How to quarantine plants....and KILL flatworms, snails and copepods...Help!!!

[Spindrift]

Ok, so I have a ton of issues in my barrel pond, and attribute most of the problems to adding plants that were not properly dealt with before adding them to the pond.  Yes, there is also decaying matter and algae which is certainly an issue as well.  I typically do a thorough clean out of the pond twice a year, and water changes on a regular basis - but never have I had a flatworm or snail problem until now.  I'm sure this is because of plants I added to the pond.  I had a Japanese Trapdoor snail, which was enough for this pond, I did not want or need all these extra little snails that are in there now, and I'm sure they came in with the plants.  Now there are loads of flatworms and it is so disgusting.  I also have a lot of tadpoles and pollywogs in the pond, as well as frogs in the garden that will start breeding in a few months.  I love having frogs, but the other things (flatworms, snails, copepods) I am not interested in at all and I want to get rid of them.  So I plan on doing a separate quarantine for all the plants, and then separating all the tadpoles into a separate container.  I want to thoroughly clean the pond out and let it dry out for a couple of days, then restock the pond with the plants after treating them, and add the tadpoles back.

I need some sound advice on how to go about this quarantine, so that a full kill of all planaria, snails, parasites, etc is guaranteed.  And then how to guarantee that the plants will be safe to recombine with the tadpoles and frogs.  Help please!!!!

[PondmaninAL]

You have planaria? Lucky you. I found a limpet in my pond when I lived in Florida. What sort of snails have you discovered? Ramshorns are harmless but pond snails multiply like crazy, worse than guppies.

[Spindrift]

I think the snails are pouch snails.......they totally multiply like crazy.  Planaria......yes, it is gross.  They are flatworms and there are lots of them.  From my online searches I have found a product called "Flatworm Exit", which I think I will use.  I also have read about a product called "PraziPro" which would be good for any potential parasites that could have arisen.  I am not sure though what would be the best for the snails.  I have a lot of hornwort and duckweed, which I am reading cannot tolerate bleach, otherwise that is what I would use.  The closest solution I can come up with is an Alum bath, though nothing seems to guarantee full eradication of snails and snail eggs. 

[Michiponder]

 Hi.  Have had the same issues with critters coming in on plants.   Best way I have found to get rid of the nasties (and most other things not plant) is to give them a 4 hour bath in a potasium permanganate bath at 10 to twenty times the normal dose for parasites on fish.  Gets rid of most every thing including fish eggs and algae without damaging the plants.

Mikel

[Mike S.]

Other than single cell suspended algae, I'm not sure it's even possible to overdose KNMO4 on plants. However, that green water algea tends to come back with a vengence, as the residue from the treatment is good food for them. (This happens when treating a pond, not when treating plants outside the pond.)