How to Clean Silk Aquarium Plants

Silk aquarium plants have several advantages over real aquarium plants. To begin with, silk plants do not decay or die and they don't carry bacteria, which could be harmful to your tank. They look realistic without requiring extra lighting or any special care--other than cleaning. Fortunately, cleaning silk aquarium plants is not difficult, nor is it expensive.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Uniodized salt
• Lemon juice
• Old toothbrush
• Paper towels
• Shallow bowl

1. Remove your silk plants from your aquarium and rinse them under hot running tap water, using your fingers to rub off as much of the algae and other debris as possible.

2. Make a paste of lemon juice and uniodized salt. Neither of these ingredients is harmful to your fish, unlike many commercial cleaning products.

3. Lay your plants on paper towels and then use an old toothbrush dipped in the salt and lemon juice paste to gently but firmly scrub each leaf of your silk plants. Be sure to scrub both sides of each leaf.

4. Place your scrubbed plants in a shallow bowl and cover with lemon juice. Allow them to soak for ten minutes.

5. Rinse your plants thoroughly under hot running tap water until you cannot feel any lemon juice or salt with your fingers. Your silk plants should feel clean to the touch. Return them to your aquarium.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not use bleach or soap on your silk plants.
• Never, under any circumstances, use any product containing ammonia on any part of your fish tank.

References

• How to Clean Silk Aquarium Plants