# Collecting native Canadian Aquarium Plant



## noved (Jul 14, 2009)

Does anyone know where I can find out what aquarium plants are native to the great lakes area or better yet Ontario or Canada in general. I want to go out and collect some wild ones but don't really know what to look for. 

Also, has anyone ever collected there own plants. If so, I'm interested in what you may have found and the experience in general.

I have checked out plantgeek.net/plantguide.php but it is very outdated and to the best of my knowledge no longer updated.


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## DaFishMan (Dec 19, 2006)

I looked it up online after I came home with a jungle val that hit my leg at wasaga beach. Since then I keep a glass jar or 2 in my trunk at all times in case I'm near water. Start with the lakes you're interested in collecting from. Include 'aquatic plants' or 'biodiversity' after the name of the lake. You should get some hits off google to get you started.

Most coldwater plants won't take to a tropical tank. On the flip side, goldfish (coldwater fish) eat plants. Late summer is the best time to collect. 

I've tried some plants, your best bets are jungle val, elodia/egeria, dwarf sag, duckweed, water lettuce, theres also a more delicate feathery type of hornwort that looks better then the usual one. The jungle val did extremely well, overgrew my 29g at the time, ended up in a 90g oscar tank. Both tanks were low light. Theres a very light green version of dwarf sag extremely nice I wished it took to my tank but no luck. I may try to get that one again.

If you only see a couple plants in an area it's good to leave it to propagate unless you know it's an invasive species. Usually and unfortunately it's the invasive species that adapt to the tank ! 

There are several possible nasties that can hitch into your tank with a collected plant. Carefully clean, rinse, inspect each plant carefully, then a plant dip using bleach, potassium permanganate or alum. Rinse and inspect again. Snail eggs are usually clear and gel-like, can be hard to spot. Baby snails inpossible to spot. Snail dip is another thing to look up usually a treatment will at least knock snail eggs off and the other stuff. 

Happy Hunting


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