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OK, I think I finally came to terms that this is duckweed plagueing (sp?) my tank. Little floating leaves that just keep multiplying no matter what I do. I have just taken out my Water Sprite, which seems to collect the stuff, and have gotten out what I can with a fish net. I also changed the filter pad and washed out the filter completely, since there was some of it in the inner chamber.

Is there anything else I can do to get rid of this pesky stuff without tearing down the whole tank? I've got two crypts that are still too small to move again. This stuff is worse than the snails in the tank.

I haven't tried to get rid of mine, I know it spreads like crazy but also is quite beneficial in providing oxygen to the tank

That being said, each time you see some yank it out...I scoop out a handful or 2 a week and drop it into my cichlid tank and they devour it...just keep scooping it will all die eventually, that and I can imagine like most plants if you leave the lights out long enough it will die as well...best of luck, heidi michelle

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So it was no surprise the day she learned
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"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

duckweed can be very beneficial and there are several other similar floating plants. The only thing I hate about it is that it keeps sticking to my filter intake. About the only way to get rid of it for certain is to use something like algaecide which can kill plants or tear down the tank. Scooping it out sometimes works eventually but it can also lie dormant in the substrate for overwintering in ponds and come back as soon as you quit taking it out. I doubt a blackout would work that well. I've had this stuff in a plastic container out in my barn for over a month with all the doors shut. It gets a minimal amount of indirect sunlight and not only is it surviving but it's multiplied. Also it's so cold it was snowing today. The duckweed is still alive. I hate dumping chemicals in the tank so I'm just scooping it out daily. Large applesnails will suck this stuff down like candy if you can borrow one.

Sham, I don't want to know where you live if it's snowing today.... and I thought New England was a bummer.

But thanks both for the info... I never knew it was beneficial, I still don't know where it came from. I believe it was with some of the plants I intentionally bought, but that can be two stores. If it comes back this time, I'll start feeding it to the cichlids. Never even thought of that Let's just hope I didn't kill my Water Sprite keeping it out all afternoon!

I'm in the middle of the midwest, Iowa. It's melting as it comes down but it's still only 45F here and suppose to be freezing tonight which puts a halt to my pond building. The duckweed gets to sit in the barn a little longer.
Duckweed is great at using up nitrates and oxygenating water. It makes good fresh food for vegetarian fish and wonderful fry cover. For those reasons it's a very useful plant in tanks/ponds with little to no filtration. However it gets the weed part of it's name for a good reason and is a real pain in any tank with a good filter.

It was snowing here today, too....I'm in Sioux Falls, SD (near IA)

I have yet to find a way to get rid of duckweed w/out tearing down the tank

I usually skim the surfaces of the tanks that have duckweed with a cup a couple o' times o' week...it seems to keep the duckweed levels down a bit

The only problem I've encountered with KEEPING the duckweed in the tank is nitrAtes bottoming out... just remember low stocking + duckweed = BGA = :#( ....but if you keep the duckweed under control and have plenty of fish in the tank it shouldn't be a problem

I have duckweed in my planted tank which I periodically thin out and put into the garden pond.
It's a good oxygen supplier to both. In winter I just keep it in the tank as it doesn't survive the frosty weather here and just burn any excess I thin out during this time.

I did once remove all the duckweed and noticed the fish became a lot jumpier immediately with the brighter light and I had to increase the surface agitation for the fish until I replaced & regrew it again.

It doesn't seem to affect any of my plants by blocking light as I keep it so that enough light still reaches the lower areas of the tank and that the surface movement creates pockets of duckweed-free areas.

I don't begrudge the time spent in thinning as it is a good addition in my tank, but if you do take it all out at once, make sure you keep an eye on the fish for oxygen restriction (or rather a lowering of the oxygen on the sudden removal).



In wildness, nature is not human-hearted!

Luckily, I only have a pleco in the tank, and he only comes out at night. That makes me double-check what I was planning for when the Pleco gets big enough to join the cichlid tank. I take it one Betta wouldn't be enough to ward off the BGA (no, not again!!!! I just got the other 10g under control!)

"I'm in the middle of the midwest, Iowa"

huh, I live in Omaha and am looking at buying a house just outside of DesMoines, Iowa. Had no idea there were others in the midwest

Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

Try living in Michigan where the white stuff sticks in May sometimes!!!!!

Also more to the point I have always thought duck weed was cool but if it goes crazy in a tank then I dont know if I want that.

Last edited by Wingsdlc at 09-May-2005 21:36

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I don't have a problem with Duckweed as my goldfish devour it as soon as it hits the water!

BGA? Blue Green Algae? I don't suppose I have it or ever have:%) though I think if I had I would know *shrug* I'm now working on populating my 125 with the duckweed, though there must be something in there that keeps eating itbecause I can't seem to get it to takeeither way, just keep scooping, just keep scooping, scooping, scooping, scooping...heck it is helping



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"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle