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Duckweed?

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s1ren

Guest
I'd really like to get some Duckweed for my aquariums (I think I have the name right - the itty bitty floating plants with like 2 leaves), but I've had the hardest time finding any at local shops or even online.

Can anyone recommend a place online to order from, or, does anyone have some they'd like to share?

Thanks!
 
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samuel

Guest
Be careful what u wish for.... heard they grow like weed (hence the name) and r quite impossible to remove completely frm the tank. Think 3rice before adding it and regretting later;p.

Sam
 
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s1ren

Guest
I've heard this, too: I don't mind the extra work at all, in fact. I can feed the excess to my goldfish, and use it to make [outdoor] plant fertilizer and add it to my compost pile :D

Thanks
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duncan

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Hi There,
Too bad you weren't closer, I would happily give you buckets of the stuff! It does grow and divide like crazy, and your goldfish would love it! Try a local aquarium/tropical fish store, they almost always are willing to give some away. I don't think it really should be too hard to find online either if the local pet store does not have any (maybe try www.aquabid.com I don't have any personal experience with this fish auction site but if you're desparate their might be someone auctioning some off)
Hope this helps,
Duncan
 
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jennifer

Guest
Also, you can try on ebay, there are some good sellers of live aquarium plants there. Someone might be able to mail you some - it doesn't take much to get it started. I'd send you some, but I dont' have it any more since I moved.
 
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s1ren

Guest
Aha! My fiance located what he thought might be duckweed floating in a pond where he works. I collected some, and it turns out to be Fairy Moss (Azolla). Here's a picture: http://www.denverplants.com/wgard/html/Azoll_fil.htm

I'm gonna try this stuff. It's lovely, and I understand it doesn't grow quite as fast as duckweed. And it was free! :D
 
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nate

Guest
Hi siren, I've used Azolla before. It's very nice, but doesn't seem to like deep water. Mine would often turn a beautiful red color.
 
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s1ren

Guest
How deep is "deep"?

My big tank is only about a foot (maybe a tad more) deep.

From what I've read, they change from green to red to brown depending on the time of year and light intensity. I guess I'm doing something right - since I brought them home, even the dull and brown ones have turned bright green and fluffed out a lot. :D
 
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s1ren

Guest
Update: The Azolla died weeks ago.

But I got some Duckweed about a week ago from a local tropical fish place, and I already have twice as much as I brought home! :D
 

TJ

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Oct 26, 2002
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Glad you finally found it. To be honest, I can't stand duckweed as it blocks out the light...but my wife's goldfish love the stuff!
 
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katie

Guest
I used to have Azolla as the floating plant in a live plant tank used as an indoor water garden. It was sold to me in Tennessee as "snowflake plant". I loved it, and no one could tell me what its scientific name was...each looked like a snowflake, and turned beautiful red colors in winter. It had an irridescent look under lighting. I recently called the shop I'd purchased it from years ago to find some, and they still carry it. And now they know the name...so I finally know what the snowflake plants were...Azolla. I looked online to identify the specific kind I had, and it appears to be Azolla pinnata.

A few thoughts on Azolla. I adore it...it's unique, truely a tiny beauty, and fun. Back when I had some, my hatchet fish loved hanging in the tiny gray forest of roots beneath the little plants. I placed them on one end of the tank to block the lighting...so I could grow some low light species I liked beneath them. I used under gravel filtration...so they stayed where I put them--no current to push them around. My tank was a water garden. The few fish were only there to balance the ecosystem.

Most importantly, when I was searching recently to identify the snowflake plant I had long ago, and hoping to find some more, I discovered that different varieties are considered to be a non-native
ufo.gif
, invasive species subject to federal and state governmental regulation, quarantine, and are banned from sale, trade, possession or transport in many states.

I would suggest you do your homework on the variety you are interested in. It is often sold illegally. I would suggest you watch what you purchase, where you purchase it, whether it's ok to have it in your state, and whether you are making an illegal purchase that could get you in trouble elsewhere if shopping online.

