de_brequet Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 Many years ago I had the floating plant Salvinia. Compared to other flating plants such as duckweed & azola species, it was the best floating plant I've ever had. It was too big to be eaten by the fish, didn't 'burn' in direct sunlight, die off in winter, and had a wonderful hanging root system that fish could lay in, and where fry could hide. All up - I'd have to say the ultimate floating plant. I realise that it's now a declared weed. Although it's not illegal to own Salvinia, shops are not permitted to sell it - thanks to people who are stupid enough to dump their unwanted plants and fish into our waterways. It seems a pity that us responsible hobbyists can not obtain such a useful plant. Does anyone else agree??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 From what I could find, Water Lettuce, Pistia stratiotes, is legal in Victoria and SA. It looks and grows in a similar way to Salvinia. I once got some Pistia stratiotes from my local Bunnings gardening section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender Posted March 26, 2010 Report Share Posted March 26, 2010 Yes this was posted already, but as it was in the introductions it didn't get any response. I advised de_brequet that they may get a better response here as plant people are likely to be checking this section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted March 27, 2010 Report Share Posted March 27, 2010 I had some salvinia in a pond before I found out what it was.... talk about cover water surface .... no room for seeing fish at all... and yes great big root systems.... just don't ever let it get in natural waterways been known to clog up entire rivers let alone small creeks .... all that I had is now destroyed.... sticking to my duckweed and waterlilies now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
de_brequet Posted March 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 Thanks one and all for your replies and advice ... I looked up Water Lettuce. It looks nice but apparently dies if the temp drops below 18 degrees, which it does in Adelaide in the winter. If anyone out there has any Salvinia that they can sell me - please let me know. Be assured that I am a responsible hobbyist and any excess plant material gets composted in my worm farm !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted March 29, 2010 Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 Like I mentioned in the classifieds post on the same topic, regrettably, I can't allow AAQ to be used for trading in noxious weeds. Again, my apologies!! Please try and understand my position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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