Safe To Use Wild Plants?

[FishAddict99]

I know duckweed is seen as a pest of a plant, but I enjoy it. I tried to get some from my lfs but they only gave me a very small amount. I mentioned this to my friend who is a park ranger and he picked me up a whole bunch of duckweed from the park he works at. My question is, would it be safe to use the duckweed in my tanks or could there be a possibility that I would be introducing something foreign (such as bacteria or fungus) that might jeopardize my tanks? I don't want to kill off my fish.

As you can see from the photos, there are also some ramshorn and pond snails in there. I would also like to throw them into my tanks. I do believe I see some daphnia swimming around in the water. I don't plan on just dumping the whole bottle into my tanks, I only want to remove the duckweed off of the top and a couple of snails.

 

[aaronnorth]

the duckweed will cover your tank in no time. i dont know what to reccomend. I was going to say dip them in a copper solution but that would kill your snails.

 

[Renate]

Here is some info a read about plant treatments
PLANT TREATMENTS
Potassium Permanganate Dip

The first dip is milder and safer for the plants. It is a Potassium Permanganate dip. Potassium Permanganate is available at Sear's and Ace Hardware in the area where they sell water softener's and supplies. You can also purchase Potassium Permanganate from chemical supply companies, both local and online.

The Alum dip is more for killing microscopic bugs. Use at 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. Soak the plant for at least an hour, longer soaks of 2 to 3 days are needed to kill snails and snail eggs. For snails and snails eggs a 2-3 hour soak in a stronger solution of 3 tablespoons per gallon of water is a better choice. Alum isn't nearly as effective as the prior two for killing algae. Alum is aluminum sulfate and Alum USP can be obtained from a compounding pharmacy or grocery stores. (It's usually with the spices, herbs and pickling supplies).

 

[SpongeDan]

I'd recommend that you don't put the duckweed into your tank. I had the same idea as you, but decided to keep it isolated in a clear plastic container on a windowsill for a few weeks before adding it to my tank. Well, I'm glad I did - it was teeming with all kinds of gross stuff. Long tangles of string algae, tiny little worms, unidentifiable moving blobs. And the smell. God, it was horrible.

Instead, you should get some salvinia or water lettuce. You can buy it off eBay dead cheap, it looks nice, it gives fry somewhere to hang-out, and it won't stink-up your tank. And it helps control algae.

 

[aaronnorth]

the algae isnt from the duckweed, if you have light, and not the correct balance of CO2 and nutrients then you will always get algae.

You can buy duckweed of ebay aswell, or ask in the BSW section, i'm sure someone will have some to spare!

 

[Amerce]

I have some duckweed in my Badis tanks mixed with some riccia, regularly have to syphon some off but it does help to keep the water good and provide hiding places for the fry etc.

Got mine from my local lf's (they also sell koi etc). and initially a lot died off in the heated tanks but then it seemed to develop a tolerance and just went mad, but the best tank is the Badis tank as it is small and not much water movement and plenty of light.

If you are going to use the stuff in your bottle I'd put it in an open container like an icecream tub and sit it in there for a bit and change the water for a few weeks to ensure that most of the nasties drop into the lower levels of the water and then just hand check bunches to make sure that aren't any dragonfly larvae or anything like that in amongst the handful.

But do beware it will spread really quickly once it gets used to your water conditions, but it don't seem to like a lot of water movement.