duck weed? anyone have it?

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.

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.

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.

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/

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.

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.

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.

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.