anyone know how to clean the artificial plants in a fish tank? they are starting to look yucky and i dont want to throw the rock they come on out.is there a safe way (for the fishes) to clean them and make them look nice again?
2007-08-27 16:07:45 · 8 answers · asked by fishin for answer 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
Just take them out of the tank and scrub them gently with a small brush. A new toothbrush or an old boiled toothbrush (to disinfect it and remove all the toothpaste residue) works well. Don't use any soap or cleaner except for possibly a bit of vinegar or a bit of bleach diluted in water. If you do use either vinegar or diluted bleach, make sure you rinse the plants well before returning them to the fish tank. It'll be a lot of work, but that's what you have to do to get them clean again. In order to keep from destroying all the beneficial bacteria growing on the fake plants, it's best to clean only one a week, or half the plants at a time no less than a week or two apart, leaving the others in the aquarium.
2007-08-27 16:16:08 · answer #1 · answered by Ghost Shrimp Fan 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Silk plants will grow algae on them, as will other plastic plants. I've always just used a small electric toothbrush with absolutely no cleaning solutions whatsoever. It won't get all the stains out, but it will make them look MUCH better. I wouldn't recommend using anything with bleach or soap. The one time I tried using soap to clean a glass tank, I thought I'd rinsed it all out, and all my fish ended up dying anyway. It's just nearly impossible to get bleach and/or soap out of all the creavices.
If you're having an algae problem, there are different solutions you can buy at pet stores to get rid of it.
2007-08-27 17:35:19 · answer #2 · answered by Jennifer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bleach will stiffen the plastic and fade out the color, but hydrogen peroxide will remove much of the dirt and not hurt the plastic or the color. Plus even if a bit of it gets in the tank, it is harmless in small amounts, simply breaking down into water and oxygen. One thing I did once by accident was to bury some dirty plastic plants in a bucket of old aquarium gravel. When I poured it out, after it had been out in the barn a few years, the plants looked clean and new.
2016-05-19 22:14:16 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey bud -- this is what works...
Put them in a bucket of bleach and water.. about 1/2 cup bleach to a gallon of water. Let them sit overnight.
The next day rinse off the fake plants, and they will look good as new.
Rinse well and soak them in fresh water to get all the bleach off before you put them back in the tank.
2007-08-27 16:18:48 · answer #4 · answered by angelhugger1 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
what you see on your plants is algae growth
you can take them out and wash them off with hot water, that's exactly the reason i always hatet these artificial plants and prefer live ones
Hope that helps
Good luck
EB
2007-08-27 20:25:22 · answer #5 · answered by Kribensis lover 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
take them out, wash them and put them in a recycling bin. Now go out an buy a couple real plants for the fish.
Would you want to be swimming a fake plastic world all day?
2007-08-27 16:16:32 · answer #6 · answered by dean_moriarty00 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
take them out of the tank, wash them off, and put them back in. DO NOT use soap, just plain water, and a clean rag.
2007-08-27 16:13:52 · answer #7 · answered by LuLu 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
it depends on whats on them. most stuff you can wash off with hot tap water. the key is really do this frequently so nothing has the chance to grow on it. if its growing on there really good you can put it out in the sun to dry and then try washing them.
2007-08-27 16:18:46 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