Hydrilla in an aquarium?

[TigerBarbs]

Has anyone ever gone to a lake and picked some hydrilla and put it in a tank? I love how it looks and want some.

 

[mfdrookie516]

It's a very common aquarium plant, sold as anacharis (hydrilla and elodea both). There's nothing wrong with pulling it out of the wild, since it's so abundant and often considered a noxious weed... as long as your local laws don't prohibit it, and you're not disturbing the ecosystem in doing so.

 

[TigerBarbs]

O cool

 

[TigerBarbs]

I never thought it looks like anacharis until u said that but thats really what it is

 

[TigerBarbs]

Oops just found out the plants i saw were coontail which is hornwort right

 

[mfdrookie516]

yep, it's sometimes called coontail.

 

[aqua_chem]

Just make sure you decontaminate it before it goes in the tank.

 

[TigerBarbs]

How do i decontaminate it?

 

[aqua_chem]

Hygrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate, etc. Take your pick.

 

[TigerBarbs]

Hydrogen peroxide wont kill it?

 

[mfdrookie516]

It will if you leave it in there long enough. 30 seconds to a minute is plenty... should take care of any parasites and/or algae that come in with it.

 

[TigerBarbs]

Ok thanks!

 

[ashleynicole]

I think that's how I got planaria in my tank, now that I think about it, it showed up after I put wild pennywort in my tank. I removed it because it wasn't doing well anyway, but I did not sterilize it first, I just let it sit in a bucket of water on the back porch for a few days. Ugh I feel stupid now.