What I Did This Morning

[Dunter Powries]

I spent two hours picking duckweed out of a 30" x 12" x 3" mat of Riccia
with tweezers and a jewelers loupe while my four-year old ran around my legs
tunelessly screaming Christmas songs and my two-year old repeatedly
attempted to immerse himself in the rinse bucket. I HATE duckweed... and,
at this point, nearly everything else.

[NetMax]

Regarding this gadget, does anyone have positive experience with it.

To Dunter, after you have laboriously removed every duckweed you find, my
experience is that there is always one more hiding somewhere, in a filter
pipe, under a leaf etc. Check again in about 1 week, to prevent the
next onslaught. It usually takes more than one episode of mechanical
removal to truly make your tank duckweed-free. Even though it's a
nuisance, I wish I could get rid of my snails as easily. Is there some
magic potion I could put in which would make all my snails float to the
surface where I could pick them off like duckweed? *humour*

NetMax

"Carlos" > wrote in message
...
> theres somewhere in this news group someone who invented a gadget to
kill
> duckweed or dispose of it as fast as possible, you can try finding it,
> maybe subject is duckweed, i remember somewhere reading about it.
>
> take care.
>
>
> "Dunter Powries" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I spent two hours picking duckweed out of a 30" x 12" x 3" mat of
Riccia
> > with tweezers and a jewelers loupe while my four-year old ran around
my
> legs
> > tunelessly screaming Christmas songs and my two-year old repeatedly
> > attempted to immerse himself in the rinse bucket. I HATE duckweed...
and,
> > at this point, nearly everything else.
> >
> >
>
>

[Carlos]

theres somewhere in this news group someone who invented a gadget to kill
duckweed or dispose of it as fast as possible, you can try finding it,
maybe subject is duckweed, i remember somewhere reading about it.

take care.


"Dunter Powries" > wrote in message
...
> I spent two hours picking duckweed out of a 30" x 12" x 3" mat of Riccia
> with tweezers and a jewelers loupe while my four-year old ran around my
legs
> tunelessly screaming Christmas songs and my two-year old repeatedly
> attempted to immerse himself in the rinse bucket. I HATE duckweed... and,
> at this point, nearly everything else.
>
>

[Dunter Powries]

NetMax > wrote in message
.. .
> Regarding this gadget, does anyone have positive experience with it.
>
> To Dunter, after you have laboriously removed every duckweed you find, my
> experience is that there is always one more hiding somewhere, in a filter
> pipe, under a leaf etc...

Oh, yes. This is NOT the first time I've performed this excercise.

> Check again in about 1 week, to prevent the
> next onslaught. It usually takes more than one episode of mechanical
> removal to truly make your tank duckweed-free. Even though it's a
> nuisance, I wish I could get rid of my snails as easily. Is there some
> magic potion I could put in which would make all my snails float to the
> surface where I could pick them off like duckweed? *humour*

Lettuce works for me in my open tanks. Just put a leaf of lettuce in every
night and remove it every morning. Depending on the variety of snail, it
should clean out the tank in a couple of weeks.

> NetMax
>
> "Carlos" > wrote in message
> ...
> > theres somewhere in this news group someone who invented a gadget to
> kill
> > duckweed or dispose of it as fast as possible, you can try finding it,
> > maybe subject is duckweed, i remember somewhere reading about it.
> >
> > take care.
> >
> >
> > "Dunter Powries" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > I spent two hours picking duckweed out of a 30" x 12" x 3" mat of
> Riccia
> > > with tweezers and a jewelers loupe while my four-year old ran around
> my
> > legs
> > > tunelessly screaming Christmas songs and my two-year old repeatedly
> > > attempted to immerse himself in the rinse bucket. I HATE duckweed...
> and,
> > > at this point, nearly everything else.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[Dunter Powries]

It just occurred to me to ask... The only tanks I have duckweed in are
tanks I do not have pl*cos in. I've never seen pl*cos eating duckweed and,
frankly, have a hard time visualizing how they would physically position
themselves in order to do so. Does anyone have any direct eyeball-type
evidence of pl*cos eating duckweed?

Carlos > wrote in message
...
> theres somewhere in this news group someone who invented a gadget to kill
> duckweed or dispose of it as fast as possible, you can try finding it,
> maybe subject is duckweed, i remember somewhere reading about it.
>
> take care.
>
>
> "Dunter Powries" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I spent two hours picking duckweed out of a 30" x 12" x 3" mat of Riccia
> > with tweezers and a jewelers loupe while my four-year old ran around my
> legs
> > tunelessly screaming Christmas songs and my two-year old repeatedly
> > attempted to immerse himself in the rinse bucket. I HATE duckweed...
and,
> > at this point, nearly everything else.
> >
> >
>
>

[Empty]

"Dunter Powries" > wrote in
:

> It just occurred to me to ask... The only tanks I have duckweed in
> are tanks I do not have pl*cos in. I've never seen pl*cos eating
> duckweed and, frankly, have a hard time visualizing how they would
> physically position themselves in order to do so. Does anyone have
> any direct eyeball-type evidence of pl*cos eating duckweed?

