Duckweed- Pros & Cons

Fishin Pole

I was just wondering if other members have this plant in their tanks and what they have found useful or annoying about this floating plant..............I have tons of it in a few of my tanks.......I will give it away if someone wants to pay for the shipping................PM me if your interested....Thanks in advance!

Fishin Pole

i jsut noticed i started this thread in the fish disease section............Can a moderator pleaase move this to the plant section...........Sorry for the screw-up

Byron

Most of us probably consider Duckweed to be just that, a weed. It sometimes arrives on other plants. It can be persistent when you try to remove it from a tank; it seems to pop up days later after you thought all of it was gone.

But, on the plus side--and it is quite a plus--this is a tremendous plant in controlling algae. In tanks with problem algae, rather than decreasing lighting (which may harm the plants but not the algae) add floating plants to provide some shade. And Duckweed is a fast grower well suited to this task; Duckweed's rapid growth (and thus fast using of nutrients plus light) will help.

Byron.

Angel079

You know this just made me think about something...may be totally unrelated....but maybe you guys know....any and all of my old tanks had more or less Duckweed in them (no matter I ever tried lol) and in there I never had an issue with this "smoky film" on the surface like I have in the 55g now....could that be a connection? Maybe the Duckweed utilized whatever micro organism is producing this film?!

Byron

Just thought I'd add a link to some info on Duckweed that coincidentally turned up on another forum I belong to; general concensus in that thread was that Duckweed is a useful water purifier due to its quick growth and fast use of excess nutrients. Mention was also made of Duckweed's usefulness in preventing algae. And apparently Mbuna love Duckweed, so it is a good food for rift lake cichlids.
Benefit of Floating Duckweed | eHow.com

Byron.

Fishin Pole

Thanks for the link Byron......very informative and useful............I have noticed a better water quality in my tetra tank since i have been using it in there..............

ChristinaRoss

we cant get that here, i was told its illegal in the state, i like it though

Byron

It has turned up in several watercourses thanks to fish hobbyists dumping it or down the drain or whatever. It is a true "weed" in aquatic plants. Many jurisdictions have banned it for that reason. It should be discarded by dumping it on dry ground as in a compost pile or something where it will not be able to get into native waterways.

A very similar floating plant but I think much more beautiful is Salvinia auriculata. Native to South America, it has slightly larger leaves that have a wondrous silver reflection on the upper leaf surface. It grows very fast like Duckweed but is a nicer plant I think.

Byron.

ChristinaRoss

yes ive heard that byron, ive advised memebers in the betta section, that if they want to dispose of it, to at least put it in a ziploc bag and throw it away so no chance of it surviving and ending up in a waterway