Wild plants????

[Shelzbells]

Wheres the best place to buy plants? Is there an online store that has good prices? The 2 LFS around here hardley ever have plants for sale, and the ones they do have are in pretty bad shape and arent worth the money they ask.
Also, is it possible to take aquatic plants from lakes and streams and put them in the aquarium? If so is there some way to sterilize them first so theres no parasites or bad bacteria on them?

[Damon]

There are many sources on-line to buy plants.
www.Aquabid.com
www.aquabotanic.com/abstore/index.html
www.aquariumplants.com/
Many websites dedicated to aquarium plants have members who sell cuttings for better prices also.

www.aquaticplantcentral.com
www.fish-forums.com

Yes you can use local plants from streams. I would give them a salt bath and or vleach dip to kill and unwanted pathogens and algaes.

[MyraVan]

I don't have experience with the places Simpte mentioned, since I'm in the UK, but my experience with buying plants on-line is very good. The place I use (Greenline Aquatic Plants) has a very good selection, and the plants when I get them are always in top condition. They don't always survive in my tanks, but that's a different matter: if you don't have the right conditions in your tank even the best specimens won't live. I like to experiment a little with growing different types of plants rather than sticking to proven performers, so I have to expect a few failures.

[DavidDoyle]

Tropical plants live in warmer waters- you can go to where they occur naturally and take them from the wild for a tank. However, there are no tropical waters in Iowa so almost anything, if not everything, you take from the wild there will die in a tropical tank.

[Mr Aquarium]

Most of whaat you get here in Iowa won;t last,
some will last longer then other depending on your tank, lots of lights, no heater, if you use ferilizers and/or substrates,
Hornwort is the only one so far I have found that will go on and on, There are a couple others that will do pretty well but I have no idea what they are.
What I do is only take a couple to try and if they work well for awhile, then go back N find a few more.

[Damon]

I cant speak for Iowa (never been there long enough to look) but quite a few tropical have dormant periods (Aponogetons for example). You just have to catch them in mid to late June. Many people still believe aponogetons need a dormant period even though this has been proven untrue.

[Thunderkiss]

Beware, some states actually will require a liscence to get plants. just a heads up.

And i have never had much success with the natives here in new england, as they require more light and nutrients and FAR cleaner water than i am able to provide. They usually just wither and die.

[buddah101]

Duck weed will probably prosper pretty well. I dunno LOL

[fishboy]

I found a four leafed cover looking floating plant in my pond so i'm growing them in a jar of tap water

[rohape]

i took a large strip of moss (about 4x5) from behind my house and actually got it to grab on to some rocks. but, i dont recommend this, as i lost my large flying fox, my blue ram, and my calico ryunkin got horribly puffy lips after about 3 days of the moss being in the tank. but MAN did that moss look nice!

[Magdelaine]

My LFS is pretty, well, grimy and not the best place to buy things too, but they have no problem putting my special requests on an order. I will pick them up the day they come in and hopefully avoid their maltreatment...

After considering the costs of shipping from online companies I realized that it was much cheaper for me just to ask... You might try it.

[Damon]

The best places to find plants are from other aquatic tank owners. Try hitting some planted tank boards like http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com See if any members are close to you or know of reputable stores within driving distance. Aquabid has some great sellers in the live plant areas. The plants you recieve from people like these are generally healthier and more often than not not grown emmersed so they take less time to adapt to aquatic conditions.

[TheOldSalt]

I have to agree. I've bought plants off of Aquabid with great success. I've always been impressed by the nifty stuff that can be found on Aquabid.

I'm lucky to live down here on the AL/FL border. The local plants will almost all do quite well in a typical aquarium, and you I use them both in tanks and in my outdoor pools.
( Our local fish are likewise very nice. )