# [Wet Thumb Forum]-From The Wild Side...



## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

Okay. I'm all moved into my new cottage on the lake. Moving the 29 gal went well--no casualties at all, much to my surprise.

While sitting on my dock, I noticed some really great looking plants in the lake. Now I want to plant a litle tank with them indoors. Do I need to disinfect them somehow if they're going into a new set-up? 

How would I go about identifying them? 

How to figure out what sort of fish I could put in with them?

Thanks, Figgy


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## imported_ChronicBlue (Jun 7, 2005)

I'm really not 100% sure. As I dont have lots of knowledge with aquatic plants, but I think you can just put them in without worry. One of my best friends, for years would bring back plants from his summer camping trip and add them to his 30 gal. the fish nevergot sick. It seemed fine to me, and so he says it is.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

If cleaning with water makes you insecure then you could lightly soak the plants with 1:10 or 1:5 bleach. Then just wash off with running water and they should be ok. As for identifying, it is best if you could post the pictures on the web so people can help. Usually, the best to way to know what a plant is is by looking at its inflorescence; flowers. As for the fish choice, you could always look into the lake to see what fish there are. That would make your tank a nice biotope tank with local fauna and flora; kindda neat


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## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

OK! Given the space issues at this new house, I'm going to fiddle around with a 1 gal set up. Going to use lake bottom and lake water and rocks and the plants I see. All the fish I see from the dock are too big for any tank I'd have--haven't seen any minnows!

I ordered a copy of Walsted's book thinking it might give me some tips...

Figs


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

If you are going for just 1-gal, then don't use more than 1 inch of soil(if using Waldstad's low-tech, soil substrate method). 1 gallon tank is so small that you could get by with just 0.25-0.5 inch of soil or pure gravel. As for the lighting, I think a 6500K screw-on compact bulb would be sufficient; should cost less than $5.00, and it will last you a long time.


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## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

Here's series of pix from the picotope project:

The 1 gal. "tank" with the lake in the background:


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## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

The next three plants---anyone know what they are? Plant One:


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## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

Plant two:


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## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

Plant Three:


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## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

With thanks to my assistant----->The Mighty Finn!

Final set-up pix to follow...


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

those plants look very nice. i am excited to see how it looks when it's all put together.


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## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

All set up, but now that I've got Diana's book in hand, I see that the substrate is waaaay too deep. Not to mention Paul's comment! Gotta go get a spoon and fix it.


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

First plant looks like a Vallisneria spp., second one doesn't look like real aquatic plant(really resembles my lawn grass), third one looks incredibly like Blyxa spp.(which might be a jackpot if it really is!) But you did say that you found them all in your local lake, right? Then I would grow them out and see what happens. If it's from a lake then it most likely isn't terrestrial plants that got buried by seasonal rain. All in all, I am VERY interested in the 3rd plant. It really, incredibly looks like Blyxa!



The tank looks so much like those used to grow bulbous terrestrial plants; I have 2 much smaller ones, in fact.


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

I still think the *second* picture (pico4.jpg) looks like a _Potamogeton_. Have a look at my longer reply over in "El Natural" under your thread "Picotope".

From Alex.


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## noah_greenberg (Aug 20, 2004)

Once while living in a cottage by a lake I set my 55 up to be a lower tech lake tank. It was one of my finest tanks ever. I put lots of good silty sand in it with wood and plants. Crawfish were added and mated, producing hundreds of baby crawfish crawling over everything. Fish fry were added; schooling catfish, bass and perch. Invertebrates were abundant, caddis flies, may flies and dragon fly larvae. It was really great. Anytime I got bored I just released some thing and went snorkeling. Good luck and know you have one jealous fellow hobbyist!


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

That sounds like it was a great tank, Noah! Do you have any pictures? I'd really like to see them! 

From Alex.


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## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

Okay,

The experiment went on and, AMAZINGLY, my little cube stayed completely algae free and healthy! I've set it aside and went wading today. Got some of all three and washed 'em and put 'em in my 29 gal. [I'm out of money for new plants....].

The valisneria now have the long, coiled stems with their "flowers" on them.

Why is it important that the "third plant on the thread is 'blyxxa'? It has not grown long as I imagine regular grass would do, if that's helpful info...

Pix once the tank clears.

Fig


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

Can't wait to see the pictures!

I think that some _Blyxa_ species stay short.

From Alex.


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## Jane of Upton (Jul 28, 2005)

Those plants look very nice!

My only word of caution is that the lake probably rarely gets above 70 F.... my own experience with using some plants from a pond was that when my tank got hot, they melted. So, if you can keep it relatively cool, you should be all set. 

Yes, that third one looks really interesting......

I'm surprised you didn't find any cabomba.... I used to come across it in the Finger Lakes (of NY) pretty frequently, and if I recall correctly, it was in the shallows of Lake Ontario as well. 

Your assistant the Mighty Finn is adorable!
-Jane


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## Sockfish (Dec 6, 2004)

Indeed, those lovely plants did melt once indoors and in the warmth of the house--hence no photos. The lake has also died off and there were a few plants left out farther from the dock that I hadn't seen that looked like cabomba so I think Jane is right. [Finn likes Miss Jane...!]

Figs


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## Jane of Upton (Jul 28, 2005)

Awww, Figs, that's too bad about the plants melting. Try the cabomba. I've got some that was originally "wild harvested" in a soil-substrate tank, and its doing very well. I only keep that tank at 72-74, not very warm. 

As a dubious commentary to how obsessed we aquarium keepers get, I received a tentative invitation to visit relatives in Florida over the winter, and one of my first thoughts was "cool! I hope there are some ponds in the area to see what warm-tolerant plants I might find!". Hmmm, now the question is how to effectively pass off my own collecting excursion as "quality time" with the nieces and nephews. 

Jane likes the Mighty Finn as well - he looks amiably mellow!
-J.


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## Ben C (Apr 16, 2006)

Hey Jane, 

Once, when i lived in Japan, i stumbled across some hairgrass growing in a stream. I ran to the nearest shop, bought a drink, poured the content out into a shrub near the shop and gathered a small bunch of the hairgrass!
talk about dubiously obsessed!!


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## Jane of Upton (Jul 28, 2005)

LOL.... Ben!

Truly a worthy action! 

Such a fine line between ardently committed....... and irrationally obsessed!
-J.


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## rick0501 (Oct 8, 2005)

Hey,
I know this is a little late but I just saw it. The second plant in your plant photos is probably _Heteranthera dubia_. It is pretty common here in northeast Tennessee in rivers and some lakes.

Rick


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