE** SOME COLOR FADING MAY OCCUR. Its still better than buying new plants every few months. Use less bleach and soak in pot longer if color retention is that important. I noticed color fading after 15 times cleaning this way.
6 окт 2024