Other thoughts on Azolla:

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>s1ren (S1ren) wrote on Thursday, January 08, 2004 - 19:11 :</font>

"Update: The Azolla died weeks ago. "<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Mine were beautiful irridescent green, then red, and then, they all appeared to turn brown and brittle, fragment into pieces and die. I didn't manage to get all the pieces out of the tank, and each piece turned into a new plantlet! It turns out that fragmentation is one way they reproduce/propagate, rather profusely, I might add. Your plants may not have died after all. (They also reproduce with spores.)

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Nate (Nate) wrote on Monday, November 24, 2003 - 18:44 :</font>

"It's very nice, but doesn't seem to like deep water."<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Mine was in 1 & 1/2 feet of water, and did beautifully. I thought mine didn't seem to like strong current or poor light. They "improved" with good lighting and did great in calmer water...so I'm not sure which of those two changes, if at all, was the cause of the "improvement"...or if I thought their "illness" was actually them starting to turn brown and fragment. Maybe they were fine!

As far as temperature, I'd purchased mine in the Tennessee winter from outdoor reservoir tanks. They were sold for outdoor ponds, but I used them in my aquarium garden indoors. So they did well in the cold outdoors in bright full sunlight and in my warm aquarium with less light.

On a separate note: I think I've identified the variety I'd had by looking online. It looked exactly like the Azolla pinnata at http://www.hear.org/pier/species/azolla_pinnata.htm

There's an interesting article that describes the irridescent quality I noticed, and the cause, a symbiotic relationship with "microscopic filamentous blue-green alga or cyanobacterium (Anabaena azollae)"...at http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:3GDvB_A5544J:waynesword.palomar.edu/plnov98.htm+azolla&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

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I bet they would look really cool under black light!

One site says there are six species in the eastern US and West Indies: http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:EFD9uJ-xqHkJ:www.tripplebrookfarm.com/iplants/Azolla.html+azolla&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

~Moi~
 
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katie

Guest
well...technically, they don't reproduce with "spores". The site called them "sporocarps"...whatever THAT is!

And the Azolla you all had may have not been the same kind I had, needless to say.

~me, again~
 
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jesper

Guest
I would like to try this azolla but I haven't found it around here, if anyone has some extra that they can send to Sweden, send me an email - I'll pay the shipping.
 
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katie

Guest
The place I found it years ago in Tennessee still carries it. They said they couldn't ship it; so, I'm assuming it's in violation of TN law to ship it. I'm curious if it's available somewhere else. I'll have to find out if it would violate laws where I am to have it, or if it's allowed here. I hope so.
 
A

alan

Guest
Azolla likes a lot of light. It's also a noxious introduced aquatic weed in many places, so please be careful what you do with it.
Duckweed is a pain in the a**. It sticks to everything, blocks out the light, ugh!
If you want a floating plant, go for Salvinia - much nicer, or hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum).
 
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jesper

Guest
What species of salvinia are there and which suits 20C water? I am interested in finding these too, any tips Alan?
 
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marcus

Guest
Salvinia natans is the most common species as far as I know, not that I have had any real luck with it...
It seems to hate condensation really bad.

Azolla(probably carolinia) is right now growing in a gingerbread jar newt to my computer and if you, Jesper, would happen to pass by Stockholm I would be glad to share.

The botanical institution of Stockholm University has several pools filled with azolla and salvinia so I have pretty easy access to these plants.

Duckweed is a lovely little pain in the <font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font><font color="ff0000">&#149;</font>.. no tank without it!
/Marcus
 
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jesper

Guest
Hey Marcus!
Haven't heard from you in a while!
I'll be sure to come by, I'm in Stockholm pretty often. I'll email you!
 
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alan

Guest
Salvinia natans is happy at 20C. In fact, you're unlikely to find any other species in the aquatic trade. Marcus is right that it dislikes condensation, so good ventilation is needed. Also likes fairly bright light, but as a floating plant this is usually not a problem.
 
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