Question: Are live plants going to eat my babies?

Okay so maybe that's not really the question!

I'm looking to get some live plants. I had one when I first got Arbie but she completely tore it apart so much I had to throw it out! But now I think it would be nice for them to have a few. They have fake plants but I think live might make it feel a bit more homely!

My question is do I need to quarantine the plants for 30 days? Sorry if this seems silly it’s just I know the plants at the petshop are kept with fish and online I’ve seen some mentions that they may arrive with snails…

So some info would be handy before I start shopping! =]

Oh and any plant suggestions would be great. I got steered in the right direction by MereB on what not to buy but my goodness there are like a million plants on these sites!

Yes, quarantine the plants.

Some recommend plants:

• Anubias Nana - great plant, virtually indestructible, hardy and low maintenance.
• Anubias Isabelle - very tough, taller than the Nana.
• Anubias Barteri - just like the Nana, but a bit bigger and with rounder leaves.
• Java Fern - one of the toughest aquatic plants you can get - grows anywhere!
• Java Moss - grows anywhere as well, can be made into a sort-of "carpet"
• Lilaeopsis - this is like grass, you can make a beautiful lawn in your tank with it.
• Eleocharis (Hairgrass) - same as with Lilaeopsis tends to be a bit taller though.
• Pongol - this is actually Mondo Grass, so it's not a true aquatic but survives (doesn't grow, just survives) for ages submerged, not really recommended.
• Congensis - quite striking for a centrepiece plant.
• Riccia - Riccia generally needs a lot of light to grow properly, thus only suitable for brighter tanks.
• Narrow Chain Sword - another grassy-type thing. Looks pretty, grows happily.

Wow, thank you! More suggestions than I hoped for!

Edit: Sorry forgot to ask. When and how will I know the plants are safe to put in with my axolotls? After 30 days if they aren't dead or showing any bad signs they're good to go?

All from here: http://www.caudata.org/axolotl-sanctuary/Aquascape.shtml

do you really need to quarentine plants? I usually just dip them in a bucket and stick them in the tank. I've heard of people using a bleach concentration to make sure there are no hitchhikers

I've heard of people dipping them in warm salty water, then cold water.. before putting in the tank.

The plants in the tank at your LFS could very well have fishie bugs on them and I would ask them if they were currently treating or have recently treated any fish for anything before I bought any and walk away if they had/were. They would need to be "cleaned" but to be honest I have to wonder if the bugs can really survive on the plants. We have bought a LOT of plants over the years for our fishtanks and have never had a disease appear in the tank after they have been placed in the tank. All we've ever done is rinse them under tap water, but a quick salt bath in a strong solution wont hurt the plant but it will kill any beneficial bacteria living on the roots. I'd avoid warm water though especially if the plants have been under water for a while or you will likely melt the leaves strong salt may also have a detrimental effect on soft aquatic leaves.

Plants are mostly grown out of the water in hothouses so you won't find any fish bugs on the online ones at all, since they have never been near any fish, however snails tend to be inevitable and will likely be more prevalent on the LFS plants :? they are a REAL pain in the butt. All you can do is go through the plants very carefully when you get them and pick off all the snails and any stems/leaves that have a suspicious bump or growth. It's rare but occasionally damselflys will get in there and some species actually lay their eggs inside plants but like I said it's rare. The usual source of DF larvae in tanks is live foods that are grown in similar conditions to the DFL like daphnia. DFL are no big deal for an adult axie but little axie larvae would make a tasty snack.

Have fun :happy:

There was me wondering how you would put carnivorous plants in an aquarium :wacko:

RobM said:

There was me wondering how you would put carnivorous plants in an aquarium :wacko:

Click to expand...

Bladderworts (Utricularia spp.)are an aquatic carnivorious plant.

Someone always shows me up :dizzy:

So if I dipped them in the salt water solution would that kill off any of the baby DFL as well as nasty stuff? I don't like the thought of anything nomming away in my tanks but my axolotls! And also once dipped in the salt solution I should then rinse under cool water?

I have a second empty tank atm that I've filled with water and plan to house some babies eventually. I'd like some live plants for that too but I think with those in case of DFL (I didn't know of such beasts!) I'd keep the plants quarantined.

I'm most likely going to buy online as they seem to have more of the plants mentioned by Shizeric than the LFS.

And lol Rob I think we both got a lesson on little shop of horror plants water style there!

Yep you'll need to rinse them to get the salt off.

I don't think it will have any effect on on DFL if there are any there. the chances of there being any are really really really really remote but it never hurts to look while you're checking for snails

You could always move the plants from your axie tank when you get babies to the baby tank and put the new ones in the adult tank.
The odds of getting a plant with eggs in it is very remote and you'd know within 2 weeks if you had any hatch then they grow up, get their wings and fly away.

Fly off?! Wahh! Live plants really are going to eat my babies!

I'm happy to hear it's rare but I will most certainly be on the look out for any lurkers!

I think I'll do that when the time comes, move the plants from my adults to my babies.

Thanks a bunch to all of you

so thats what those lavae where dfl i found some in the live food i was feeding my axie lavae, but don't worry i removed any large dfl out of the container i think now my axie lavae are big anough to eat them.
i saw a dfl today in my tropical fish tank, i have just added plants because the apple snails ate all the plants:angry:(i have just chuked them in the turtle tank:wacko:) and i was going to get some cherry shrimp

That is one huge moss ball! I used to have moss balls in my tank but they started civil war with my axies (kept barricading them in their cave!) so I had to get rid of them!