Duckweed

[VidVid]

hey...i just wanted to know if duckweed works just as well in an aqaurium set up as to a pond...Im looking at putting some in my 40 gallon as well as the 15gallon that is prone to algae growth...i am also wondering how it will grow and can it be asily dealt with by just scooping out the excess duckweed from the surface?
P.S. i am also wondering if it looks any good from the side and if any stems grow down from the surface? Thanks.

 

[SuperColey1]

If you want to block all the light to your plants and fish, and also be filling your bin with it every month, then the answer is Yeessss.

 

[Themuleous]

Once its in your tank, you'll never get it out, so be sure you def want it in there.

Sam

 

[thefirethief]

Ive never used it but know people who have and they swear by it for purifying the water. Depends which other plants you plan to keep. It will block out a lot of light, but thats not always a bad thing.

 

[VidVid]

yep...im just hoping it wont block the filter if it happens to drift downwards with the current...il just add only a few just to keep a bit of the tank surface covered so it wont look that empty...

 

[SuperColey1]

I had 1 bit of duckweed which was mixed into some Riccia I got. (I mean 1 single plantlet!!!!) and every week I have to take more out. It multiplies faster than guppies

 

[voo]

I had 1 bit of duckweed which was mixed into some Riccia I got. (I mean 1 single plantlet!!!!) and every week I have to take more out. It multiplies faster than guppies

Oops!! Sorry about that

I did have a problem with duckweed, and yeah it does multiply faster than you can imaging.
However as it multiplies fast, it also removes a lot of the nitrates etc from the water that can encourage algae growth.

I used to have bad algae problems in my brackish tank, i tried adding plants but they would just get covered in diatoms and die. Now i've added some duckweed to the tank, it floats around and yeah, it does cover 50%+ of the surface blocking out some of the light, however the algae problem is a lot better than what it used to be (still not 100% gone though).

One good thing about it is that it does float, if it goes under water it'll come to the surface again. This is how i removed it all from my main tank. This tank had it bad, and i was growing riccia in this tank by floating it, which meant all the duckweed would get caught up in it. I got fed up of it, and whilst it did take some time to do, i did manage to remove it all from the tank. I get the odd one or two pieces after i removed it all, but that was because some of it was stuck underneath the braces in the tank.

The way i removed it was to remove all the riccia from my tank and place it in a washing up bowl. After that, i netted out all of it from the tank. Performing a water change also helped. When the water level went low, the plants would bend over, leaving some areas with open water. Then when i filled the tank back up again, the plants would still be bent over slightly as they take a while to recover back to their original positions. This made it a lot easier to scoop out. I did lose some riccia this way, but that's a sacrifice i had to make - it grows back quickly anyway.

Then, with the riccia and duckweed in the bowl, the duckweed floats still at the surface. I got the net and just scooped gently over the top layer, pushing it all to the side of the bowl. Then i could just scoop out the weed. Give the riccia a good mix around, then do the same again. It is time consuming, but my tank is now duckweed free