Would this be SAFE for sals?

[roguemako]

My roommate has a ''pond'' in the backyard, it is just a hole with a tarp thrown over it and water. I had some almost dead hornwort and tossed them in the pond, now they are blooming and all over. I wanted to know if these would be safe to use for my tanks... could the tarp, logs, or rocks in the pond leech anything into the plants? Maybe pesticides from another yard? Would soaking the plants first in clean (and aged) water help?

 

[JoshBA]

I think it would be fine as long as you rinse it off and grow it in a separate aquarium by itself for a while (for potential chemicals on the plants). Also, a some sort of sterilization method would be a good idea to get rid of harmful pathogens and bugs they could have. You could look up aquarium plant sterilization techniques on the internet, although I wouldn't do something like a bleach dip (don't want to kill the plants or indroduce chlorine to your tank).

 

[roguemako]

Would a soak in clean water and baking soda be good to sterilize the plants?

 

[JoshBA]

Baking soda may be ok, but I'm not sure. Make sure the logs or wood in the pond aren't pressure treated (treated with arsenic-copper mixture). The wood would have sort of a greenish color/shine to it. If that's the case definately don't use the plants.