Duckweed is awful

[FishHobby99]

Lol I went to the lfs to get some plants and when I asked for duckweed he was like “uh…. Are you sure? Its gonna take over your tank pretty fast.” Hahaha so i didnt get them but I got a lot of different ones instead.

That’s funny! My LFS doesn’t even sell it.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

I recently got Mosquito fern, or Common Azolla, which is just about as bad as duckweed. Try dropping a few pellets through it! And the common azolla’s have roots, which clog the intake of my filter.

 

[Boundava]

I have duckweed and regret it greatly. If you have multiple tanks you will spread it around even if you are careful. If you have one in a tank very soon you will have hundreds, and until you remove every single leaf of it you will continue to have duckweed in the tank. Even dry duckweed can resurrect itself like a zombie and cover your tank in no time.

Like Colin said the only saviour is a free buffet for vegetarian or green loving fishes. My 125 full of gouramis quickly eat every leaf. The only duckweed you may want to try is the giant one-but in the right conditions it will do what duckweed does and take over the tank. Being bigger than normal duckweed it is easier (relatively speaking) to remove from a tank. If you want something for nitrates add hornwort or elodea or put a pothos in the filter, lol. Just don't make the mistake of adding duckweed (of the smaller version if it) to your tank. Always clean any new plants to avoid hitchhikers, I have had dead duckweed stuck on a filter intake that was not in an aquarium for over a year result in a breakout in a plantless tank!

Buyer beware, lol!

 

[FishHobby99]

I recently got Mosquito fern, or Common Azolla, which is just about as bad as duckweed. Try dropping a few pellets through it! And the common azolla’s have roots, which clog the intake of my filter.

New to me. Gonna google it.

 

[KatieMR]

That’s funny! My LFS doesn’t even sell it.

My LFS has it in all their tanks which is what made me decide I never want it! I get free leaves every time I buy anything from them, because it sticks to anything they stick in the tanks: hands, bags, plants, the snail I just bought. I make sure I catch and dispose of every bit of it before putting anything in the tank.

 

[Kbwils01]

I love duckweed but my fish eat the crap out of it! I bought some frogbit at the same time as the duckweed because I like the way the roots hang down in the water...they ate the roots off of all my frogbit clusters too :'(

I just want some dang floating plants!

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I love duckweed but my fish eat the crap out of it! I bought some frogbit at the same time as the duckweed because I like the way the roots hang down in the water...they ate the roots off of all my frogbit clusters too :'(

I just want some dang floating plants!

What fish are you talking about?

 

[FishHobby99]

My LFS has it in all their tanks which is what made me decide I never want it! I get free leaves every time I buy anything from them, because it sticks to anything they stick in the tanks: hands, bags, plants, the snail I just bought. I make sure I catch and dispose of every bit of it before putting anything in the tank.

I love duckweed but my fish eat the crap out of it! I bought some frogbit at the same time as the duckweed because I like the way the roots hang down in the water...they ate the roots off of all my frogbit clusters too :'(

I just want some dang floating plants!

Gotta check out that frogbit!

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I really like my Salvinia and my Dwarf Gourami, shrimp, kuhli loach and others also seem to enjoy foraging amongst the roots, which dangle to just under 2" in length.

 

[Kbwils01]

What fish are you talking about?

I've seen my golden tetras eating the duckweed and the endlers guppies nibbling the frogbit roots. I think my blind cave tetras are doing the bulk of the eating though. They swim around just gulping whatever fits in their mouth. During every feeding they grab entire algae and shrimp wafers and swim around with them like a prize. I've read they regularly overstuff themselves due to their native habitats being so low in food.

 

[Colin_T]

Rainbowfish, goldfish, Rift lake cichlids will all eat duckweed.

 

[LostBear]

I like duckweed, but it doesn't last long in my tank because it gets sucked into the filter, which is a shame, and I have to keep replacing it.

However the last time I grabbed a handful of the stuff (from our outside water butt in the garden) it was swarming with water lice (boak ) so I just chucked it back in. I have no idea where they came from, but they're stopping there!

Not having those little aquatic cockroaches in the tank!

 

[LostBear]

My fish (cold and tropical) won't touch spinach or lettuce or peas (which so many of the books recommend) but they like a bit of blanched cucumber or courgette (zucchini if you're in America)