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myco on plants



IMHO, it really isn't possible to rid plants of myco once it is there.  Mycobacteria are extremely resistant to most chemical disinfectants, including chlorine bleach, so the concentrations you would have to use would be well in excess of what the plant could tolerate.  
That being said, I'd also like to say that myco is everywhere, and most of us who trade or buy fish/plants are probably transferring various species of myco from place to place unknowingly.  You might want to warn any potential recipients of your java fern that you have had associated possible myco mortalities, but realistically, there probably isn't any greater risk than if they got the plant from an LFS or another hobbyist.  We really don't know what causes mycobacteria to become pathogenic in fish at this point, and unless you are dealing with an extremely susceptible fish species, there isn't any practical way to quarantine fish or plants against myco, as it can persist asymptomatically for years.
Regards
Dave Gauthier

My 20 gallon aquarium is being completely overrun by java fern.  I'd like to be able to share or trade some of it, because java fern is extremely hard to find around here.  None of the LFS's have any nice java fern, I got mine started from just 1 or 2 sick leaves with no roots 3 years ago. BUT, I have had maybe a dozen platys die in this tank over the past two years from what *might* be mycobacteriosis.  Also, a few of the fern leaves are coated with some kind of thick slimy brown algae that I wouldn't want to pass on to anyone.
How can the java ferns be decontaminated and/or quarantined so they can be safely introduced to someone else's aquarium?  Since I am supplying the plants, I'm not willing to expend much money or effort to make them presentable. Still, it seems such a waste to send them to the landfill (actually, it is an incinerator here).
Best regards,
Bob