Really cool plant I got from the Adirondacks!

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7Enigma

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
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Location
Havertown, PA
Hey everyone,

Just got back from a great trip to the Adirondacks (upstate NY) and brought back with me some lake plants that looked like interesting additions to my tank. One is a lily-like plant that grows huge lily pads and flowers (destined to go outside in a large metal timpani drum at my parents house), but the others I put in my tank. Unfortunately the anacharis-looking plant did not survive the bleach dip and quarantine period, but the other 4 plants did. This one looks like a crypt (stays very short in water less than ~5'):

lakeplant2.jpg



Another looks like a typical stem plant (nothing special but I figure why not try for some more variety):

lakeplant3.jpg


Another looks like mondo grass but it was surviving completely submerged, and after a week seems to be fine (not growing but not rotting yet):

lakeplant4.jpg


But my favorite was to be found last. I was getting ready to leave when the host's father asked me what I was doing. After telling him he began to tell me to watch out for this really invasive plant that had begun to take over the lake. As he was telling me this I managed to snag my prize plant, just a small floating piece maybe 4" long, which he promptly informed me was the pest plant in question.

After doing a google search on Adirondack pest plants I came up with the true name, Eurasian Watermilfoil, scientific name Myriophyllum spicatum:

lakeplant1.jpg


This is a really cool plant because of its unique arrangement of "leaves". I say "leaves" because they are more like pine needles, but are arranged in 4 leaflets with a space in between. Judging from the 2" it's grown while looking dead, I'd say it should be a success in my tank, and I hope to have a nice dense forest in one of the corners in a while.


Enjoy!
 
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Milfoil is invading all the lakes and ponds up here in the northeast. Many communities would beg you to come pull this stuff up. If the legends are half true, the stuff will take over your tank. Apparently you can't kill it.
 
Milfoil is invading all the lakes and ponds up here in the northeast. Many communities would beg you to come pull this stuff up. If the legends are half true, the stuff will take over your tank. Apparently you can't kill it.

shame as it looks quite nice.
 
Milfoil is invading all the lakes and ponds up here in the northeast. Many communities would beg you to come pull this stuff up. If the legends are half true, the stuff will take over your tank. Apparently you can't kill it.

Fortunately for the small lake I was at it was still very sparse but apparently it is dreaded like the plague. One of the issues I've read about is that because it's more needle-like than leaf like, when it dies it doesn't readily decompose and fall apart. Instead the "leaves" stay in almost the same shape, which if a bunch is present will trap a lot of sediment and potentially cause stagnant areas, and could if in a slow flowing stream, cause bottlenecks.

Well that's just what I want to hear! :p Apparently it's similar to duckweed in that any part of the plant will readily grow a new one and so propogation from boat propellers/canoes/etc. is very easy. I honestly thought I had killed it with my 2-3min 5% bleach dip. It turned brown/black and I had expected to come back from vacation with it dead, but it appears to have held on.

And it really is a fantastic looking plant. The picture doesn't do it justice, but the very ordered 4 leaf, stem, 4 leaf but shifted 45degrees makes it look very unique. Almost like a windmill.
 
Would you like some more? My town is spending thousands in an effort to kill it off. The current plan is some type of mat to block all light reaching the stuff.

If you ever grow tired of it, do NOT throw it into local watershed. Burn it instead. Its not native to North America.

Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) - A Noxious Aquatic Weed in Washington
Water Milfoil

The first link shows it used to be cultivated as an aquarium plant, so guess your not the first to admire its look. Just be aware of where it goes once it leaves your tank. It can live for hours out of water. And clean the prop of any power boats in your tank! LOL
 
Some nice plants there. I particularly like the first one and then the last.

It would be neat if you could post pictures of that last one (the invasive one) after a few weeks in your tank, so we can get a sense of what it looks like once it really starts "growing in."
 
Some nice plants there. I particularly like the first one and then the last.

It would be neat if you could post pictures of that last one (the invasive one) after a few weeks in your tank, so we can get a sense of what it looks like once it really starts "growing in."

Will do. I just noticed in a pic I didn't post that near the base of the stem (which I assumed was dead) there is a new side shoot coming off. So it looks like it will propogate nicely in more than one direction.

