Duckweed control, smaller fish???

[richberstler]

Hello all, I keep neon sized fish with RCS. I always thought "that floating plant in ThatFishPlace's tank looked cool" and it was never listed anywhere for sale. I wanted to buy when I figured out what it was. After my last trip down there to get other plants it was accidentally introduced to my tanks. Then I learned allllll about it. lol

So now I have it, I still like it to a point. I've never seen a plant grow so fast! I've looked at the species that are the normal consumers of this beast and they all seem to be larger sized fish when they fully mature.

Question is, is there a smaller one that will eat it? Or invertebrate? I don't want a fish what will threaten adult RCS. Any ideas?

The reason I ask is I've seen my older raspora tetras (closing in on 2") eat one from time to time, supposing it was food I expect. I did not see them spit it back out. So maybe there is a hope?

[genocidex]

well tbh.... not really maybe mollies would eat some, the the fact is the plant will reproduce faster than the fish will be able to eat it. if you want it then just continue to thin it. if not then remove as much from your tank as you can and continue to do so every time you see it. that stuff is like a plaque good luck getting rid of it....

[korith]

I hate the stuff. Got into my tanks by accident a few times, takes forever to be rid of it. One time I cleared every speck of duckweed I could find out of my 40g. Somehow a few remained behind and the tank was covered again. Two floating plants that are easier to control are dwarf water lettuce and frogbit.

[talldutchie]

OTOH, it's an easy way to get rid of some excess nutrients.

[Cliff]

I've had that in my tank once and I did not like it one bit. It took me several attempts to remove it all using a fish net before it did not com back anymore.

But as talldutchie has stated, it is a fast growing plant that can help with removing nitrates and phosphates. I personally prefer using some of the plants recommended by Korith a lot more than frogbit, but that is just my preference.

[ScottishFish]

I used to have frogbit, very nice plant. Much better then duckweed!!

[richberstler]

lol, very fast grower indeed. But I do like that is is cleaning my nitrates which I've been struggling with. I'll just keep scooping away to keep it tamed. Thx all