PineSong Posted October 23, 2022 Share Posted October 23, 2022 I just spent a pleasant 1.5 hours listening to planted tank videos and removing duckweed from my kitchen tank. In order to facilitate removing it with my net, I chopped off my lily pads well below the surface. While I had my hands in the tank, I removed the Amazon sword I wanted gone and replaced it with an Anubias. Salvinia and frogbit were netted out as collateral damage, though I do hope to return them to this tank after victory is assured-- or defeat has been accepted. I just put in Easy Green and half a dozen root tabs yesterday, so after removing the floaters, sword, and lily pads today I tested my water to get a baseline; I have some concern that removing all that plant matter will lead to dangerous nitrite/nitrate spikes. Here is today's test strip: I also lowered the water level so I could safely leave the glass top off to make sure no residue of duckweed caught in the plastic hinge will drop into the tank, and to make it easier to wipe the rim and underside of the rim to wipe off any stragglers. My plan is to remove any new duckweed 2x per day and to test water daily to see what changes and how I'll need to adjust tank maintenance to offset the loss of floaters eating nitrate. I do not know how many weeks of "no duckweed" I will want to achieve before I call it a victory, but I think 8 sounds about right. An overhead of the tank on Day One: 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJs Aquatics Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 also at war with duckweed I feel your pain and look forward to your triumph 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted October 25, 2022 Author Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) Right on schedule, I guess. Last night when I tested water I got some color for both nitrites and nitrates, just a hint. Also found 5 pieces of duckweed. This morning: 1 piece of duckweed and enough nitrites to require a water change. Another variable in this poorly designed experiment: I removed the 3 largest platies from this tank yesterday, leaving 3 young adult platies, 5 or 6 platy babies, innumerable ginga guppy males, 8 other male guppies/endlers, and 12 neons. I'm going to skip feeding them while I figure out how rapidly the nitries rise. Edited October 26, 2022 by PineSong Typo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 Best way to get rid of duck weed it to get it early. Every day at least once check the tank for duckweed and remove it, do this until you see no duckweed for a week (of course you can’t do this with lots of duckweed) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted October 28, 2022 Author Share Posted October 28, 2022 On 10/27/2022 at 7:24 AM, Aiden Carter said: Best way to get rid of duck weed it to get it early. Oh, I wish I had got rid of it early--way too late for that! In some of my tanks it is so dense that if I don't push it aside before I put food in, the food will still be uneaten on top of the duckweed when I get home from work 😞 So far in this one experimental tank, I have been successful--I have not seen any duckweed in days. But I am going to remain vigilant! I'm still checking the surface for duckweed 2x a day and testing water 2x a day. Today I put the lid back on and raised the water level a bit, but I am still keeping it an inch shy of the rim so if there are any duckweed "germs" up under the rim, they don't get soaked and resurrect. If I am successful at eliminating it entirely in this tank, my next attempt will be my 29g swordtail tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 On 10/28/2022 at 3:57 PM, PineSong said: Oh, I wish I had got rid of it early--way too late for that! In some of my tanks it is so dense that if I don't push it aside before I put food in, the food will still be uneaten on top of the duckweed when I get home from work 😞 So far in this one experimental tank, I have been successful--I have not seen any duckweed in days. But I am going to remain vigilant! I'm still checking the surface for duckweed 2x a day and testing water 2x a day. Today I put the lid back on and raised the water level a bit, but I am still keeping it an inch shy of the rim so if there are any duckweed "germs" up under the rim, they don't get soaked and resurrect. If I am successful at eliminating it entirely in this tank, my next attempt will be my 29g swordtail tank. Try taking a net or spoon and skim the top then do the aforementioned method. I’ve also heard of someone using a blow torch 😳 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted October 29, 2022 Share Posted October 29, 2022 you could rent/ barrow a goldfish/turtle they like to eat duckweed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted October 29, 2022 Author Share Posted October 29, 2022 On 10/29/2022 at 7:06 PM, Aiden Carter said: you could rent/ barrow a goldfish/turtle they like to eat duckweed I recently put a goldfish in my outdoor pond and have been feeding duckweed that I remove from my other tanks to him 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 On 10/29/2022 at 7:46 PM, PineSong said: I recently put a goldfish in my outdoor pond and have been feeding duckweed that I remove from my other tanks to him 🙂 if it isnt to big possibly give him a vacation ; ) if you know what i mean! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted November 8, 2022 Author Share Posted November 8, 2022 Update at a little past the 2 week mark: Still no duckweed! I'm amazed that none has appeared 'out of nowhere' although I have taken extra precautions when using nets, gravel vac etc to remove duckweed from those items beforehand. I wasn't sure how duckweed proliferates so famously and was fearful that duckweed germs/seeds/dna would remain in the tank and spontaneously start to revive. So far, hasn't happened. More interestingly to me, I have maintained my usual schedule of Easy Green (2x week) and extra potassium (1x week) and root tabs under new stem/rooted plants (e.g. six root tabs last week) and I have had no increase in nitrates after that initial bump on day 3. So the plants that are in the tank must be using all the nitrates that were previously used up by themselves plus 1 million duckweeds. I'm hoping this will pay off for my aponogetons and the other root/stem plants I planted after Aquashella Chicago. Now to decide which tank to tackle next in the Duckweed Elimination Campaign. I'm thinking it will be my 29g. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anitstuk Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 Note to self: Never get duckweed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted November 9, 2022 Author Share Posted November 9, 2022 On 11/8/2022 at 6:55 PM, anitstuk said: Note to self: Never get duckweed! Excellent plan! