Can I collect native plants for an aquascape?

[Crabby]

So I’m rather curious - I live in Australia (Victoria), and I found a pretty cool looking plant in a little natural pond near my house. I’d love to try it in an aquascape, but I don’t know whether this is something people do? From what I can tell, it survives year-round, but I don’t think it usually gets up to temperatures like what I would keep it at in my aquarium (22-24° Celsius).

Also, how would I attempt to disinfect a plant so I can ensure I don’t bring in any bad critters?

Cheers!

[eatyourpeas]

Can you try to identify the plant so you can learn about it and see if you can meet its needs?

A lot of people source plants locally from ponds or streams.

Quarantining is a good habit. You can do a H2O2 dip (hydrogen peroxide) or a bleach bath. It depends on the plant.

[Crabby]

Uh yeah I could see if I can grab a photo tonight and have a go at getting an ID. I’m not sure how easy that will be, but it looks kind of similar to hydrocotyl ‘Japan’, or maybe a more sparse pearl weed. 

[Gator]

Crabby;

I've collected native plants for my tanks in the past and they've grown well, but caused other problems such as unwanted creatures.

Since then I've learned to go to the spice aisle of a grocery store to buy 4 jars of Alum. Measure out 9 tablespoons of Alum into a 5 gallon bucket and add 3 gallons of water, stir it up to dissolve the Alum and put the lid tightly on the bucket to prevent evaporation. Whenever you harvest plants from a lake or pond, stir the bucket, place your plants in the bucket, and let them soak for at least 3 hours. The Alum will kill any creature living on the plant right now, but it takes 3 hours for the Alum to penetrate the egg masses and kill the eggs. After 3 hours, remove the plants, rinse them off under running water and plant them in your desired location in your tank. 

I've done this with plants I've gotten from my LFS and the Alum hasn't harmed any of the plants, and there is a lake near here that has a large area of Jungle Val growing in the shallows that I may be able to harvest some with a garden rake. 

[Crabby]

That’s a great tip Gator, thanks! 

[Daniel]

Collecting native plants is fun. Last fall I collected in North Carolina:

Banana plants

Myriophyllum:

Bladderwort:

Dwarf hair grass:

And others:

And on your side of the globe popular aquarium plants like Pogostemon stellatus are native to you:

Any plant that can be found in a billabong can't be all bad. 🙂

I don't treat my wild collected plants because I love finding the little surprises that come in with the plants. Most of which are fish food anyway.

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 8/15/2021 at 11:44 PM, Crabby said:

I live in Australia (Victoria)

You have some awesome plants in your part of the world!  But I would caution and think about two things, for both ethical and legal reasons.  First, Oz has some rare stuff.  Make sure it is not threatened.  Second, you guys, like us, have some invasive stuff.  I'm guess you also have laws about transporting and propagating those species.  I'd prefer not to get in trouble for growing stuff I should not.  Otherwise, finding stuff in the wild is a lot of fun!

[HH Morant]

I'm guess you also have laws about transporting and propagating those species.  I'd prefer not to get in trouble for growing stuff I should not. 

I thought there was an exception if you grow for your personal use.

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 8/16/2021 at 7:39 AM, HH Morant said:

I thought there was an exception if you grow for your personal use.

All depends on the local laws as they pertain to specific species.  I know the university near me can't grow or move some of the aquatic invasive plants around here without prior Department of Natural Resources approval.  Someone tried to ask after the fact and though not fined, was given a written warning to her supervisor.  But again it is all dependent on local laws.  I don't know the Ozzie or Victoria laws well enough to comment beyond that.  Just thought it was worth considering, but you are totally correct, it might not apply there. 

[HH Morant]

On 8/16/2021 at 8:53 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

All depends on the local laws as they pertain to specific species.  

You are right. I don't know all that much about growing illegal plants. Just what I heard from a friend.  😉 

[Guppysnail]

I would not disinfect plants it’s unnecessarily hard on them I feel. If you are worried about parasites qt for 2 weeks. Most harmful organisms cannot survive 2 weeks without a host. Please share pictures of the plants you collect I would love to see them.

[Crabby]

Thanks for all the help and advice everyone! The stuff I’ve seen seems to be super common, so I’m not too worried about decreasing populations. I think a 2-4 week QT would be my preferred option of making sure they’re safe. That would mean I can also very slowly bring them up to temperature (moving them from outside to the garage to the laundry and then into a tank). If I have enough time this afternoon I’ll definitely go plant hunting! Definitely tempted to grab some of the beautiful red azolla we have, but I think it’s a cold water plant?

[Water Box Dreams]

Crabby, welcome to the wonderful world of 'natives.' I live in NSW and there are few restrictions in Australia for native aquatic plants, as long as you don't sell them across borders. Many are available from Aussie nurseries and they know all the restrictions for sale of plants - the only one I am aware of for the hobbyist here (not selling plants) is glossostigma elatinoides in Tasmania. Not aware of any in NSW or Victoria. Almost all restrictions (99%) are about invasive non-natives - that is what local authorities worry about. Laws aren't there to punish the innocent.

I prefer natives for the following reasons:

- they are free

- you cannot accidentally introduce them - they are native!