I've seen SAEs eat it, but I think that's because they were bored. IIRC
some other fish eats it too, but it's not one you'd want in a tank.

To get the stuff on the water, I usually just troll with a net (I have a
massive one with fine mesh that works wonders). Then I pick out my frogbit
and put it back in ;)

~Empty

--
'You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it
kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other
till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains,
children, it's blood... blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may
be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.'
Spike

[N. Wise]

> Even though it's a
>nuisance, I wish I could get rid of my snails as easily. Is there some
>magic potion I could put in which would make all my snails float to the
>surface where I could pick them off like duckweed? *humour*

There is an even easier way. Two clown loaches in a 55 gal will destroy your
snail population
N. Wise
http://members.aol.com/nwwise01/

[Greg G.]

Dunter Powries said:

>I spent two hours picking duckweed out of a 30" x 12" x 3" mat of Riccia
>with tweezers and a jewelers loupe while my four-year old ran around my legs
>tunelessly screaming Christmas songs and my two-year old repeatedly
>attempted to immerse himself in the rinse bucket. I HATE duckweed... and,
>at this point, nearly everything else.

LMAO.
Used to have it in the aquarium - thought it would look neat. Finally
got rid of it. I kept dumping it in my outdoor pond, but the goldfish
ate every bit of it. Maybe that's a clue...


Greg G.

[Rick]

<Greg G.> wrote in message
...
> Dunter Powries said:
>
> >I spent two hours picking duckweed out of a 30" x 12" x 3" mat of Riccia
> >with tweezers and a jewelers loupe while my four-year old ran around my
legs
> >tunelessly screaming Christmas songs and my two-year old repeatedly
> >attempted to immerse himself in the rinse bucket. I HATE duckweed...
and,
> >at this point, nearly everything else.
>
> LMAO.
> Used to have it in the aquarium - thought it would look neat. Finally
> got rid of it. I kept dumping it in my outdoor pond, but the goldfish
> ate every bit of it. Maybe that's a clue...
>
>
> Greg G.

gold fish will eat it but we don't normally keep goldfish in with our
tropicals. My Mbuans's love it but I have to give them duckweed from my
planted tanks. I remove it using a small measuring cup and fish net. Works
well, simply slowly immerse the cup and the flow of water going into the cup
pulls the duckweed in with it. Dump it in the net and continue on.

Rick

[Dunter Powries]

Rick > wrote in message
news:dSVKb.16455$ts4.9138@pd7tw3no...
>
> <Greg G.> wrote in message
> ...
> > Dunter Powries said:
> >
> > >I spent two hours picking duckweed out of a 30" x 12" x 3" mat of
Riccia
> > >with tweezers and a jewelers loupe while my four-year old ran around my
> legs
> > >tunelessly screaming Christmas songs and my two-year old repeatedly
> > >attempted to immerse himself in the rinse bucket. I HATE duckweed...
> and,
> > >at this point, nearly everything else.
> >
> > LMAO.
> > Used to have it in the aquarium - thought it would look neat. Finally
> > got rid of it. I kept dumping it in my outdoor pond, but the goldfish
> > ate every bit of it. Maybe that's a clue...
> >
> >
> > Greg G.
>
> gold fish will eat it but we don't normally keep goldfish in with our
> tropicals. My Mbuans's love it but I have to give them duckweed from my
> planted tanks. I remove it using a small measuring cup and fish net. Works
> well, simply slowly immerse the cup and the flow of water going into the
cup
> pulls the duckweed in with it. Dump it in the net and continue on.

Unfortunately, my affected tanks are full of guppy fry and itsy ramshorns -
which keep the Riccia beds squeaky clean - so removal enmasse is not
practical for me. Since the sale of both the guppies and the riccia
substantially underwrites the expense of keeping all these tanks, I guess
I'll try not complain too much.

[Greg G.]

Rick said:

>gold fish will eat it but we don't normally keep goldfish in with our
>tropicals. My Mbuans's love it but I have to give them duckweed from my
>planted tanks. I remove it using a small measuring cup and fish net. Works
>well, simply slowly immerse the cup and the flow of water going into the cup
>pulls the duckweed in with it. Dump it in the net and continue on.

