duck weed? anyone have it?

[fish_freak]

anyone have duckweed in there aquarium Im thinking of buying some and am wondering how good of an aquarium plant it makes.
any experiences with it would be appreciated.

[elgecko]

Grows like crazy. Can create a canopy that blocks light to your other plants. Can be controlled by scooping some out from time to time.

[Tim Bo]

Ditto elgecko but I do love the stuff. Good refuge for many fish species. Bubblenest builders have it on their top 5 list - it's up there with Java moss.

[TKOS]

I got it by mistake. I hate it in my 10 gallon as it grows fast and blocks things out. But in my 5 gallon is a slow grower and is kind of like tiny lily pads. The trick comes if you ever want to completely get rid of it. It took me a couple of weeks in my 10 gallon. Every day I scooped it all out and the next day there was always a little more. Good for competing with algae though.

[kveeti]

There are different sizes of duckweed. I would get the largest leafed one I could, because on the off chance you don’t like it, it would be easier to get rid of. If you get the itty bitty kind and wanted to eradicate it at some point, getting out each and every tiny leaf would be nearly impossible as TKOS has mentioned. I would think (?) tiny leaves would tend to clog a filter. There are also duckweed look-alikes; “frogbit” is one. I have “salvinia natans”, it also needs to be thinned weekly, but the leaves are large so it's easier to control. I love the look of a floating plant. Experience: During tank maintenance, the stuff can be a nuisance. Pull out your hand or arm and there’s always bits stuck to you!

Site on duckweed: http://www.mobot.org/jwcross/duckweed/

[Leopardess]

I love my duckweed. I got it by accident in a bag of plants once. It grows invasively fast and is really hard to kill. Every week I throw about 1/2 of it - dry. It is an awesome choice for sucking excess nutrients out of the water column and as mentioned, provides refuge for fish. Labrynth fish really enjoy it also.

It will block a significant amount of light though - but it won't be bad as long as you keep it thinned. If you'd like to keep it on one side of the tank, you can use two suction cups and fishing line to create a "fence" at the surface.

i'll second the part about it getting stuck all over your arms. A few hours after a water change, I'll feel something tickling me...only to find little bits of dried duckweed stuck to my arms;)

Mine doesn't clog my filter though. It mainly stays where it belongs. Except the occasional time when it somehow gets into the filter stream in the 10g and tangles itself in the glosso.

[TKOS]

It never clogged my filter (the small stuff) but I did always find a few pieces floating in my AC mini. That was probably the breeding ground for the stuff and the reason it kept coming back. So if you do want to get rid of it you will probably have to clean the filter out as well.

[RTR]

I actually use the stuff as a nutrient indicator in my supplemented plant tanks, but in very controlled quantity. If it has not multiplied since my last water change, I know I need to jack up the nitrates.

But I am conscientious about only leaving a few (half dozen or less) bits in the tank. Shading I don't need.

[OrionGirl]

I'm with RTR--I use it to monitor the conditions in the tank. I have it in my frog tank, and know that when it starts increasing, I need to do a water change. It does suck up nutrients, and does compete with other plants. If you want a heavily planted tank, I would think twice about adding it, but it's great in lightly to unplanted tanks, IMO. For my other tanks, it's mostly a nuisance, but I never worry about getting rid of it all--I just keep it down to a small amount.

[fish_freak]

Sounds good thanks for all the info about the stuff. I just got some off an auction for only 3 bucks so it was a good deal and I want it primarily for my guppy tank so the fry can hide in it. I dont have any other live plants except for some hogwort in my guppy tank for the fry again cause my fish always distroy it. I figure scince it mutiplys so fast Ill put it in my 90 and 30 as well and my cichlids and charins can eat it up.
Another question will african cichlids eat plants? Maybe Ill put a little in there but I dont want to block out the lights cause it will dim there colors so maybe not. Thanks again for all the info.
-Jeff

[as40]

I have it in my tank. It was an accident, but I like the way it looks... On the top. I do hate how it sticks to your arm/hand/net/anything you put in the tank during routine maintanence, but, can deal with that... What is more of a nuisance is how it gets all over the other plants when the current (or during water changes) "blows" it all over the tank. I like the idea, Leopardess, of creating a fence. Also, like you, TKOS, it seems to grow in my filter, but unlike you, it does clog it a bit also. I've toyed with the idea of removing it, but think I'll try some of the methods described here for controlling it first.

Oh, one last thing. I've noticed the longer tendrils that grow beneath mine on occasion form 'colonies' whereby they twist together and attatch to something, like a close-to-the-surface bit of driftwood or plant leaf. Hopefully will have a digital camera soon and can post some pics.

Good luck, fishfreak21, with your guppy tank. Should be fine in there. Don't know about the 30 and 90 though. See how you can manage it or if you like it first in your guppy tank.

[Godslayer]

I had duckweed for awhile and it does grow fast, expecially under high light conditions. I didn't find it invasive as it was easily removed by scooping it out. I have been toying with Phyllanthus Fluitans for awhile and find it very similar to the duckweed, but much larger. It grows slower, is larger, turns reddish, and flowers on a regular basis.

[promethean_sprk]

I had some duckweed living in my 20g when I was in graduate school. It gradually was covering the surface, but did a great job sucking up nutrients and keeping the tank algae free. But then I went on christmas break for 2 weeks and asked a friend to stop by a few times and feed the cat and fish. After 10 days I called to see what was up, he had stopped by a couple times but said that something 'really bad' happened to the fish tank, but was unable to elaborate, not being a fish person. I got back to find a 2 inch thick layer of duckweed, duckweed choking out the filter, and it was so thick that everything under it went anerobic! Needless to say I was short some fish. Luckilly they were mostly sculpins and darters I had caught with a minnow trap in putah creek. I did lose a 7 inch pleco that had been with me a few years...

Amazingly the plants survived this, if barely. Some crypts and swords popped back once the duckweed was removed and some major water changes enacted. Those plants are still with me. After that incident I have used hornwort as a nutrient vaccum instead.

Duckweed might be great in a sump filter with a big sponge intake and bright lights. That is my fantasy filter.

I have also seen ponds that have flooded where the duckweed on the edges had rooted into the ground. It formed a rather pretty carpet effect. Perhaps someone could use it like riccia to coat some sort of rootable material for an interesting effect.

[Godslayer]

It's definitely one of the fastest growing plants I have seen. It has the "aerial advantage" as Diana Walstad likes to call it, meaning it has access to CO2 in the air which is much higher in concentration than water normally is. I've had the entire surface covered with duckweed before, but a 2 inch mat..... that's impressive.

I'mn not a cichlid expert but I believe most of them will dig the substrate. I don't think hey really eat plants. So the duckweed might be safe. You might want to double check that though.