Tropical Fish Keeping banner

Duckweed

2K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  magpie 
#1 ·
Evening all. Just wondering about duckweed. Has anyone used it and had problems. Im thinking of introducing it into the tank to aid in the nitrate removal and diffuse the light a little for the fish. Is it going to grow rapidly or am i looking at removal after a month or so.

Any help as always appreciated

Cheers:-D
 
#2 ·
it grows expidentially... The best way to describe it would be to say it doubles in size every 3-6 days. You'll probably be scooping out at least a handful a week after it gets going. Its also really hard to get rid of later, and it will probably spread to all your tanks.

That being said, its a great plant for shade and.nitrates.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#3 ·
I hate it, it's like a plague! Seriously! I call it the Green Plague...

Yes, it provides all the benefits you've mentioned and for that it's great. But ugh, it's near impossible to ever get ride of and it can choke out other floating plants (my problem).

Also be prepared to have your hand absolutely covered in Duckweed every time you reach in :lol:

If it is the only floating plant you have, removal isn't as hard, but time consuming.
 
#4 ·
OMG yes the Green Plague!! I laughed when I read that. but it is so true.
I put it in my 75, and within weeks was fishing it out again. Can't do anything without it right up your arm. It's on everything. Hate the stuff.
Now having said that.... silly me, I'm thinking of getting some more. haha.
Apparently it is "goldfish candy" and I have just acquired a Goldfish and Turtle who have lived together for years. The turtle will eat it too. I have heard of Betta owners growing it on the surface of their Betta tank in order to feed it as a treat to their goldfish tank. Thus controlling the volume of the stuff.
Good luck.
 
#5 ·
I put some in my 29 gallon and had issues with the HOB filter.
The outflow from the filter would push the D-weed down to the intake, where it would get stuck.
Within hours of it's introduction 99% of the stuff was stuck in a giant mass to the intake of the filter.
I'd turn off the filter and shake the stuff loose, and within an hour of turning the filter back on it was all down there again.
It all died from lack of light.
If you have a standard HOB filter, I'd recommend a different floating plant myself.
 
#7 ·
Ogre44... yes yes yes.... all stuck to the HOB filter uptake tube because of the disturbance of the surface from this type of filter. Would be right inside if not for the screen cap on the end, but that does not allow your filter to do it's job. Not so bad if you have a canister filter.
 
#8 ·
"The Green plaque" <---- That's funny but true! I hate that stuff! I got it once by accident. It was apparently stuck to some plants I ordered and didn't know it till it started taken over the surface of my tank by the time I realized what it was it had completely cover these surface. I had to completely break down my tank to get rid of it.
 
#9 ·
I deliberately keep duckweed in my 10g, and at each weekly water change I just scoop out maybe half of it (using a small net). It does now and then appear in the other tanks, but I have never had problems as I just scoop out the few bits when I see them.

Not the best plant for shade though, because it is not dense. But better than nothing. For shade I would go with Water Sprite or Brazilian Pennywort.

As several mentioned, for herbivorous fish duckweed is perfect. It gets its common name from the fact that ducks will gobble it up. Very nutritious stuff.:) And it is ideal for water quality in difficult tanks; this plant will usually survive and spread where other floating plants might struggle.

Byron.
 
#10 ·
The green plague. This might be true. It is growing fast but i wouldnt give it plague status just yet. Not sure as ive seen it getting destroyed by the fish when i drop some flake in. I can only assume that it will eveentually take over but the tank isnt that big so im hoping to scoop out as required on the weekly water change. But i did put it in to run a little experiment on nitrate removal with another bucket as a control. Will let you know how it all goes

TitanTDH
 
#11 ·
I also hate duckweed! I got it accidentally. It is such a pain to get rid of and it quickly covers the surface of your tank. Agreed with Byron - pennywort or water sprite will give nice cover, also grow quickly but IMO are MUCH easier to pull out/trim/maintain due to their larger size and the fact that they grow attached by stems - duckweed are little individual tiny things.

Don't do it! ;)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top