Trina wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I have a question in regards to the 'safeness' of donated plants from
suspect tanks.
I work with someone who offered to give me some java ferns. I'm not
usually one to pass up something free, but last year when I was at
this person's house, I saw the tank. It pretty much reflected the
whole house.
The tank looked to be a 20gal. There were 4-5 goldfish in there and
there was so much green algae in there you couldn't even see the fish.
Should I be worried about them? I have a quarantine tank (yay!) set up
and obviously would house them in there before subjecting my pets to
them but I don't want to muck that one up if it can be avoided.
This same person also offered me his 20gal tank (fish are dead or..?).
It is currently sitting outside in -30 to -45 weather (should kill
everything?) and I'm wondering how well the sealing would hold up
after being exposed to those temps. Anyone have any thoughts?

If the plants are alive, how bad can they be? Treat them with a 20:1 bleach
solution followed by a dechlorinator at 5:1 recommended solution. That'll
take care of any algae and more than likely any pathogens - any that aren't
already present in your own tanks, at any rate.

Ditto with the tanks and any equipment. The deep-cold shouldn't aversely
effect the tank and silicone sealant as long as you bring it back up to temp
SLOWLY. I'm in New Hampshire and I store stuff in an (unheated) garage
routinely.

Bottom line: if it's free take it. It doesn't sound like anything that
bleach, a scrub brush, and a garage with a south-facing window couldn't
handle.

kush