floating plant concerns

[SC Fish]

My tank has 1 layer of floating plants (a bit scattered now because i removed some) , im wondering if floating plants increase the temperature in the fish tank?? 

If so how many floating plants should i have per litre? Because i dont want to get rid of them.

Its a 10 gallon tank, home to platys and minnows. The temperature has increased but i belive it is due to the fact spring is here and summer is right round the corner. 

To help cope as of right now.. I have removed some floating plants, turned up the oxygen input (temporarily but i may keep it on for a long time). Im wondering if its a god idea to add some cooler water to the tank right now.

they are used to about 17 to 19 degrees celcius (62f to 66f) and right now its 20 (68f).

The minnows are acting strange (read my last post for more on this) but the platys are behaving as usuall. 

Tips?

 

EDIT: the water has also became very murky and cloudy in the last couple days..

Edited May 8, 2022 by SC Fish

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hmmm. With the mention of murky water I think you have something else going on here but I'll just address your plant "issue". 

I would say yes, floating plants have the potential to act as an insulator, light blocker and nutrient sucker. They generally add oxygen and suck up some of the bad stuff but definitely floaters have good and bad things about them. 

You can buy a corral for your floaters so they are only in certain sections....can even DIY one- I've used airline with connectors and floated them in the tank to keep floaters out of certain areas. There are also some brilliant 3D printed stuff on a popular handmade site that work pretty well. 

Personally most of those I've found don't work with smaller floaters like duckweed.You didn't mention which floaters you have so I'm just covering the bases.

If I were in your shoes and you thought this was causing an issue I would remove some of the floaters when they start to overpopulate the top- gardens love them as fertilizer. For example, every few days I pull duckweed off the top of my 4.12 gallon cube so that it only ever populates 1/3 of the top of the tank- that water gets dumped on my container garden- everyone is happy. I like the look, they keep the water clean- they don't overpower the tank, the other plants get the light they need and I can feed the fish without pushing plants out of the way. 

If the water is too warm you can put a fan across the top of the water surface (which will require you to have the lid open/off/partway on) this will help. There are also tricks with ice that I've seen on the net in the past but I can't advise you there at all- google time! I'd keep the airstones going if you think heat is a problem. 

Edited May 8, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Cinnebuns]

I just want to add a little to what @xXInkedPhoenixX said with my personal experience. I have had huge success making corrals using just straws, gorrila glue gel and suction cups. Cut a small straw and slice it down the middle so it can fold in on itself to fit inside of another straw. Use that to connect 2 straws. I literally just made one for one of my 10 gallons today so I can tell you a nice length is 1 full long and 1 full short of a bendy straw. I'll include a pic of what I made today as well as how it sits in my main tank. 

As you can see I need to do some thinning of the water lettuce. It's kinda bursting out of its barrier lol. But it works really well

[SC Fish]

@xXInkedPhoenixX thanks!  ill try to make or buy these corral things then lol. also @Cinnebunsthanks forr the example, but could i do what you did with air tube??

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

You absolutely can make similar things with extra airline and suction cups/connectors. I usually mention this way because it's something we all have on hand. 

[Cinnebuns]

On 5/9/2022 at 9:46 AM, SC Fish said:

@xXInkedPhoenixX thanks!  ill try to make or buy these corral things then lol. also @Cinnebunsthanks forr the example, but could i do what you did with air tube??

You definitely could. The reason I like straws more is it's easier to make a right angle with the bendy part. Either would do the same job tho. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Cinnebuns you are definitely not wrong but I have a very large collection of connectors some are L connectors so I can do those angles sometimes I forget that's not a common one people get. I just got a good mixed bag when I ordered them online! 😄

[Streetwise]

I deal with duckweed in all my tanks. I am too busy for it to top my priorities. I tend to try to go after it periodically, but I put so much effort into saving snails and and shrimp fry.

I had a tank at my folks’ house, where dwarf water lettuce may have out-competed it. I plan to try that again, as DWL is easier to manage.

[Odd Duck]

I have had better luck keeping floaters corralled using double diameter silicone tubing (3/8”) compared to airline tubing (3/16”).  I get it and connectors from Amazon.  It contains surface floating plants like frogbit and red root floaters much more reliably than airline tubing but it’s also more obviously visible.I’ve not really used it with other floaters.  I have attached them using suction cups that have a hole for a small zip tie (cable tie) and also put another zip tie through the first tie and around the floating ring.

Floaters definitely can insulate and increase the tank temp for a heated tank in a cool room but I wouldn’t expect it to increase tank temperature above room temp in an unheated tank.  If you don’t want heat held in for cool water species, as long as you limit the surface coverage it shouldn’t be an issue.  Floaters can also reduce surface gas exchange if you don’t have enough water circulation.  Limiting your total coverage with floaters to 50% or less of the tank surface area should prevent any issues.