Callatya Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 I recently went on a naughty feederfish collection spree at the local river. All baby gambusia for my cray. While i was there, i grabbed a few plants that looked absolutely perfect for my tank. 1 is Elodea. I'm not overly fussy about this stuff, but i DO want to make a feature hedge of it in my tank, and collecting it is far far cheaper than buying it. Its far more lush than bought stuff too the 2nd one is a floating plant. Furry leaves, oval, light green. Shoots out runners. Any idea what it is? HOW would i go about making these safe? Alum? Condies crystals? I think bleach is going to be too strong... Currently they are in a kitty litter tray in the backyard, catchin some rays Also, does anyone know the requirements for the other common floting plant that you see around? its like a small reddy tinted fern leaf? High light? low light? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 Hi Callatya, The first floating plant that you have described sounds like Salvinia molesta. It is an introduced fern from South America, and has been declared as noxious. The other floating fern that you described is probably Azolla sp. If it has fine "hairy rootlets", it will be Azolla pinnata. If these "hairy rootlets" are absent, then it will be Azolla filiculoides. The "reddish" colouration that you described is the fern in its spore producing phase. Both do best with adequate sunlight, however it is not essential for either species. With regards to disinfecting "wild collected" specimens, I have used condies crystals. The main worry from gathering plants from the waterways is the introduction of Camallanus sp. worms. They are commonly associated with waterfowl, and extremely hard to eradicate once in your aquarium. HTH merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted February 3, 2004 Share Posted February 3, 2004 Hello! You could try a saline solution dip, say 5 mins to try to knock off most of the nasties, but my only worry would be that there could be some other problems such as absorbed heavy metals and the like. How pure is the place that you collected from? And for your red-leaf plants... Usually, a plant with red leaves indicates a demand for higher light levels. In lower light levels they don't develop the redness. I don't know the other one you described. Maybe PHL could guess at it from your description but a pic sure would be nice. Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted February 4, 2004 Author Share Posted February 4, 2004 Thanks guys, i'll try and grab a pic or 2 later in the week I collected them from the edge of the Nepean, so CLEAN probably isnt the right word Heavy metals isnt something i considered. I will treat the floaty ones with a Camallanus drug before i introduce them as i certainly dont want those nasties in my tank! I will leave the Elodea outside for now in my 'mozzie bucket' and see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted February 4, 2004 Share Posted February 4, 2004 What part of the Nepean did you collect at? I'm well curious... PM is OK if you don't wanna make your secret spot public knowledge. I'm only interested from the point of view of microbial assay. I tried to collect from a creek on the northern beaches and I made some checks of the water chem and other assessable risks and it was a definite fail. Wasn't that way when I was a sproglet... Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted February 5, 2004 Author Share Posted February 5, 2004 It was actually opposite the boat ramp on the mountains side. From the look of it they had the weed harvester go thru that day and a lot of the longer, greener plants were floating around looking a tad lost. Ordinarily i wouldnt have bothered, but since i was there anyway, and the plants did look quite OK, AND there were floating plants, well, you know how us thrifty fishkeepers are My normal collection spot is just before 'the shallows' where that little stream comes down from the mountains side (there is a red marker in the middle of the river at that point). Its very clean and clear, always plenty of bass skitting around in the pools and there is usually tons of sunken driftwood... Problem is, you need a boat and about 2 hours to get there Which is why its go nice and clean i guess If ya go there, try to keep it that way I've also snitched a few things from the narrows, but thats not terribly pleasant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted February 5, 2004 Share Posted February 5, 2004 Any way to get there without a boat? Hike or cycle in? Getting wet doesn't bother me in the least. Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted February 7, 2004 Author Share Posted February 7, 2004 Its POSSIBLE you might be able to get there from the glenbrook NP, but i doubt it. you can get to the narrows from there, and thats worth a gander, tons of sandstone and hairgrass. I'll try to dig out my topographic map later and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpig Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Ozi, There are some interesting looking plants in the "narrows" (I'm guessing that's near the quarry?) one long stem and sort of oval leaves coming off.. Plenty of eel grass and the floating plant around there too. Callatya this place sounds most interesting, esp the bass skitting about I pulled a couple of nice fish out of the river other day Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OziOscar Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Thanks, Rumpig... Sounds like time for me to go for a ride and go a-harvesting.... It's got to be good fun in thos hot weather. Cheers - OziOscar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted February 17, 2004 Author Share Posted February 17, 2004 Well, i added the floaties, they are going well The elodea was COATED with snails, so its starting my mozzie culture in the backyard I am really chuffed with these floaty things tho, absolutely brilliant and multiplying like crazy! The "narrows" i was referring to is past the boat ramp towards Mulgoa. I know the area you are talking about tho, havent been down there for years! we used to ride our horses from Castlereagh thru there, over the river and to Maccas! Those were the days *sigh* Anyway, since its easier access, i might pop down there and have a look. Much algae down that way?? Pity you cant get to Jackson's Lane anymore, that used to be a real haven! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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