Fancy Duck Weed?

**LeonPez** · 02-11-2012, 6:18 PM

I purchased something at the pet shop called Fancy Duckweed. It really took a bit for me to find what this stuff actually was. I finally found that is is Spirodela polyrhiza. It grows like duckweed and multiplies like it but is much larger. There are a couple of regular size duckweed plants on the far left. The ruler is turned with the metric side toward the plants so those dimensions are in centimeters. The leaves of this plant are several times larger than regular duckweed (Lemna minor) although the specific smaller plant may be a bit different from the regular. It should have been easier to find since at one time the plant was known a Lemna major.

**Kashta** · 02-11-2012, 6:29 PM

Cracked me up that a shop calls it fancy duckweed. lmao.

**Kaosu** · 02-11-2012, 6:46 PM

its Salvinia love that plant...it grows fast and so much easier to manage than duck weed! it grows in chains.

and is an amazing nutrient sponge. its in all my tanks still enough to suport it, and my mothers turtles love to eat the extras.

**LeonPez** · 02-11-2012, 6:47 PM

Actually many of the plants they have aren't named correctly. They use very loose common names with no reference to genus or species. In some cased it is a name they made up. That actually irks me a bit. When someone sells any taxonomically classified bio it should be identified. Their dormant aquatic bulbs are mystery bulbs until you get them up where you can identify.

**LeonPez** · 02-11-2012, 6:59 PM

The plant I have does not seem to have a connecting stem and it breaks apart very eaisly. New plants are added directly onto the parent plant. Other wise it is a dead on match. How can I make certain which plant I have?

**AndrewJC21** · 02-16-2012, 7:17 AM

Seems like the Larger leafed plants are Water Cabbage / Lettuce. I grew some for quite a while in my tanks. My guppy fry loved to play in the roots as they get to be very long. In a large enough tank ( or a pond as this is where the stuff is normally found and applied) it can grow over 6" in diameter. I only ever got a 3" large piece though in my 33 gallon when i had some.

Fast growing, Looks nice, Easy to care for, And i tried to kill the stuff ( lol unwanted tests)

**Kaosu** · 02-16-2012, 3:29 PM

Originally Posted by LeonPez

The plant I have does not seem to have a connecting stem and it breaks apart very eaisly. New plants are added directly onto the parent plant. Other wise it is a dead on match. How can I make certain which plant I have?

im as 100% certain as i can be with out seeing the plant in person those round spikey leaves are salvinia
http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/bot...s/a0042tx.html

**maverickbr77** · 02-16-2012, 4:24 PM

agree with Kaosu looks like salvinia

**excuzzzeme** · 02-16-2012, 6:13 PM

I've heard of duckweed and giant duckweed but never "fancy" duckweed.

+2 on the slavinia

**dixienut** · 02-16-2012, 7:41 PM

I have giant duckweed. Mine is red underneath and almost twice the size of other duckweed.
I had regular duckweed and same batch for a few years andnit somehow morphed into giant. So I picked out larger ones put in another tank and it went hog wild and I only have it in that one tank.
No connecting stems or anything different fro
Regular duckweed except its. Bigger and red underneath. But it's in more light in that tank

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