Getting rid of duckeed
- Thread starter jackiomy
- Start date
Generally not. Goldfish will eat just about anything they can fit in their mouths. They also have a different nutritional requirements than most tropical fish. Less protein and more fiber. They also consider just about all plants to be salad.
That said I have used young small goldfish (<4") to clean out the algae/duckweed from my planted tanks. Of course I only leave them in there for a week or so and put them back the 125G goldfish tank.
That said I have used young small goldfish (<4") to clean out the algae/duckweed from my planted tanks. Of course I only leave them in there for a week or so and put them back the 125G goldfish tank.
:grinyes::grinyes::grinyes:
But, I've been successful just using a net and a lot of patience. Scoop out every little bit one day, might take an hour, who knows. However, inevitable you'll miss some, so go back a day or two later and scoop out any you missed, and keep this up. In like a week, it'll all be gone.
And in the future, rinse all new plants before putting them in a tank to make sure there's no duckweed tagging along.
I started out with about a dozen pieces of duckweed that hitchhiked on a plant, and ended up with it in 5 tanks. I scooped it out with a brine shrimp net. I have found that the Platys in my 29 eat it, as do my SAEs in the 30 gallon.
I had it pretty bad a year ago. Now, it is all gone and has been gone for 6 months. I scooped the majority of it out with my hand and a net. Then, I set up a Fluval skimmer for my canister filter and whenever I would see some duckweed in the tank I would push it toward the skimmer. I would clean the filter every month and find a ton of duckweed in it, but the amount was diminishing every month. Now, there is none in sight. I really do not worry about it any more.
With that said, I still thoroughly wash any plants I get. Got some pearl blue shrimp a couple months ago with duckweed in the bag. I emptied the bag into a bowl and scooped every little bit of duckweed out of it, even the little root strands I could find. The key is to keep it out if possible, but even if you do not, it isn't that hard to get rid of with a skimmer and some patience.
