Floating Plants Covering Aquarium

[John Collins]

I have a 5.5 gallon tank (a Fluval Spec V) with a Betta, a nerite snail, and pest snails. I read somewhere that you shouldn't let floating plants cover more than 50% of the surface of the tank. Is 50% really the max or can I go higher? Anyone have any experience with this?

[Streetwise]

I have dealt with various floating plant carpets with shrimp, and separating fry from plants is an ongoing challenge.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

As long as you aren’t expecting the plants below them to look their best it’s fine. Between dwarf water lettuce and duck weed it’s a challenge at times to keep enough light hitting the bottom of my tanks. However, I have a tendency to overstock and with that the advantages of these plants outweigh the negatives in my book. I pull handfuls of floaters out of my tanks every week and take some with me to the LFS when I bring in livestock. 

[Brandon p]

I have frogbit for mine. I have tanks thank are nearly 100% coverthe top but can have 100%sunlight from the window . or about have with thin curtains that allow abou half and black outs. I use as much cover as i think the tank does best sometimes i my let the tank  what i think is best for the tanks. spend the most time with them. I thought the 50% was a guide so new floating plant owners so they didn't kill the planted plants

[PineSong]

My main tank gets covered in duckweed nearly every week between duckweed removal episodes. I figure it is blocking  a lot of light from my plants, so I remove about half every weekend. But I also feel like the fish enjoy it--it keeps them from feeling like they live on a tanning bed and some of them enjoy pecking at it. 

What kind of filter/flow do you have? I think if you're not worried about plants underneath it, and you have sufficient surface agitation for oxygen, you should be okay with more than 50% coverage.

Edited November 24, 2021 by PineSong

[Rube_Goldfish]

I know this is an older thread, but I'm at the point of having to thin out floating plants (Salvinia minimia mostly) for the first time* and now I have a rookie question.  When people "thin out" floating plants, are they literally just scooping out some percentage of them?  And then doing what with them?  I've heard that some folks compost them or feed them to herbivorous animals, but I don't have any kind of compost set-up** and keep no herbivores.  I also know, or think I know, that S. minima can be invasive.  Would I be safe to just throw it away in a regular garbage can?

On 11/23/2021 at 9:29 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I pull handfuls of floaters out of my tanks every week and take some with me to the LFS when I bring in livestock. 

Please allow a second rookie question: do you sell or give the floaters to you LFS?  If I were to bring mine there, I guess I'd have to call and ask if they'd even want it first, right?  And how do you transport it?  In a bucket, maybe?

* There's also some duckweed in there (Lemna minor, I think), but I've been far less precious with it, just target plucking it out and throwing it away.  I've heard the jokes and am trying to prevent a duckweed takeover before it starts.

** I should probably look into starting some kind of compost set-up...

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Rube_Goldfishive sold them and given them to them. In summertime they get a ton but in winter they are rare so I sell them typically. And yes, I usually try to get under 1/4 of the surface area covered when I’m thinning them out. 

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 3/1/2022 at 11:31 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Rube_GoldfishAnd yes, I usually try to get under 1/4 of the surface area covered when I’m thinning them out. 

So you're scooping out 75% of your surface area, leaving 25% remaining?

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Rube_Goldfishcorrect.