Help with duckweed please

[hulkamaniac]

About 6 months or so ago I was browsing for fish in my LFS. The owner was tearing out a handful of some sort of topwater plant. He offered it to me (a frequent customer) instead of throwing it away. Now, I had just really got started on the planted tank thing and I've never said no to anything free anyway so I accepted. It turned out to be duckweed. It has taken over 3 of my 6 tanks and is threatening a 4th. I scoop out two handfuls at least every week or so, but it still comes back. Is there something I can do to get rid of it, or some fish I can consider adding to eat it? It's got so bad that it was growing in my filter and clogged it up. I'm open to any ideas no matter how nutty.

 

[SparKy697]

Honestly, I just pick it all out when I do a pwc. I actually use tweezers and pluck out every last one that I can find. Even when that is all done, in a few days there are a few more new plants.

I give what I take out to a friend that has african cichlids. He says that they like to eat duckweed.

 

[theotheragentm]

Hmm, that seems rather invasive. Will goldfish eat duckweed? I have a 100 gallon barrel outside that I wouldn't mind giving a reproducing snack to if I could get my hands on some.

 

[WaterPond]

Goldfish LOVE duckweed. Good luck getting it to grow in your pond though. After i put it in my goldfish have devoured it. That takes about 10 minutes

 

[FMJnaX]

I snuffed mine out. Used a net to get as much as possible. I then gave my tank a week-long blackout and netted the remaining. Over the next week, during normal operation, I watched for rogue duckweed and pulled it. It never came back.

 

[hulkamaniac]

Goldfish LOVE duckweed. Good luck getting it to grow in your pond though. After i put it in my goldfish have devoured it. That takes about 10 minutes

Hmm. I know the 55 is big enough for Goldies, but I somehow doubt the Dempseys in there would take kindly to their presence. The 20l is a little too small and the 5g betta tank would be too small too unless there are some kind of goldfish that aren't too big. I wouldn't mind keeping them. I've never kept goldfish before and always wanted to.

 

[Purrbox]

I recently eliminated this hitchhiker from my 10 gallon through pure stubborness. Every waterchange I removed every last spec of Duckweed that I could find. A couple weeks ago I finally managed to get every single bit of it and it hasn't come back. Now I just have to hope it doesn't hitchhike into one of my tanks again.

 

[Hoovercat]

Rainbows will eliminate it and are gorgeous as well. I'm probably biased since I keep a 75 with a dozen or so varieties. You can get the dwarf praecox rainbows pretty cheap and they don't get too big for your 55 or 20 long.

Otherwise you just have to be really vigilant about constantly removing it to stop the spread.

 

[Zezmo]

Rainbows not so good with Jack D's.
Best thing for duckweed is to spend the time to just pick it all out.

 

[jbarr]

My Ryukin Gold inhaled a handful of duckweed in about an hour. Couldnt stomach the Riccia though, apparently.

 

[hulkamaniac]

My Ryukin Gold inhaled a handful of duckweed in about an hour. Couldnt stomach the Riccia though, apparently.

Well, you just gave me an excellent excuse to get goldfish, but they won't worth the Dempseys obviously. So, now I have to get another big tank for the Dempseys to go on. And the MTS roles on.........

 

[theotheragentm]

Anyone know where to get some duckweed in Southern California?

 

[jbarr]

Check ponds, ditches, swamps... Dunno how many swamps you have in Cali, but here any stagnant water is synonomous with duckweed

 

[theotheragentm]

Check ponds, ditches, swamps... Dunno how many swamps you have in Cali, but here any stagnant water is synonomous with duckweed

I live by the ocean. I should really try to start a tide pool tank instead.