Plant appears in non-planted aquarium?

[Miller Time]

I noticed this plant sprout a few days ago, and it's been growing rather quickly. This is odd because:
a) This tank has never had live plants before
b) Nothing has been added to this tank in 12 months or more. No fish added, no substrate, used filter material, etc. Nothing introduced but water changes and flake food.
c) This tank has normal fluorescent lighting and doesn't see any outside light.

This is a freshwater 55g tank, with three Congo tetras, about 15-20 white cloud minnows, and a catfish. Temperature and water quality has been stable for at least a year. My questions and concerns are:

1. What type of plant is this?
2. Is it something harmful that I should remove?
3. How the heck did it get there? The first two questions are my real concerns, but my curiosity on this question is killing me. Is it possible a viable seed was in the flake food? Did an airborne seed somehow get in?

Thanks for any help!

 

[myswtsins]

Not sure on the ID of the plant, especially since the bottom leaves and top leaves look so different (the top leaves look fake even). Some sort of stem plant, maybe a bacopa or moneywort. I can't think of any reason that it would be dangerous but to be safe you can get rid of it. As to how it got there, no clue! lol Do you have other tanks with plants in them?

 

[Miller Time]

No other planted aquariums at this time!

As for the top leaves looking different, they just sprouted within the last day. A few days ago the plant was only as tall as the lower leaves and they had just popped.

 

[tanker]

Looks like a future nice plant. Maybe in the family of Hygrofolia. It probably came in with a stem or leaf and grew from there.
Seriously do not think it came from seeds, via air or flake food.

 

[FreshyFresh]

COOL! Too early to tell what it is, but a pretty lucky occurrence. Hopefully it continues to grow. Update the thread if it does.

 

[SnakeIce]

It did come from a seed, those lower leaves are cotyledon seed leaves, and the upper leaves are the plant's true leaves. Looks a bit like a bean plant to me and I'm leaning in the direction that it isn't aquatic. You could wait and see if it survives or tries to grow out of the tank.

 

[fishorama]

I agree with SnakeIce, it's from a seed of some kind. Might be fun to see what it turns into... if it lives. If it gets soft or brown, pull it up throw it out. I don't think I'd worry about it harming fish, there are some plants that supposedly can, but not many.

 

[wesleydnunder]

I think SnakeIce nailed it...some kind of terrestrial seed that's sprouted in your gravel. Do you have birds by chance?

Mark