Duckweed Problem..

[emily]

My 125g is soooo full of duckweed! I'm tired of scooping it every week there's just way too much.
Who knows of a fish that likes duckweed? I need an exterminator, lol.
Oh, and I know goldfish love it..but would prefer a more compatible option.
Any help would be much appreciated! 

[DavidJohnson]

I think some rainbowfish like duckweed.

[thefishguy]

you could try "silver dollars" the are vegetarians.

[DavidJohnson]

you could try "silver dollars" the are vegetarians.

They might eat most other plants in your tank though.

[zapisto]

If the dusckeed grow so well, it is probably because they found what they need in your tank.
the best way to get rid of it , is find why they are doing so well..


my 2 c

[squeeker]

OR donate/sell it to someone else in the club who can't grow it at all... like me  for example!

[jgolden]

Unless I'm mistaken, duckweed doesn't like a lot of surface movement. (At least, that is my observation). Like you, I was pulling cup after cup of the stuff out every other week. I had changed the spraybar direction for both my canisters to churn the surface more. I had also added a powerhead (more because I thought I wasn't getting enough overall circulation in the tank). In my case, there was a lot of water movement from the surface down about 7 inches. Two weeks after making these changes, I noticed my duckweed was less than a netful. Today, I have less than 10 pieces floating in there. Again, this worked for me. It might not work for others, but it might be something you can try too.

[Jennywrenn]

I have less duckweed in the tanks with a stronger flow. My 20 gal has none  now, and it did have some.
The other's I scoop out every few weeks, and I shake all th eother plants to release the trapped DW before scooping, that way, almost 100% is floating....
Be careful though in your tank if your fishies like to greet you as you feed them...
I went scooping like mad one day, cleaned out the tank really well, then realized several guppies had vanished..I found them in the duckweek, they survived...but had been at the top and got scooped up as well.
took a bit to divide fish from weed, but they survived.... (note to self, watch out for fishies....)
I'm sorry to say though, I haven't really found a way to get rid of it entirely yet.
Mind you, I'm wondering now if my platties are eating it? That's the only tank without and it did have it at one point.
Hmmmm....may have to drop some in and see what happens to it....
Jenny

[Sarah Bella]

 Marisa & planorbid snails will eat it for sure.  I've seen my brigs munching on it too but not in large amounts...

[bitterman]

I wish I could grow duckweed like you. It just dies on me. I think it is because I do about 90% water change per week on my 172 with 30 gallon sump (the duckweed was in the sump).

Maybe more water changes will help decrease it.

Bruce

[emily]

Thank you all for your suggestions!
The snails are a nix because they'd made a snack for my clown loaches, but I might try rainbows and I'll definitely be adding some surface agitation.
And Trish (and anyone else who wants) you're welcome to as much duckweed as you like!  I know your goldfish love it, lol.
Thanks again everyone

[Toss]

I have three different kind of rainbow and none of them eat enough duckweed. Water circulation (as mention by Jeff) works well in my tank.

[PaleoFishGirl]

My rainbows eat duckweed, but only the small kind - I have giant duckweed that they won't touch.