Proper disposal of aquatic plants

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fish_4_all

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Mar 13, 2005
Messages
1,864
Location
Aberdeen, WA
What do you think are the safest and most effective ways to make sure they are completely dead? I have thought about drying them but some plants can come back from being totally dry although I am not sure about aquatics so I thought of microwaving them! Should kill them, either that or create a mutant form that grows in radiactive soil :roll:
 
I keep a bucket beside my tank and drop all stragglers into it. It sits there for over a week and then I dump it into the trash. Short of feeding the slop to pigs I'm not sure how better to dispose of plants.
 
Same thing here, I have my trashcan in the office that I use for all clippings and it sits for at least 3-4 days before going out. Everything is dry and dead before going out to the trash (normally I'm scraping the leaves off the sides of the can because I'm too lazy to put a bag in the can. :) )

I think the most real concern would be flushing leaf parts down the drain. I do my PWC's with a 5gallon bucket and dump it down the toilet and I'm sure there are some leaves or root parts in the water. Whether these can grow once flushed I don't know, but barring creating a filter on my toilet I'm just going to hope these small pieces don't start a hygro farm at the local water supply!
 
Same as both of the above. I have a trashcan, or when I'm really lazy a trashbag that I keep near the tank. I put the clippings in there and then just let it dry out. It's usually a giant clump of dried plant matter when I dump it (into the larger trash can).
 
killitwithfire.jpg
 
:lol: Nice.

"The existence of flamethrowers says that someone, somewhere, at sometime said, 'I need to set that thing on fire, but it's too far away.'"
 
...kinda like swatting a fly with an anvil. :roll:

Proper disposal only means that you prevent the plant(s) from propagating elsewhere. Flame throwers aside, just kill the plant and you've done your job.
 
LOL...it's still funny! :lol:

But yes to what JChillin said. Don't allow the plant to possibly come into contact with a local water supply, which means that in the right climate, putting clippings down the sink in the garbage disposal may possibly lead to it popping up somewhere. As others suggested, just let the clippings dry out and dispose in the garbage can. I lay a piece of Saran Wrap on the kitchen counter when I trim. I put all trimmings on the saran wrap. I go through and pick out ones that I want to keep, and wrap the rest in the saran wrap, and dispose of in the garbage. Landfills are lined with some sort of plastic so there's no possible contamination with groundwater there.
 
Wow, learn something new every day. I would not have thought of this before, but it makes sense. I just started a FW nano and will keep this in mind.

No flame throwers though. :)
 
I burn mine. Because as we all know, duckweed can probably out last roaches in the event of a nuclear explosion.
 
Well if it makes it to my local waste pickup it point it can wind up anywhere. The seagulls make a mess and carry stuff around all the time and a local creek runs right into the largest river in the county. I will either dry them or burn or nuke them. If I keep getting so much Wisteria I may start using it in my salads!
 
if you think about it, the roaches wont die from the radiation. their naturally protected from the radiation.. unless their killed by the heat and blast
 
The funny thing is roaches die just like the plant would in the microwave, I know, and my wife hated me for it and made me clean it!

I would also assume that drying the plants is assuming that the plants did not flower and there is no chance of any seeds.
 
Get yourself a cana or marisa snail (in a separate tank!). They'd love to eat plants you don't want.
It's a lot like getting yourself an oscar to cull fry. :)
 
I thought about that. I had Columbian Ramshorns before and they would work about the same. I can only imagine how large an Apple Snail would get on my left over trimmings of Wisteria and the other fast growers I have now. Have one in a 10 gallon that can't turn around would be comical, cruel but comical.

Edit: Now that I think about it, my Columbians were in a tank with no plants. I don't know if they will eat the extra stuff or not. As for apple snails, can't find anything but Mystery snails here so I would have to look elsewhere to find plant eating types.
 
want applesnails ? go to www.mysterysnail.com. I've bought snails from him and would never buy them anywhere else now. he has true applesnails. he also has the giant ramshorns.

honestly - I never thought about my plant clippings being a threat, and I'm usually so consciencious about stuff like that. Another BIG PLUS for being lazy - my clipping (which are mostly dead leaves anyway - I'm not at the point where I actually have to trim to keep things under control !) just go into my office trash pail and they can sit there for a week before hitting the regular trash.

on a related note - I had no clue what to do with my pond snails I remove from my tank so I have a plastic cup next to the tank that I toss them into. I guess I'll nuke them (not that any are still alive). Going forward I have the perfect solution - just started a dwarf puffer tank LOL
 
poison it with petrol.
works great on weeds.

Or for a more organic treatment, boil them. and throw them in your garden.
 
fish_4_all said:
I thought about that. I had Columbian Ramshorns before and they would work about the same. I can only imagine how large an Apple Snail would get on my left over trimmings of Wisteria and the other fast growers I have now. Have one in a 10 gallon that can't turn around would be comical, cruel but comical.

Edit: Now that I think about it, my Columbians were in a tank with no plants. I don't know if they will eat the extra stuff or not. As for apple snails, can't find anything but Mystery snails here so I would have to look elsewhere to find plant eating types.

Columbians are the Marisas I mentioned. Trust me, they have no problems eating the extras (and they are fantastic algae eaters too, btw). My LFS had a few, but they can be hard to find. There's not much demand for them because they eat plants!
 
Same thing I do with branches from yard work.

I place it in the cast iron fireplace out in the back yard ($99, Wal Mart). When I accumulate enough dry material in it, I light it on fire. Ash gets reused in the lawn/garden.
 
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