Probably dumb question lol

[JuiceBox52]

This is probably a really dumb question but if I collected some plants from a pond or lake and quarantined them could I put them in a tank?

 

[Retired Viking]

I have done that in the past, I did it to have a local theme with minnows and small fish from the area. You really have to be careful because of insect larva like dragonfly and mayfly nymph.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I wouldn’t do it. You never know what chemicals they’ve been exposed to.

 

[Colin_T]

It's fine. Just quarantine them for a month and change the water every couple of days during that time. Look for dragonfly larvae, hydra and snails.

 

[FishGuest5123]

It's fine. Just quarantine them for a month and change the water every couple of days during that time. Look for dragonfly larvae, hydra and snails.

Wow, that’s a whole different response than you gave me once.

 

[Colin_T]

really?
you will have to refresh my memory if I said something different.

 

[Barry Tetra]

It's fine. Just quarantine them for a month and change the water every couple of days during that time. Look for dragonfly larvae, hydra and snails.

Next to my house with a lot of trash and waste and exposed to laundry chemical everyday will that safe? also how can you see hydra? I thought it was small.

 

[Carolyn N]

I have collected anacharis and hornwort from a small lake. At home inspected VERY carefully for
predatory insect larva, snails, etc. It did remarkably well in my tank. I might try collecting some more this summer.

 

[Colin_T]

Next to my house with a lot of trash and waste and exposed to laundry chemical everyday will that safe? also how can you see hydra? I thought it was small.

Rinse the plants under clean water before putting them in a quarantine tnak for a month. Change the water in the quarantine tank every couple of days. They will be fine after a month.

You can see hydra without any special instruments. They look like little pale brown sea anemones. If you put newly hatched brineshrimp in the tank and you see little orange balls stuck to the plants, then it's probably hydra eating the brineshrimp.

 

[Byron]

There's more to this. I live in basically the same climate area as JuiceBox52. Considering this question solely on the basis of the plant species we could collect here, they probably would not survive in a tropical aquarium. Temperate zone plants in this area "expect" (= need) a vegetative rest period that is our winter. Placed in a permanent tropical environment, they tend to not live long. I have tried this many years ago.

Second point...pathogens vary throughout the world, and those inhabiting tropical waters in the Amazon are different from those inhabiting temperate waters. The fish from each area build up a resistance, or a means of dealing with, the bacteria and pathogens they have to live with; this means it is possible to introduce some pathogen with the plants that could be detrimental (perhaps deadly) to the fish in the tank.

Along the same lines as the above, there are natural "nasties" in any ecosystem that can hitch a ride on plants, and in the confines of an aquarium could turn deadly. I'm not thinking solely of critters here, but bacteria. Ducks for example can defecate bacteria in a pond that is seriously harmful to many other creatures.

As for quarantining, none of what I have mentioned would be dealt with adequately, if at all. And any chemical substance strong enough to kill some of these pathogens would inevitably kill the plants.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Now that’s what you guys taught me!