I don't keep goldfish in with my tropicals either, but the idea was
that maybe you could try tossing a cheap one in there for the purposes
of cleaning out the duckweed. <g>


Greg G.

[Carlos]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3515&sid=68f7ea8339f53564d00b8c1f2536b35e

go here, my $1.99 duckweed eliminator subject. maybe you can build one.

take care



<Greg G.> wrote in message
...
> Rick said:
>
> >gold fish will eat it but we don't normally keep goldfish in with our
> >tropicals. My Mbuans's love it but I have to give them duckweed from my
> >planted tanks. I remove it using a small measuring cup and fish net.
Works
> >well, simply slowly immerse the cup and the flow of water going into the
cup
> >pulls the duckweed in with it. Dump it in the net and continue on.
>
> I don't keep goldfish in with my tropicals either, but the idea was
> that maybe you could try tossing a cheap one in there for the purposes
> of cleaning out the duckweed. <g>
>
>
> Greg G.

[Rick]

<Greg G.> wrote in message
...
> Rick said:
>
> >gold fish will eat it but we don't normally keep goldfish in with our
> >tropicals. My Mbuans's love it but I have to give them duckweed from my
> >planted tanks. I remove it using a small measuring cup and fish net.
Works
> >well, simply slowly immerse the cup and the flow of water going into the
cup
> >pulls the duckweed in with it. Dump it in the net and continue on.
>
> I don't keep goldfish in with my tropicals either, but the idea was
> that maybe you could try tossing a cheap one in there for the purposes
> of cleaning out the duckweed. <g>
>
>
> Greg G.

and that would spell the end of his Guppy fry!!!

Rick

[Greg G.]

Rick said:

>> I don't keep goldfish in with my tropicals either, but the idea was
>> that maybe you could try tossing a cheap one in there for the purposes
>> of cleaning out the duckweed. <g>
>>
>>
>> Greg G.
>
>and that would spell the end of his Guppy fry!!!
>
>Rick

That it would!


Greg G.

[N. Wise]

>>> I don't keep goldfish in with my tropicals either, but the idea was
>>> that maybe you could try tossing a cheap one in there for the purposes
>>> of cleaning out the duckweed. <g>
>>>
>>>
>>> Greg G.
>>
>>and that would spell the end of his Guppy fry!!!
>>
>>Rick
>
>That it would!
>
Don't worry, there will always be more. LOTS MORE!!!!!

N. Wise
http://members.aol.com/nwwise01/

[NetMax]

"Dunter Powries" > wrote in message
...
> NetMax > wrote in message
> .. .
> > Regarding this gadget, does anyone have positive experience with it.
> >
> > To Dunter, after you have laboriously removed every duckweed you
find, my
> > experience is that there is always one more hiding somewhere, in a
filter
> > pipe, under a leaf etc...
>
> Oh, yes. This is NOT the first time I've performed this excercise.
>
> > Check again in about 1 week, to prevent the
> > next onslaught. It usually takes more than one episode of mechanical
> > removal to truly make your tank duckweed-free. Even though it's a
> > nuisance, I wish I could get rid of my snails as easily. Is there
some
> > magic potion I could put in which would make all my snails float to
the
> > surface where I could pick them off like duckweed? *humour*
>
> Lettuce works for me in my open tanks. Just put a leaf of lettuce in
every
> night and remove it every morning. Depending on the variety of snail,
it
> should clean out the tank in a couple of weeks.

<snip>

I hadn't tried the lettuce trick in a long time, but I must have either
the wrong types of snails, or they didn't like Romaine lettuce, or the
tank plants taste better, because only 2 snails were on the Romaine leaf
in the morning.

I try to avoid loaches as they disrupt my more delicate plants (ie:
Riccia on driftwood), and I have the impression that they would eat any
fry they could (they are opportunistic carnivores). Of the loaches, the
Yoyos seem to be the least 'carnivorous' but my one test sample has been
ineffective on these snails after 2 months. Rather than buying more (for
a shoal), I'm going to try a Zebra or Chain loach next.

Plan C is do drop a Julidochromis into the tank. I think these guys are
insectivores. Catching him later will be an adventure, though.

