I've got duckweed running rampant in some of my tanks. I have tried netting it out but with all the plant stems reaching the surface it is very difficult. In a weeks time it grows right back. I don't want to add fish that will eat it. Has anyone used any kind of special equipment like a vacuum or skimmer type of siphon gizmo? Anyone had success ridding their tanks of this stuff? Help!!!
Duckweed is ruining my life!
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A very familar story. Every time I see a post/thread where someone ask about using it or suggest using it I tell them the Giant Duckweed is far easier to control as it has dozens of plants multiplying every day instead of hundreds of plants multiplying every day. So cut your plants off below the water line...they will grow back.
Then after you net all you can just stand there forever looking to see that none is left which you can pick/w tweezers by coming up from under it. You may need to do it every time you change water till your sure it's all gone.
Then after you net all you can just stand there forever looking to see that none is left which you can pick/w tweezers by coming up from under it. You may need to do it every time you change water till your sure it's all gone.
I swear I have thought of this! I'm heading over to YouTube now.
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Use a turkey baster to force it to the surface of your tank then net it out.
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I use guppies... But after three or four weeks there is a noticeable change in how much light is getting to my plants, I just sit there and pick all of it out.
Make sure there isn't any in your filter, I always find a teaspoon full.
Make sure there isn't any in your filter, I always find a teaspoon full.
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Also make sure you remove all the dead bits and pieces off the side of the top of the tank, I swear duckweed is where zombies will come from because it comes back to life to haunt you a month or two after you spend hours, hours and days, weeks to get rid of it.
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I've permanently removed some from one of my tanks where it came in as a hitchhiker and got out of control.
I removed as much as I could with a pasta spoon, and then I just got a small deli cup/bowl, and skimmed water off the surface. This worked really great for drawing the little duckweed plants out of other plants, behind cords, driftwood, plumbing, etc.
I did that until I removed everything visible, and then every other day or so I'd make a couple more attempts, removing any visible plants, and using the skimming method to draw out any that might be hiding in/behind stuff.
It worked pretty well for me, and wasn't very difficult. One major purging, and a couple minor cleanings over the course of a week, and that took care of it for me.
I removed as much as I could with a pasta spoon, and then I just got a small deli cup/bowl, and skimmed water off the surface. This worked really great for drawing the little duckweed plants out of other plants, behind cords, driftwood, plumbing, etc.
I did that until I removed everything visible, and then every other day or so I'd make a couple more attempts, removing any visible plants, and using the skimming method to draw out any that might be hiding in/behind stuff.
It worked pretty well for me, and wasn't very difficult. One major purging, and a couple minor cleanings over the course of a week, and that took care of it for me.
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My water seems to be anti duckweed.. I have.. 2 maybe 3 tiny ones hanging out in a basket in my tank, but it won't grow rampant, haven't seen any new ones over 2 weeks. I have insanely high gh and kh, a polycarbonate lid restricting fresh-air at the surface a bit, and an HOB filter...
A man on youtube who was doing videos for the Walstad theory type planted tanks had a tid-bit, plants release chemicals into the water... some of these hinder other species from growing. I beleive he said adding hairgrass (or possibly the dwarf variety) killed off duckweed in his tank.
A man on youtube who was doing videos for the Walstad theory type planted tanks had a tid-bit, plants release chemicals into the water... some of these hinder other species from growing. I beleive he said adding hairgrass (or possibly the dwarf variety) killed off duckweed in his tank.
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Neat. There's a chart somewhere which I forgot to bookmark that contained a list of plants that inhibit or outright kill duckweed when grown in the same water. I used to have dwarf water lettuce in one of my tanks and duckweed wouldn't grow. Maybe it was out competed or killed due to alleopathy. Who knows. All I know is that after removing all the DWL, the duckweed population exploded in my tank.
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I must be the exception, but I've all but lost the duckweed that used to grow like wild for me. I think my angelfish may have eaten it. When I took down my non-angelfish tank, I threw out nearly all the duckweed, and the few small pieces that made it into my shrimp tank have not done much at all. I actually do not mind duckweed, as long as I keep it harvested.
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put couple of rainbow fish, such as Bosemanai in your tank. They will eliminate it completely and quickly. Move them between tanks. Sell them back to the store when the mission is complete.
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