Plant "wild" Aquatic Plants in New Freshwater Tank??

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Hi, folks......

Just now setting up a new freshwater tank, after many many years being
away from the hobby.

Years ago, I had found and picked up some wild aquatic grasses and
taken them home to my freshwater tank; those plants flourished for
years in that tank with no harmful effects on my fishies.

I'd like to plant wild plants again, and I would appreciate you folk's
feedback as to whether that's a bad idea, and if so, why........

There are some nice tall aquatic grasses and lilly-like plants growing
in a stream just around the corner from my house, some
interesting-looking moss-like growth, too.

Any ideas, folks???

Thanks,

Greg

[~Roy~]

Well odds are yur gonna get told they may have problematic critters
and other pathogenic crap on them....I say thats bull****. One garss
thatfdoes exceptionally well is mondo grass. Its a shrt (3" blades or
so) dark green about 3/32" wide bladed grass mainly used around flower
beds and such. Its available at most all garden cneters,a nd it gorws
just fine totally submerged in an aquarium. I have approximatley 1/2
of a 60 gal tank planted with this mondo grass now for about 4
years...........looks super and it does not get weedly or leggy
looking either.....When its planted right it looks like a fresh cut
narrow blade blue grass lawn does.

Anothe rgood cheap plant is a common onion bulb, they grow just fine
fully submerged. Get small onion or scallion bulbs. I hace a stand of
them ina 20 gal tall tank that is just dense in its foilage and it
makes a perfect place for bubble nest builders etc to hide in the
tops, which flaot on the water yet the mid andlower column of the
ppants remain relatively open..

One thing yu can fdo is if yu afraid something may be contaminated
iwth undesirebales is to buy some poitassium permangante at the local
big box store in the pond section, such as lowes and home depot has.
Use a 2% solutiion of the stuff and soak the plants in it for about a
half day or so, and any possible pathogens and junk is oxidized and
should not present any problems. Yu can place the plants directly in
the PP solution and then rinse in clean water before final planting
in display tank.
On 21 Jun 2006 16:48:24 -0700, wrote:

>Hi, folks......
>
>Just now setting up a new freshwater tank, after many many years being
>away from the hobby.
>
>Years ago, I had found and picked up some wild aquatic grasses and
>taken them home to my freshwater tank; those plants flourished for
>years in that tank with no harmful effects on my fishies.
>
>I'd like to plant wild plants again, and I would appreciate you folk's
>feedback as to whether that's a bad idea, and if so, why........
>
>There are some nice tall aquatic grasses and lilly-like plants growing
>in a stream just around the corner from my house, some
>interesting-looking moss-like growth, too.
>
>Any ideas, folks???
>
>Thanks,
>
>Greg


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Altum]

wrote:
> Hi, folks......
>
> Just now setting up a new freshwater tank, after many many years being
> away from the hobby.
>
> Years ago, I had found and picked up some wild aquatic grasses and
> taken them home to my freshwater tank; those plants flourished for
> years in that tank with no harmful effects on my fishies.
>
> I'd like to plant wild plants again, and I would appreciate you folk's
> feedback as to whether that's a bad idea, and if so, why........

If there's a downside to wild plants, I sure haven't found it. I have
a couple of plants in my tanks that were locally collected - friends
gave me some cuttings. I've got a floating, elodea-like plant and some
common Saggittaria grass. Both are sturdy and seem to grow better than
aquarium strains.

As Roy mentioned, soak all your new plants in dilute, pale purple
potassium permanganate for 20 minutes. It kills off algal spores,
bacteria, and other stuff you might not want in your tank. I'd pick
them over pretty carefully for wild snails too.

--
Come join us in a friendly, on-topic fish and pond forum:
http://groups.google.com/group/The-Freshwater-Aquarium
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

[dc]

"Altum" > wrote in news:1150935666.484145.179650
@y41g2000cwy.googlegroups.com:

> gave me some cuttings. I've got a floating, elodea-like plant and some

That's probably Elodea canadensis... it's all over the place at the cottage
and in most lakes, bays, and beaches. It's not a true floating plant--as
it has true roots not rhizoids--but it survives very well floating.

Keep in mind that collecting wild plants from public waterways is probably
illegal, so have a look around for any wildlife officials before you start
harvesting. These laws are in place to prevent the commercial exploitation
of native wildlife so no one is going to raise a fuss unless you start
selling it.

[Altum]

dc wrote:
> "Altum" > wrote in news:1150935666.484145.179650
> @y41g2000cwy.googlegroups.com:
>
>> gave me some cuttings. I've got a floating, elodea-like plant and some
>
> That's probably Elodea canadensis... it's all over the place at the cottage
> and in most lakes, bays, and beaches. It's not a true floating plant--as
> it has true roots not rhizoids--but it survives very well floating.

You got me curious. The plant has leaflets in threes like Elodea
canadensis but the leaves and stems are much thinner. The plant also
branches a lot more. The bit I put outside has branched at almost every
axil. I think it's Elodea nuttallii(Planchon), known as western
waterweed or Nuttall's waterweed.

--
Come join us in a friendly, on-topic fish and pond forum:
http://groups.google.com/group/The-Freshwater-Aquarium
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

[~Roy~]

I'm Roy and post as Köi-Lö so everyone killfils the bitch.


On 21 Jun 2006 16:48:24 -0700, wrote:

>Hi, folks......
>
>Just now setting up a new freshwater tank, after many many years being
>away from the hobby.
>
>Years ago, I had found and picked up some wild aquatic grasses and
>taken them home to my freshwater tank; those plants flourished for
>years in that tank with no harmful effects on my fishies.
>
>I'd like to plant wild plants again, and I would appreciate you folk's
>feedback as to whether that's a bad idea, and if so, why........
>
>There are some nice tall aquatic grasses and lilly-like plants growing
>in a stream just around the corner from my house, some
>interesting-looking moss-like growth, too.
>
>Any ideas, folks???
>
>Thanks,
>
>Greg

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com