I'm currently on a vacation spree (3 vacations in the last month) and so haven't been able to take care of the plants as well as I would like (fish are fed and water changes done but plants are pruned infrequently and fert dosing is rare). I'll be going on a full week vacation starting Friday and so it will be interesting to see the tank when I get back!
 
Very cool! I live near albany and a friend has a cabin on a lake in the ADKs, I pulled some dwarf hairgrass out of his lake the other weekend, I plan on trying ot get some more plants, maybe i'll see if I can find some of that cool looking invasive guy! :)
 
So as I'm getting ready to go on vacation I started a massive pruning of my neglected tank. To give you an idea of how bad it was I only have a 20 gallon tank and spent 45min just pulling UP the plants, and trimming. There was so much decay floating around (I also razor bladed the sides because of some algae) I had to do a water change. I ended up having to call it a night and so most of the plants are currently floating at the surface because I didn't have enough time to replant them!

One funny thing is during my pruning I found a very small (size of a pea) of the anacharis-looking plant I had assumed didn't survive the bleach dip/QT period. Hopefully it will make a recovery (the pea-sized piece looks very healthy, but it's just so small I can't do anything with it at this time).
 
Well as my luck often has it, many of the plants are now dead/recovering. I was on vacation for 8 days, did a large PWC and HEAVY pruning prior to leaving, dosed heavily with the ferts, and hoped for the best. I came home to a tank that doesn't look like anything had grown in over a week.....uh oh....

Turns out my 1-2 year old Coralife 65w CF light decided to blow up. Or more accurately it looks like the ballast blew up (bulb is dead as well). There is a dark area on the reflector near where you plug the straight pin into the bulb. I had hoped it was possibly just a blown bulb but it took me almost 10minutes to get the two pried apart and you can clearly see it's shot. Also of note was rust around the connections, which I find odd because I was running with a closed glass top. I had the acrylic piece that protects the bulb from splashes removed for added light, but there was no direct moisture that should have gotten to the connections. Any electronics gurus feel free to chime in if any part of this light is salvageable, as I am coming into a 55 gallon tank shortly and if I get a chance to use it (house is a bit small for the tank) I would need two 24" lights.

I immediately went back to hellolights and ordered up another of the same model (it was good until it stopped working and I've heard good things about it), but this time added in the legs (before it was just resting on top of the glass hood), and since I was blowing money decided I had always wanted an LED for night viewing (never got around to the DIY, and couldn't justify the outrageous prices as the local stores). I got a 3/4w blue LED that looks fantastic (I'll post pictures in a bit). At first I thought I needed 2 as the single LED only illuminates 1/4 or so of the tank, but now I actually like it. You see fish come and go and gives them some dark privacy if they want to get some rest.

I took my really crappy 17w NO hood light that came with the tank (<1wpg) that was at work on the low-light dwarf puffer tank (exclusively anubias barteri) and used it. I would turn it on at 7am when I would leave for work and turn it off at 10pm (disconnected the pressurized CO2) so the plants would at least get some usable light.

So basically it looks like the tank got no light the whole time I was gone and so there was a lot of dying plant matter to deal with. Fortunately it seems I caught the really nice looking milfoil RIGHT before it kicked the bucket. There are just 2 tiny growths that appear healthy, the rest of the plant lost most of its foliage. All of the dwarf crypt-like plants bit the dust, I've kept a couple in to see if they make a miraculous return, but it looks to be just roots as all the leaves have turned clear and started to fall off. The large plant lost most of its lower leaves, and the new leaves are brown at the growing points, but I think it may just make it.

One change I made after lots of back and forth was to switch to a 6700k instead of the 50/50 I was previously using. I like the 50/50 for the more vibrant colors the actinic displays on the fish and plants, but at only 65w for a 20gallon high tank it really is not that much light. With a CO2 tank and fert dosing, while I hate the thought of more frequent pruning, I also have read several members on here saying some of the mystery ailments of the plants were improved/fixed by the higher lighting. Here's hoping that will be true for me.

