Is This The End Of Duck Weed?

[Danielle77]

This has been the best tool so far in my battle with duck weed. Fingers crossed I got it all and will be rid of it in this tank. It's call the Floater pick, has anyone else tried it?

[Fish Folk]

Good luck!

If I had to bet though, I'd put money on Duckweed in the long haul.

It just takes one... 🤣 🌱

[jwcarlson]

Godspeed.

I had to waterboard my duckweed, but I did eventually eliminate it and feel comfortable saying that as it's been about a year.

[Pepere]

The key to eliminating duckweed for me has been to remove all floating plants and then to check the tank twice a day for weeks…

I find it nearly impossible to root out every single duckweed plant if I have any floating plants in the tank….

 

And I find checking twice daily is much easier to eventually get out all stragglers….

 

As to preserving desirable  floating plants, I save 4-5 specimens of each and rinse them repeatedly to try to ensure they are duckweed free and set them aside in nutrient rich water with a good light above and check them closely twice a day…. They will grow and expand rapidly as well for reintroduction once you are sure duckweed is eradicated..

[jwcarlson]

I violently rinsed my dwarf water lettuce in a bucket under hardware cloth so the duckweed floated up and out.  Killed a lot of the water lettuce, but that stuff is just big duckweed.

And then vigilance for weeks, like @Pepere says.  You will find a little piece six weeks after you saw the last piece.

Edited December 28, 2023 by jwcarlson

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/27/2023 at 6:33 PM, Danielle77 said:

This has been the best tool so far in my battle with duck weed. Fingers crossed I got it all and will be rid of it in this tank. It's call the Floater pick, has anyone else tried it?

Mark's shrimp tanks uses it to collect duckweed for making shrimp food!  Awesome work.

On 12/27/2023 at 9:54 PM, Fish Folk said:

Good luck!

If I had to bet though, I'd put money on Duckweed in the long haul.

It just takes one... 🤣 🌱

I've gotten rid of it twice.  Don't fear the duckweed!

On 12/28/2023 at 6:21 AM, jwcarlson said:

I violently rinsed my dwarf water lettuce in a bucket under hardware cloth so the duckweed floated up and out.  Killed a lot of the water lettuce, but that stuff is just big duckweed.

And then vigilance for weeks, like @Pepere says.  You will find a little piece six weeks after you saw the last piece.

I used a specimen container and 2-3 buckets.  I would pick through it manually and remove it by hand.  Dip it in the container to remove the duckweed and then just put the "cleaned" plants in the bucket of water.  Repeat that about 5-15 times and you'll feel like you got most of it.  Cross your fingers and find out.

[Tanked]

On 1/2/2024 at 1:57 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Don't fear the duckweed!

I embrace the Duckweed and then it disappears.  

At the the LFS this weekend, I asked when they were going to get floating plants.  They said I would have to wait until spring unless I wanted Duckweed.  I told them I use only wild caught organic Duckweed.  It just doesn't grow in my aquariums.  When they told me I should stick to plastic plants, I held up the plants I had just purchased and asked them if they wanted them back.

This got me to thinking about whether all Duckweed is created equal.  Is it possible that the Duckweed passed around in the hobby has adapted, or have I just managed to avoid this problem?