- if you live in the sub-tropics like you and I do and people in the Southern States of USA they will happily grow in high temperatures like tropical aquariums (that is their summer environment) and also very low temperatures down to 4 deg C. Alot of people in the hobby are not aware that Glossostigma is a sub-tropical species which can grow in water temperatures as low as 4 deg C and as high as 30 C. Glosso (mud-mat) will also survive winter overnight frosts in its emergent form (ie not underwater). Its a tough little native to be sure.

Below are some links online. If you are ever concerned about a species and you know its scientific name, all you need do is google it and if it is a problem you will find it on a website somewhere.

https://www.threatenedspecieslink.tas.gov.au/Pages/Glossostigma-elatinoides.aspx

Online references for aussie natives are

https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Glossostigma~cleistanthum

https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/0762e7d1-7360-452d-a6d8-c66ceaf60f4f

https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora

https://avh.ala.org.au

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Water Box Dreams

[Water Box Dreams]

As far as collecting in the wild - went on a botanical expedition yesterday and collected some natives - I am not an expert in these matters but I believe that in most places in the world persons are permitted to collect things (beach combing etc...) as long as it is of a limited nature and not for profit (ie you are not running a business), AND the species does not appear on a threatened species list in your area or have other restrictions on 'that species.' I would avoid national parks and other special nature zones. Public roads out in the countryside and environs are the best for me. Have found some amazing plants growing in water filled ditches beside public roads.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Water Box Dreams

[Crabby]

I haven’t collected anything yet, but I went on a little expedition yesterday to get photos of all the plants I could find. I think I also found some type of eleocharis-type hair grass? It was growing emersed and submersed.

Here are some pics:

[Water Box Dreams]

There are many native species that look like the first photo such as red water-milfoil (Myriophyllum verrucosm) which is endemic near me and found in almost every water catchment. That one is not red water-milfoil. Identifying natives can be tricky. They all look similar to hornwort which is another native but has very fine fronds. Alot grow in and out of the water like verrucosm.

The last one you might want to be careful with as it may be parrot's-feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum), a declared weed, but then again it might not be? I have PDF's that I got online that are weed identification guides. They are freely available and not hard to find if you google it. There are many problem weeds in our waterways.

We also have lots of invasive fish species like the 'plague-minnow', mosquito fish, which comes from the USA and was intentionally released in NSW one hundred years ago to combat mosquitos. Now they are every where.

[Crabby]

On 8/19/2021 at 7:03 PM, Water Box Dreams said:

There are many native species that look like the first photo such as red water-milfoil (Myriophyllum verrucosm) which is endemic near me and found in almost every water catchment. That one is not red water-milfoil. Identifying natives can be tricky. They all look similar to hornwort which is another native but has very fine fronds. Alot grow in and out of the water like verrucosm.

The last one you might want to be careful with as it may be parrot's-feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum), a declared weed, but then again it might not be? I have PDF's that I got online that are weed identification guides. They are freely available and not hard to find if you google it. There are many problem weeds in our waterways.

We also have lots of invasive fish species like the 'plague-minnow', mosquito fish, which comes from the USA and was intentionally released in NSW one hundred years ago to combat mosquitos. Now they are every where.

The first and last images are of the same plant, actually! I was thinking it looked similar to a milfoil or hornwort type plant, but it’s definitely not either. 
I also found some elodea a few days ago, which is only the second plant so far that I’ve been able to confidently ID (the first being Red Azolla).

Funnily enough I’ve only seen fish around my area once, which may have been mosquito fish, but I didn’t catch them so I’m not sure. I go looking occasionally but I rarely find any. I’m tempted to set up a little trap in the shallows to see if there’s anything living either in the billabongs or in the river.

[Water Box Dreams]

Oh OK. Yes unless you catch a fish can be hard to identify. I use a 2L clear plastic drink bottle (coke bottle) which I have cut the end off (the cap end) and put it back in reverse ways - they can get in but can't get out. There are many utube videos about how to do this. Usually catch fish within 5-10 minutes. I use crushed crackers (sao biscuits) as bait. The strange thing about crackers is it will attract a wild fish but they won't eat it in captivity. My experience is they won't eat anything but live food. Not a fan of wild caught fish - too hard to feed. Certain individuals may eat prepared flake-foods but they are rare in the group. Its like almost all of them go on a hunger strike and would rather starve to death than live in captivity.

[Torrey]

@Crabby red azolla, aka Mexican Azolla is indigenous from the Southwest down through Guatemala, I believe. 

I found it in high elevations in exceptionally chilly water, down to the cenotes and water as warm as 80°.

 

Here's some in my tank, temp fluctuates throughout the year between 65° nighttime in the winter, to 74° daytime in the summer.

 

New growth will be green, it turns red under **bright** desert sun. Or, under a Costco shop light in my aquarium 😅

[Crabby]

On 8/30/2021 at 2:24 PM, Torrey said:

@Crabby red azolla, aka Mexican Azolla is indigenous from the Southwest down through Guatemala, I believe. 

I found it in high elevations in exceptionally chilly water, down to the cenotes and water as warm as 80°.

 

Here's some in my tank, temp fluctuates throughout the year between 65° nighttime in the winter, to 74° daytime in the summer.

 

New growth will be green, it turns red under **bright** desert sun. Or, under a Costco shop light in my aquarium 😅

I believe they’re actually two different strains that both go under the same common name. The one I found is Azolla rubra, which is also called red Azolla and pacific Azolla. It’s native to NZ and Aus. Very similar though!