natural/outdoor transplant question

[clint252010]

There is a small pond near my house that has regular water lilly's in it that are currently blooming. Is there a way to maybe cut one back and transplant it into a tank? Can they be cloned? Where do the bulbs come from? Do they produce seeds?

 

[mgamer20o0]

depends what type of water lilly's. for the most part most dont do well in the tanks. i assume they need more light then what we give them.

 

[Crepe]

Pond lillies won't normally produce seeds, you are best cutting a tuber off and propagating it elsewhere. But yes lillies will do fine in an aquarium setting, however they require clearance as being kept in humid conditions (like under a close fitting tank hood) will rot their leaves. Also, they won't flower in doors unless you give them heavy lighting and plenty of space. Otherwise you will be fine.

 

[clint252010]

Whats a tuber? im not familiar with flower anatomy. Where do the bulbs come from?

 

[Crepe]

The root. Plant the cut tuber with it's corn just exposed:

 

[clint252010]

If I can get to it. Im to worried about alligators and snakes in my area.

 

[cabezon]

If I can get to it. Im to worried about alligators and snakes in my area.

are there ducks in the pond? if there are, you are safe you might want to bring a poodle and tie it nearby, just in case.

I would think that unless you have a large tank the lilly will completely cover the surface.

 

[clint252010]

Yeah there are ducks, doesnt matter cause there are still alligators. You see em swimming out there all the time. Its not that important I'll just stick to my store bought bulbs. Snakes and alligators isnt the only thing, there is probably leeches in that ***** to haha.

 

[clint252010]

Yeah enough of the natural plants, Im having too much fun from these bulbs. The only other thing I noticed around these ponds is they got these waterfalls set up and there is nice healthy hairy green algae growth on the rocks in these areas. I thought about scraping some off and putting it into my tank for the pleco. My tank was over-run by algae when I first bought the pleco but ever since it has been spotless (my pleco is a little garbage gut)! So since my pleco has been surviving on shrimp pellets recently I figured maybe I should scrape some of that algae for him as a little treat.

 

[nitupsaR]

I have a question about pond plants also, wouldn't that carry a high risk of introducing parasites/fungus or other diseases into an indoor tank? and what would be the best way to "sterilize" these plants? a friend and I tried to do it and used sea salt and warm water over a few days and when I put a test goldfish in with them he died and had white spots (I assume ick) on him

 

[HeathB]

I have a question about pond plants also, wouldn't that carry a high risk of introducing parasites/fungus or other diseases into an indoor tank? and what would be the best way to "sterilize" these plants? a friend and I tried to do it and used sea salt and warm water over a few days and when I put a test goldfish in with them he died and had white spots (I assume ick) on him

The best is a bleach/water mix. Someone else can give you the numbers. Some plants though, can't handle bleach. One thing people use for those plants is potassium permanganate (thats what Jungle's Water Clear Tank Buddies tablets are).

 

[nitupsaR]

ok, cool I will give that a shot next time
don't know if I'd want to put a bleached plant in my tank, but I'll try the tabs

 

[HeathB]

ok, cool I will give that a shot next time
don't know if I'd want to put a bleached plant in my tank, but I'll try the tabs

Like I said, it depends on the plant. Ideally bleach will kill bad stuff and hitchhikers more thoroughly than potassium permanganate. You might want to ask around about what specific plants you want to disinfect.

Edit: And remember to rinse the plants in clean water afterwards, and give them another little bath in some water treated with water conditioner. This will clean off the bleach or potassium permanganate.

Edit edit (XD): Many people also suggest even after disinfecting the plant, to try growing it out first in quarantine, so if anything bad Is still there, you won't be hurting your fish.