So it's been 48hours since the new lighting was installed and already there is some nice growth of my stargrass and rotala. I'm really pulling for the milfoil, as I could definitely see it complementing/replacing the stargrass, similarly to how the stargrass replaced the wisteria I used to have in the tank. OK enough babbling. I'll get some pics tomorrow.
 
Wanted to update on the milfoil. While the other plants from the Adirondacks have almost died off (one other remains but seems to have staghorn algae on it's leaves?!?), the milfoil has finally taken off. I have a 20 gallon high, and it is now 1" from the surface and pearling beautifully. Also included a couple other shots of the pearling. While the trimming is more frequent I really do like the higher light level than the 50/50 bulb.

Close-up of the milfoil now with healthy growth. Interesting in that it has not sent any side arms as of yet. I'm wondering when I trim it the base will start new growth..
milfoil1.jpg


Rotala mac. starting to close up the leaves for the night even though there's about 45min before the tank light shuts off. Pretty incredible that they adapt so well to the light/dark cycle and open before the light turns off and close before lights out!
milfoil4.jpg


Surface shot of just how much pearling is going on. There's so many bubbles at the surface it's affecting the light getting below!
milfoil3.jpg


Full tank shot (haven't done this in forever). You can see my trooper gold barb off to the right side. If you've followed my other threads he was attacked horribly (see the white spot on his side) at 2 separate times and had to be hospitalized in a separate tank. This was a GAPING wound but thankfully due to the clean hospital tank, some Melafix and Pimafix, he pulled through like a tank. Here's hoping he/she gets a nice retirement.
milfoil2.jpg
 
I believe that the picture you posted of a Rotala is probably a Rotala rotundifolia varient. Rotala Macrandra has much wider leaves than the plant you have pictured.

Definately some happy plants with all that pearling. Great job! Very nice pictures too.
 
7Enigma, what kind of substrate do you use? Currently looking for a new substrate for a 30 gallon I'm getting.
 
I believe that the picture you posted of a Rotala is probably a Rotala rotundifolia varient. Rotala Macrandra has much wider leaves than the plant you have pictured.

Definately some happy plants with all that pearling. Great job! Very nice pictures too.

I believe you're right. It's been a while since I've posted any pictures or commented on any threads and I always tend to forget the actual species of Rotala I have. :)
 
7Enigma, what kind of substrate do you use? Currently looking for a new substrate for a 30 gallon I'm getting.

PFS or Pool Filter Sand. Very nice looking, easy to maintain substrate that is dirt cheap. I think I paid about $6 for a 50lb bag. Only problem I've had is obviously there are no nutrients and some of my plants have shown signs of deficiency even with high dosing of dry ferts. My other remaining plant from the Adirondacks appears to be a heavy root feeder, as it is showing deficiency signs when it should be growing well. You can see it to the left of the gold barb, just left of the anubias. It has no lower leaves, and the upper leaves are covered in staghorn algae. I hate to throw it out, but I don't want to risk other plants getting the staghorn (I've dealt with it in the past and lets just say didn't enjoy it).

I've never gone the plant tab route, but I may look into that shortly. Biggest concern is the constant trimming would mean I'd disturb the tabs before they would be used up, and all the MTS are constantly turning over the sand.
 
I've never gone the plant tab route, but I may look into that shortly. Biggest concern is the constant trimming would mean I'd disturb the tabs before they would be used up, and all the MTS are constantly turning over the sand.

Yea I use plant tabs, I uncovered one moving a plant around and wow.. a massssive brown plume cloud took over my 75g tank for the next 30-45 min.. well i guess my plants that get the nutriants from the water colum enjoyed it but iono bout the fish..

-davE
 
So the milfoil has finally started to take off. I clipped the healthy section off of the main piece and anchored it in the substrate, and that is growing well. The old piece shows no signs of putting out any new growth. I've heard this stuff is very invasive because it grows so readily from small sections. My thought if it doesn't propagate with side shoots is to cut it into 3" sections or so and see if I can get 3 separate plants to finally start growing a small forest of the stuff.

What's really incredible is that my densely planted tank now starts to pearl about 3 hours after the lights come on! It used to be only in the last hour or two of lighting (it would take a while to saturate the water with oxygen). Pretty amazing.
 
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