NetMax

[Robert Flory]

I've seen post describing plecos swimming upside down and sucking flake off
the surface.

bob
"Dunter Powries" > wrote in message
...
> It just occurred to me to ask... The only tanks I have duckweed in are
> tanks I do not have pl*cos in. I've never seen pl*cos eating duckweed
and,
> frankly, have a hard time visualizing how they would physically position
> themselves in order to do so. Does anyone have any direct eyeball-type
> evidence of pl*cos eating duckweed?
>
> Carlos > wrote in message
> ...
> > theres somewhere in this news group someone who invented a gadget to
kill
> > duckweed or dispose of it as fast as possible, you can try finding it,
> > maybe subject is duckweed, i remember somewhere reading about it.
> >
> > take care.
> >
> >
> > "Dunter Powries" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > I spent two hours picking duckweed out of a 30" x 12" x 3" mat of
Riccia
> > > with tweezers and a jewelers loupe while my four-year old ran around
my
> > legs
> > > tunelessly screaming Christmas songs and my two-year old repeatedly
> > > attempted to immerse himself in the rinse bucket. I HATE duckweed...
> and,
> > > at this point, nearly everything else.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

[Dunter Powries]

NetMax > wrote in message
.. .
>
> "Dunter Powries" > wrote in message
> ...
> > NetMax > wrote in message
> > .. .
> > > Regarding this gadget, does anyone have positive experience with it.
> > >
> > > To Dunter, after you have laboriously removed every duckweed you
> find, my
> > > experience is that there is always one more hiding somewhere, in a
> filter
> > > pipe, under a leaf etc...
> >
> > Oh, yes. This is NOT the first time I've performed this excercise.
> >
> > > Check again in about 1 week, to prevent the
> > > next onslaught. It usually takes more than one episode of mechanical
> > > removal to truly make your tank duckweed-free. Even though it's a
> > > nuisance, I wish I could get rid of my snails as easily. Is there
> some
> > > magic potion I could put in which would make all my snails float to
> the
> > > surface where I could pick them off like duckweed? *humour*
> >
> > Lettuce works for me in my open tanks. Just put a leaf of lettuce in
> every
> > night and remove it every morning. Depending on the variety of snail,
> it
> > should clean out the tank in a couple of weeks.
>
> <snip>
>
> I hadn't tried the lettuce trick in a long time, but I must have either
> the wrong types of snails, or they didn't like Romaine lettuce, or the
> tank plants taste better, because only 2 snails were on the Romaine leaf
> in the morning.
>
> I try to avoid loaches as they disrupt my more delicate plants (ie:
> Riccia on driftwood), and I have the impression that they would eat any
> fry they could (they are opportunistic carnivores). Of the loaches, the
> Yoyos seem to be the least 'carnivorous' but my one test sample has been
> ineffective on these snails after 2 months. Rather than buying more (for
> a shoal), I'm going to try a Zebra or Chain loach next.
>
> Plan C is do drop a Julidochromis into the tank. I think these guys are
> insectivores. Catching him later will be an adventure, though.

I've had some very bad experiences with loaches and botias in the planted
tank! The only loach I've found that have been 100% effective and
non-troublesome have been 'horsehead' loaches - I don't know the Latin, but
they look like stretched-out seahorses. They don't actually eat the snails
but they do eat every bit of snail spawn. They've never eaten any of my fry
that I've been aware of. They bury themselves in the sand like eels.
Entire months go by that I don't even see one.

[Michi Henning]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .

> I try to avoid loaches as they disrupt my more delicate plants (ie:
> Riccia on driftwood), and I have the impression that they would eat any
> fry they could (they are opportunistic carnivores). Of the loaches, the
> Yoyos seem to be the least 'carnivorous' but my one test sample has been
> ineffective on these snails after 2 months. Rather than buying more (for
> a shoal), I'm going to try a Zebra or Chain loach next.
>
> Plan C is do drop a Julidochromis into the tank. I think these guys are
> insectivores. Catching him later will be an adventure, though.

I've had very good success with Anomalochromis Thomasi. I had a badly
snail infested tank (small rams horn snails) -- there were hundreds of the
little buggers. Fishing the snails out by hand was hopeless. I'd remove
twenty or thirty every morning and night, and they still kept multiplying
faster than that. In the end, one pair of Anomalochromis Thomasi put
an end to it in about three weeks. Haven't had a single snail since.

Anomalochromis Thomasi don't get all that big (about two inches fully
grown) and are peaceful, so you can keep them in a community tank.
And, as an added bonus, when there aren't any snails, they pick away
at hair algae.

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

[Michi Henning]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> Thanks Michi, but in my case, I'm not so sure that an African butterfly
> would be too happy in my 8.4pH ;~)

Oops, no, probably not :-)

I keep mentioning Anomalochromis Thomasi for snail control
simply because it seems to be a very-well kept secret; I've never
seen them mentioned in the litature or elsewhere. I got mine on
recommendation from my LFS, and the tip was spot-on. So,
I'm just trying to spread the gospel :-)

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com