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 (edited) On 11/8/2022 at 6:55 PM, anitstuk said: Note to self: Never get duckweed! its a slippery slope, its an amazing plant, keeps ammonia down and top dwellers love it; but it is very hard to control and what you dont hear often even if you want it, it can grow so dense that it kills the duck weed under it, personally i hate how it gets all over your hand Edited November 9, 2022 by Aiden Carter 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted November 18, 2022 Author Share Posted November 18, 2022 On 11/9/2022 at 11:28 AM, Aiden Carter said: its a slippery slope, its an amazing plant, keeps ammonia down ... I also thought that duckweed was probably doing a lot to keep nitrites down in my tanks, but... In my 20g long which is not even 'overstocked', I had one spike in nitrites on day 3. I had the fish skip a meal and changed water 1x, and never had another spike. The next tank where I removed duckweed, my 20g tall, is *very* overstocked and so I even wondered whether it was wise to remove the duckweed. But I did. Because there are about 50 too many fish in there, I had them skip a meal the day after I removed it just to be on the safe side. No issues at all with water parameters on day 2, 3, 4 or 5. I think I have so many plants in there that even removing a million duckweed did not overpower the plant + bacteria's ability to handle the fish waste. Tank shown below to demonstrate plant volume. So, while duckweed may be using up a lot of fish waste, other plants can save the day AND not spread like the plague AND not stick to your hands, so...buh-bye duckweed! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted November 23, 2022 Author Share Posted November 23, 2022 Still clear of duckweed and the guppy grass and teeny bits of Java moss I had are really taking off. Looking at the top view it’s hard to believe there are 35-ish fish in this tank. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted November 23, 2022 Share Posted November 23, 2022 (edited) I had a war on duckweed; it lasted 3 months before i finally won. My friend had a war on duckweed; he put in a gold fish and they didn't last long but the gold fish got big and fat. Ok the 2nd part is just a rumour but it did take me forever to get duckweed out of my 5 gallon aquarium. I won't even go into how long it took with the 29 and 40. Btw you have a lot of platties. I once had a gf and i set up her aquarium in a dorm room. We only got 2 swordtails but by the end of the year her tank looked a lot like yours 'cept the substrate was different and the plants were different but there were a lot of fishes. She squealed a lot the first time the female had fry - well not so much her having frys but then she turned around and started trying to eat them. Edited November 23, 2022 by anewbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyM Posted November 23, 2022 Share Posted November 23, 2022 I remember when I got duckweed, but didn't know what it was. I saw a few pieces twirling around by the filter and thought, huh, wonder what that is? 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted November 24, 2022 Author Share Posted November 24, 2022 On 11/23/2022 at 2:49 PM, MattyM said: I remember when I got duckweed, but didn't know what it was. I saw a few pieces twirling around by the filter and thought, huh, wonder what that is? 🤣 And then it took over your whole tank surface and grew so thick your fish couldn’t eat? Or is that just me?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyM Posted November 24, 2022 Share Posted November 24, 2022 On 11/24/2022 at 11:16 AM, PineSong said: And then it took over your whole tank surface and grew so thick your fish couldn’t eat? Or is that just me?! Hasn't gotten there yet🤞! But I scoop quite a bit out every week and have pretty good flow in my tanks, which it doesn't seem to like. I also have lots of plants that have grown to the surface, which helps contain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 On 11/23/2022 at 11:49 AM, MattyM said: I remember when I got duckweed, but didn't know what it was. I saw a few pieces twirling around by the filter and thought, huh, wonder what that is? 🤣 I have seen it once before. I got a plant order in and there was a piece of it somewhere in something. I pulled it out because I had noticed it checking the plants for stuff, but thankfully it was just the one piece! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted December 3, 2022 Author Share Posted December 3, 2022 Update, like 5 weeks in: I feel certain of eventual victory against duckweed, but not to the point where I will totally exhale just yet. One of my shrimp tanks had a few pieces this AM and another one still has a dropped water level so could be 'reinfected' when the water gets back up under the rim if I did not remove it all entirely. Meanwhile, with the duckweed gone, I'm growing hair algae in the 20g long, little tufts of staghorn algae in there, too and in the 29. All tanks have more algae on the glass. So, there's that impact of removing the duckweed. I am going to put frogbit in each tank to help cut down on the light since it grows well for me in the 20 long and it easier to remove when needed. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minanora Posted December 4, 2022 Share Posted December 4, 2022 It's crazy how much difference these changes make to the rest of the tank ecosystems. I got rid of the small amount of duckweed in the shrimp sanctuary and got a very interesting result on the rest of the plants. But I got some BB algae and some angry staghorn as well. *Shrug* worth it. Your experiment is super valuable though. I really appreciate it! Especially the one with the overstocked Guppy tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted January 27, 2023 Author Share Posted January 27, 2023 It has now been @ 3 months since I started my duckweed removal experiment and I consider it 99.9% successful. I have no duckweed in any of my tanks except the one with the goldfish in it where I have not tried to eliminate it but the goldfish pretty much has, anyway. I won't say I'm 100% duckweed free because theoretically an atomic particle of duckweed could travel from the goldfish tank to another tank. I'm using frogbit as my floater plant and when the house is quiet I can hear the goldfish wrestling with the frogbit. Not sure if he's getting crumbs of the duckweed out from among it or eating the frogbit itself, but it makes quite a racket if I can hear it from the next room! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 Yea 3 months sound about right - i really hate duck weed - never again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted March 18, 2023 Author Share Posted March 18, 2023 (edited) Well well well, look who’s back! Only in my shrimp tank and I don’t know how it got back in there but I saw a single leaf one day and plucked it out without removing all the frogbit to make sure there weren’t any more. Voila! Reforested! I will have to skim the whole surface and throw the contents in the goldfish tank— and be more vigilant. What this experiment has taught me is that four months is how long it takes me to stop paying attention! Edited March 18, 2023 by PineSong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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