Aphids in the tank

[funatnight]

I am having a problem with aphids attacking the floating plants that are in my tank. It all strted with a nice little piece of water cabbage that I grabed from the local river.... I guess the bug was on there but I did not see it. :girl:

Now I have TONS of little bugs all over the plants. I have tried washing the bugs off, but they come right back in a few days. Is there any way of getting rid of these bugs without removing the plants?

[redilyn]

http://www.pondpetsusa.com/aquatic_plantcare/herbal_aphid.html

although it also says this.

Herbal Aphid Control should not be applied to water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes). We have found that the outer leaves will turn yellow and disintegrate.

Just a quick google search for you

[funatnight]

Thanks for the link, I had searched, but came up with nada. I am rather leary of putting chemicals into the tank, so may end up just getting rid of the plants that are on the top fo the water. Has anyone ever had any problems with this before? Is this a common problem?

[ergo sum]

I don't know anything about this problem but my first thought was to take the plants out of the tank and submerge them in water for a bit. I am betting the aphids can't stay under water. Also while you have them out spray them with a little soapy water, that is suppose to kill aphids. Just make sure you rinse them well.

[Darkblade48]

I'd recommend the following.

Take out all the floating plants you have, and place them into a large bucket and fill up with water. Ensure that all the plants are sunken. After some time, the aphids (should) float up to the top of the bucket, where they can be skimmed and removed.

As for the aquarium, add more water to it so that it's filled right up to the brim, wait for the aphids to float up, and then skim. Drain the water a bit (maybe a couple of inches) and repeat. You want to make sure that you fill it up to the brim because there could be aphids in the little air pocket.

[plantbrain]

Pick a piece very clean, you can treat the lettuce with a number of insecticides in a bucket a leave it there for a few days, rinse 3x and return to the tank.

Regards,
Tom Barr

3rd annual Plant Fest July 8-14th 2005!
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[redilyn]

couldnt you also just dimp the plants in a water/bleach mixture?