Can you use wild aquatic plants in an aquarium? I was wondering if there was something you could do to pond plants and such to make them safe for goldies.

You can yes, but most pond plants tend to get a bit too big for tanks! If you choose small specimens though and make sure they have enough light they should be fine. You should definitely sterilise them first though, or you risk introducing all kinds of nasty critters into the tank; use a potassium permanganate solution or a mild bleach solution (1 part bleach to 19 parts water) and rinse them off really well (with dechlor too if you use bleach) before putting them in the tank.

I think it is too much risk. There are many parasites that need more than one type of host to complete their life cycles. Since our tanks have an extremely limited diversity of organisms (only goldfish and maybe some species of snails), these parasites would not thrive in them. Like Emma said, by introducing wild plants you run the risk of carrying some disease bearing organisms and pathogens into your tank. You will not be able to kill 100% of these by disinfecting... in fact drinking water plants are not able to remove 100% of pathogenic organisms!

Better be safe and get your plants from your favorite petstore.

actually, youve probably got a better chance of infecting your tank with some nasties from store bought plants (in my opinion). although, no matter where you get your plants from, you should at least wash them in the bleach/water solution and then let them sit in triple dosed (dechlorinator) water overnight.

but, like emma said, pond plants usually get pretty darn big! ive been eyeing every pond that i see between my house and work (45 miles worth) and i can tell you this, unless youve got a 100 gallon tank or bigger, they will quickly outgrow your tank. especially the marginal ones (roots in water and leaves in air).

hope this helps!

Just a little fyi.....In alot of states,it's actually illegal to take plants from anywhere they're growing. I got into trouble once with a state trooper for picking a little bit of wild growing forget-me-nots! The trooper read me the riot act,then preceded to tell me about state laws Sorry Officer,I didn't realize.....

wild plants definitely consist wild parasites too.. and the parasites out there are much stronger than the parasite you find at home.. why?? they are commando trained where these parasites are grown in a wild environment and were put through worse situation than in the tank at home. thus the parasites are harder to rectify..

usually bleach "MAY" kill them..

I have used plants from a big pond in my water garden. They did fine and I had no trouble with the fish getting anything from them. Also on the law, I "think" that just applies to roadside wildflowers, but I am sure it is different in different areas. I think taking something from a private pond would be fine.

Thanks for the input everyone. I appreciate all the diff point-of-views.

Speaking of pond plants, has anyone seen those "plugs" (or something, not sure what to call them!) for water lilies and other plants for outdoor ponds, I am so tempted to buy one and throw it in my tank, and see what happens! I am so afraid it will get HUGE and dwarf out all the light though...