# silly question...



## swub (Apr 17, 2007)

I'm taking a 5-day vacation in May....soooo, I bought an automatic feeder from local store. Feeds every 12 hours. Since my tank setup...earlier this month...80% of my tank surface is now little duckweed pads....my question is quite a stupid one, but....the silly duckweed will certainly interfere with the food dropping into the water.....any thoughts on how to keep it back? Like floating barrier or feed ring.
I'm sure someone's had to deal with this before. I hope.


Also...does the duckweed hamper my other plants from growing, since it's sucking up most of the direct lighting?

YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!! (kinda like my Ducati forum and Miami Dolphins forum)


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## MemphisBob (Mar 20, 2007)

I would scoop out as much duckweed as I could before I left. You won't get it all the first try anyway and it'll start growing back in right away.

Most folks consider duckweed a nuisance plant as it hogs direct light and sucks up nutrients other plants need.


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## swub (Apr 17, 2007)

hmmm, so just throw away excess duckweed? makes sense.


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## creative-fury (Sep 8, 2006)

MemphisBob said:


> Most folks consider duckweed a nuisance plant as it hogs direct light and sucks up nutrients other plants need.


Somehow I got duckweed in one of my tanks, and it seems like I'm always cleaning it out. I think I always miss one little plant and before I know it the whole tank is full again


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## evercl92 (Aug 14, 2006)

Personally, I think it's just about the worst plant to have in an aquarium - especially planted. It does absorb ammonia and nitrite quite quickly, but is very difficult to remove. It certainly will block light from the plants below it, as well as prevent other plants from using nutrients. I would remove as much as you can before you leave.


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## swub (Apr 17, 2007)

Thanks guys. I'll scoop tons out right before I leave. The nice thing for me is, since my setup is so new..I'm sure all that duckweed is helping with o2 and eating up ammonia. I had no idea it spread that fast. I almost feel bad about throwing whole cup fulls out into the yard.


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## Cliff Mayes (Jan 29, 2007)

Why do we despise those things that grow easily, reproduce with vigor, are common or just act like or compete with us too well? Duckweed is an irritant. People make fun of Convicts. We do not like Plaintains but we will pay big money for Hostas. We do not like rats. Blah, blah, blah!

Duckweed is actually great stuff! I know Goldfish (and other fish too) folk who will buy bags of Duckweed, at an auction, as a treat for their fish. It is rare to find a Goldfish that does not relish Duckweed. By Duckweed I am referring to Lemna sp. ,not Azolla, (I like Azolla) which they generally will not eat. Normally you will not find Goldfish ponds or aquaria with too much Duckweed. I grow duckweed in non Goldfish tanks to feed the Goldfish with.

Roll with nature instead of trying to resist it. Yes Duckweed is a "sponge" for all sorts of chemicals in a water system. That is a good thing. When you remove Duckweed out comes all the stuff the Duckweed sucks up. Duckweeds rapid growth can be a pain or an advantage.

Removing Duckweed from a tank is usually fairly easy. The darn stuff adheres to your arms or anything else that is put into an aquarium. Just grab a handful or more and toss it. Getting rid of Duckweed isn’t as good as a water change but it ain’t bad either. I usually collect it by swishing a net around the surface until I have a pound or so (minus the water.) 

If I put the Duckweed in a Goldfish container, it is usually gone overnight. Goldfish will pack-in Duckweed until it comes out pretty much looking like it went in.

There is no such thing as "ugly" in nature. Everything has its place. You can react positively to something or not, but, everyhing is what it is.


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

I would also remove as much of it as possible so it didnt effect your automated feeding. I had S. Minima growing on top of my 55gal and i foudn a buyer in texas who wanted all of it I scooped up a gallon size bag of S. Minima and shipped it. 

Maybe leave a little bit on the top to keep the nutrience sponge going, surely when you come back you'll have more


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I remember in one tank I saw on here, the guy had floating plants he kept in a specific area by making a corral with airline tubing and a connector. He could secure the coral to the side of the tank with suction cups. You might try something like that to keep the duckweed out from under the automatic feeder. Make a ring using airline tubing and a connector and secure it under the feeder output so the duckweed can't get in the way. You could probably make an airline barrier stretching across the tank, but i'm not quite sure how to hold the ends. I'm going to have to try it myself, I've been trying to feed my fish around my floaters for a while now. The current in my tank always causes them to drift to the front and get in my way.


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## DWIZUM (Jun 8, 2006)

For something as pervasive as duckweed, I dunno if the airline would be enough to keep it totally separated. Then again, maybe you don't need "total" separation to get good results with the feeder.

However, I think there could be other solutions. Get a large disposable plastic cup (or bowl, even) and cut the bottom off. Zip-tie it to the feeder so the opened-up bottom of the cup is just under water level in the tank. Presto! If the duckweed or something else gets in the way, you can just lower it farther into the water.


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

swub said:


> I'm taking a 5-day vacation in May....soooo, I bought an automatic feeder from local store...


It wouldn't worry about not feeding them for that short of a period of time. Five days isn't that much time for the fish to go without food. In the wild, they sometimes go much longer. Over the past several years, I've been away from my fish tanks for 1 to 2 weeks at a time. The fish weren't fed (except for one time when my landlord looked after them) and everyone was present and accounted for when I came home. They were hungry, but they were OK. I have dwarf SA and African cichlids plus some other "sensitive" fish. They were all fine, but I sure was worried about them.

Would there be a problem if your new auto feeder malfunctioned?


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## LSD25 (Apr 15, 2007)

Besides the duckweed: you can leave fish for a little while without feeding anyway...at least 7 days. Just feed them a little better before


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## swub (Apr 17, 2007)

cs_gardener.....brillant!! This is certainly work for 5-6days. Nice piece of mind to have while laying on the beach. I'll scoop out tons before I leave...and use a plastic tubing as a divider.

ME LIKEY!!


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