# Aquatic Microfauna



## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

I was at the Scott smith animal expo today and I really liked this floating plant.











Guy said it was from a frog free pond off his back porch. I didnt think much of it until I got them home. The whole container is full of aquatic bugs of all kinds. All are pretty small. I don't know my freshwater copopods or daphnia and ect only Marine. Is there a way to inoculate the plants and kill off all the insects or is it pretty much trash? 

This first one looks like a Copopod which are much bigger than the ones I am used to but I would concider benificial microfauna. These also represent the vast majority of visible insects/crustations. I have no idea what that thing was that zoomed in for a second. Too fast to get a picture of.

YouTube - Vid0000.3gp


I assume this one is Daphnia? Would these also be concidered harmless?

YouTube - Vid0002.3gp


Also seen a few mosquito larvae and the occasional wormish looking thing. 

So what do you think trash it, or inoculate it some how? I know I wouldnt want to use anything copper based thats for sure.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Looks like salvia natens with some duck weed mixed in. Some people like the duckweed (the very tiny green stuff) but once you get it in your water its really hard to get rid of without completely draining the pond area and letting everything dry completely. It also spreads faster then natens sometimes and can even choke it out. Natens is easier to keep track of since its bigger and spreads slower. And if your water gets to much of it you can pull it out really easy.

I would take a small portion of natens out (the lily pad lookin stuff) rinse it off, make sure no duck weed is stuck to it then put it where u want it...if you wanna be really careful, after you clean it off you can dip it in a 10% bleach solution but im not sure how it will react to that. May not handle it as well as terrestrial plants do.

Usually I'm not to paranoid about stuff coming from other aquariums from stores and stuff...though i probably should be, but out of frog pond? I'd definately rinse it well atleast if not also do the bleach thing. 

Im not sure how long it needs to be in the bleach solution to be an effective measure.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

also keep in mind that Salvia is an invasive species, so please dispose of it carefully when you do, it grows ridiculously fast.


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## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

Thanks guys, I allready have duckweed in my tank so thats not much of a issue. I pulled a hand full and let it dry for a while then put it in the tank. I might need to thin out the pond area alittle since its so dense not sure a frog would be able to get across it.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

If you don't want to do bleach, you can try soaking it in dish soap and water. Then giving it a good rinse.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Hey Mike,

Were not aware that you were at the show - I could have hooked you up with some frog-free dwarf water lettuce that's pretty similar. I was vending with JoshsFrogs.

Mike (the guy you got the plants from) typically sells his aquatics to people with outdoor ponds. I've picked up vivarium plants from him for years with no issues.

Never use soap and water around frogs. A mild bleach soak will do the trick. I'd only pick out a few of the S. natans - it will grow fast enough, and should be much easier to disinfect.


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## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

Cool. I stopped by the booth for a second. My son was nice enough to pee on me while I was contemplating buying a light so that cut my visit short. I was asking about the bird poop frogs. I was strongly concidering some until I found out they where really loud...I got a baby for that I dont need a frog keeping me up too. 

Was my first time at the show, lots of crested geckos not much for darts. Josh had some nice stuff. All I ended up buying was the aquatic plants, one brom and some pink springs and been beatles (why I dont know since all I got are thumbnails and some little escudos coming from rich next week)

was a good time though. Spent an hour driving around trying to find a restraunt to eat at. finally gave up and ended up heading down to boiling brook. Found us a nice steak house by bass pro shop.


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## zBrinks (Jul 16, 2006)

Yah, it was a decent show. Josh and I are planning to be back in August - if you'll be there, shoot me a pm beforehand and I'll bring you some cuttings and such.


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## D3monic (Feb 8, 2010)

I will probably be back up there soon. Josh should of advertised that he was going to be there. I bet alot more of us locals would have showed up.


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