How to do water changes with Top plants?

[Finn1231]

I recently got a top floating plant (was told it was frogbit but it doesn’t look like it, it seems a bit small but the roots are starting to grow) and im trying to do a water change. Its a small 5 gallon so i just use a gravel vacuum and clean the gravel while taking out water (i dont have a pump, and even if i did it would take out way too much water) However, the new top floating plants keep sticking to my gravel vacuum and making it hard to do water changes. I cant fond any YouTube videos on the subject, how would you guys recommend cleaning without hurting the plants or messing them up too much? The plant ended up having some snails on it too so i don't want to hurt the snails either.

 

[Byron]

The smallest plants are duckweed. The plants with larger leaves (marginally larger!) are I think Frogbit.

You cannot hurt duckweed, it will survive almost anything. Frogbit needs time to settle in. When you are ready to take the water changer out, just carefully "wipe off" any of the Frogbit plants.

[Edited, as I erred initially, got mixed up over the photo!]

 

[PheonixKingZ]

You can just find a bare spot and stick the vacuum in the water. When you move it around to clean different areas of the tank, the plants should just swirl around your hand. Some may attach themselves to your hand, and if that happens, then just wipe them of your hands.

Don’t worry about hurting the snails - they are very resilient.

 

[Sgooosh]

The smallest plants are duckweed. The plants with larger leaves (marginally larger!) are I think Frogbit.

You cannot hurt duckweed, it will survive almost anything. Frogbit needs time to settle in. When you are ready to take the water changer out, just carefully "wipe off" any of the Frogbit plants.

[Edited, as I erred initially, got mixed up over the photo!]

i agree the smaller plants are duckweed, but the larger i think are also duckweed, spirodela. frogbit is a lot bigger, thicker, and longer
also the algae on the bottom (if it is algae) likes light and turns a nice green when there is light
make sure to trim or it will go out of hand

 

[Boundava]

Agree, don't worry about the duckweed and snails, both will be back with a vengeance, lol.

 

[Sgooosh]

Agree, don't worry about the duckweed and snails, both will be back with a vengeance, lol.

yeah, if your parameters are really good and the snails like it...
you're gonna have a lot

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

A handy tip for anyone trying to manage floating plants...
Make a loop out of some air hose, using one of those two-way air hose connectors.
If you put your floaters inside it, you can then move the loop around the tank, whilst your working on it.
Alternatively, you can get a sucker attachment and affix the loop to the glass.

I invented this technique for myself when my Dwarf Gouramis started to breed and I wanted to try and contain the bubble-nest to somewhere less troublesome in the tank. I then discovered that many others use the same methods.
Such hoops can also be used to limit floating foods, such as flake, to a specific area of the tank.

 

[Sgooosh]

A handy tip for anyone trying to manage floating plants...
Make a loop out of some air hose, using one of those two-way air hose connectors.
If you put your floaters inside it, you can then move the loop around the tank, whilst your working on it.
Alternatively, you can get a sucker attachment and affix the loop to the glass.

I invented this technique for myself when my Dwarf Gouramis started to breed and I wanted to try and contain the bubble-nest to somewhere less troublesome in the tank. I then discovered that many others use the same methods.
Such hoops can also be used to limit floating foods, such as flake, to a specific area of the tank.

agree,
a much cheaper option that i invented was to use straws, fold the short end of a bendy straw flat, then fold it in half until you can stick it into the end of another straw