I always wash any plants (whether I buy them or not) in chlorinated water to kill any critters (if chlorine will kill fish, it should kill the critters ) ......I don't leave it in there for too long, a few hours at the most, then I rinse well a few times in clean non-chlorinated water to get rid of the critters and the chlorine ..... then I will put it into the tank ...... after I'm pretty sure that the critters are dead and gone down the drain ....... just my 2 centavos