# What is this floater?



## nebusa (Mar 16, 2010)

Anyone know what this is? I have a few of them that just started showing up with the duckweed. They have shorter thicker roots compared to the duckweed.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

That is an aquatic fern, genus _Azolla_. I don't know the species.


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## Franco (Jun 25, 2010)

That is really cool. Is the duckweed a new addition? wild or from a shop?
At the beginning of the summer I grabbed a bunch of DW out of a swamp and it had a liverwort mixed into it that looks like a mini Riccia. Ferns and mosses are just so little I could probably find a bunch of wild stuff if I just paid attention.


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## Red_Rose (Mar 18, 2007)

It looks a bit like Azolla caroliniana to me. I have that plant in my tanks and it looks similar to what is in the picture.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

That's some nice looking mosquito fern in the mix. I hope it does well ofr you, as it really adds a nice texture to the mix. I used to have some in my picotope, but my pygmy banded sunfish picked it apart, perhaps eating tiny critters that were hanging in and around it.


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## nebusa (Mar 16, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback! I hope it does well too... 


Although I made a huge mistake tonight.... Was doing a water change to try and combat some greenish water I've been having. I planed on doing a 10-20% change and needless to say something distracted me. Normally this wouldn't be a problem as I use a little clamp to hold the vacumn tube. Well that slipped off and when I came back I had less than an inch of water and fish flopping all over.... 

I know I've stressed the heck out of the fish. I hope they hang in there. OUCH!!


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Been there, done that! 
As long as the new water has the same mineral levels as the tank had the fish will be fine. And, of course, don't forget the dechlor!


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Ouch is right; any updates on how the tank and critters fared with the 99% water change? I've actually done this intentionally in my 125 before, just after the date when I wrote the "Pea Soup" poem somewhere near the beginning of my 125 NPT journal. It helped a lot with the green water.


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## nebusa (Mar 16, 2010)

All of the fish are doing great to my surprise! I have not seen any signs of the stress I caused them... And a good side effect is that I had perfectly clear water for a few days.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

Save that stuff. It beats duckweed! 

Duckweed is my mortal enemy. I cant get rid of it!


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## Jark (Feb 6, 2010)

That is a cool floater. I like the scaled look of it. If it grows in more, upload more pictures. It would be cool to see a larger matt of it.


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