Treating plants with black algae
 

Hi,
A friend of mine gave me a ton of Anubias barteri var nana, some red C. wendtii, and some other plants. He told me to get rid of leaves etc. that have black algae (which I have). I was wondernig if there is a way to treat the whole plant before I put it into my fish tanks....I don't want to introduce too much algae of any kind. How does one get rid of black algae? (I'd never heard of it)
Also, is there a way to quarantine plants?

Is it possible to grow anubias, C. Wendtii (red) and Java fern in a really moist pot for a while? Or do they have to be submerged? I got the idea after looking at the stem and leaves of the Anubias.

He also gave me some lava rocks from his tank. Is there a way to clean them ?

Thanks,
Ami

First, cleaning rocks. I hold them under the hot water tap (wear insulated kitchen gloves, or otherwise have it as hot as you can manage) and use an old manual toothbrush. The latter is super at rock cleaning, and filter housing too.

To cleaning plants, any solution strong enough to kill black brush algae will likely damage if not kill the plants. Anubias attracts this algae due to its tough leaves and very slow growth. Keeping it in shade (not under direct tank lights but under another plant or floating plants) can help reduce the chance it will grow brush algae. And that is what your "black algae" likely is; it is actually a red algae, but it looks black to most of us. I have brush algae in most of my tanks; it is controlled by the light intensity/duration, as I think I've explained elsewhere.

The only useful purpose in quarantining plants would be to prevent them from bringing in fish parasites, etc. if they come from tanks with fish. I never do this. Some suggest rinsing them in this or that, but this has limited effectiveness for the same reason mentioned above.

Many aquarium plants are bog or marsh plants, not true aquatics. Those you mention fall into this c category. If you read the profiles you will see references to growing them emersed (out of water). As noted therein, the leaves will usually be different; aquatic leaves and terrestrial leaves have a different function and are thus different in design.

Oh goody, I'll see if I can grow the Anubias emersed. I've got waay too many to keep them all in my current tanks.

My first live aquarium plant was a fern of some type. When I got it home it appeared to be old and malnourished. I thought it had black algae spots. Who knows, its been in my aquarium since July 4th. Hasnt hurt anything.
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Oh good =0) Thanks for the info