Can I use ordinary dish soap and ammonia to get them really clean?
Answer Hi Pete; Don’t ever use soap, cleaner or detergent of any kind on your decorations or aquarium equipment. It absorbs into them and often will never come out. I use a mild bleach solution on mine because bleach completely evaporates leaving no residue when used properly. I place them in a bucket and add about a teaspoon of bleach for every gallon of water. If the plants or decorations have very bright colors, I use 1/2 teaspoon per gallon. Let them soak for an hour or so and swish them around with a spoon to see how it’s going. Once they seem clean…. rinse, rinse, rinse. Put them back in the bucket, refill with fresh water and add a few squirts of water conditioner. The water conditioner neutralizes the bleach the same way it does chlorine in the tap water. It’s basically the same thing. Once it soaks in the conditioned water for an hour or so, rinse them again and take a sniff. If they don’t have a trace of bleach smell, it’s safe to add them back to the tank. If you aren’t su
