FAQs on Water Milfoils, genus Myriophyllum Related Articles: Parrot Feather, genus Myriophyllum for Aquarium Use, Related FAQs: A beautiful Myriophyllum at Interzoo 08.

Lake plants to Aquarium?   8/22/06 Hello! <Hi there> Is it safe to add Floating Myriophyllum sprigs found in a lake to your aquarium to make a new plant? <Mmm, with some prep., quarantine...> Is there a way of cleansing the sprigs from unwanted lake bacteria before adding them to your tank? Or is this just not advised all around? Thanks! R <"Outside" plants can often be acclimated to indoor/aquarium use... given a tolerance/range of conditions... I would at least isolate these in their own tank... mixing more "domestic" water in with water changes... for a month... checking on the presence of unwanted hitchhikers (worms, insects, snails...), treating to rid the plants of same if discovered. Bob Fenner>

Re: Lake plants to Aquarium?  8/22/06 Right now the sprigs are sitting in a small fish bowl where I change the water frequently and add little bits of aquarium salt <Not much of this...> and stress coat (same as I would treat the water for all my tanks). I'll think about adding them to the main tank in a month or so after I see how it does. Thanks so much for you help! <Real good. BobF>