Floater plants in shrimp tanks

milalic · Post by **milalic** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 8:05 pm

Any advantages/disadvantages in using them in a shrimp tank? Do you recommend using them?

Thanks

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 9:09 pm

I have duckweed and Riccia in my shrimp tank. I swear the shrimp eat some of it, particularly the Riccia. There are always some feeding at the surface among the plants, occaisonally I see one folding onto a sinking duckweed plant, busily picking away at it. Duckweed is also a fast-growing plant, useful for removing nitrates from the water.

Post by **Mustafa** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:58 pm

ToddnBecka wrote:I have duckweed and Riccia in my shrimp tank. I swear the shrimp eat some of it, particularly the Riccia. There are always some feeding at the surface among the plants, occaisonally I see one folding onto a sinking duckweed plant, busily picking away at it.

Just because shrimp pick at something does not mean they are eating it. With plants, they just pick edibles from the surface of the plant...trust me.

As for pedro's question about floating plants...they mostly fall in the category of fast growing plants and hence come with the similar disadvantages as other fast growing plants. The disadvantages were detailed in various other threads very recently.

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:30 am

I haven't seen the threads discussing the disadvantages of fast-growing plants. Duckweed can cover the surface of a tank fairly quickly, blocking the light for other plants. However, it is easily removed with a net if it needs thinned out.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:40 am

Here is a link to the thread mentioned above

:

viewtopic.php?t=1862&highlight=

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:53 am

I no longer use riccia in my hard water shrimp tanks. I do have a small amount of wolffia, which is the smallest duckweed. This is for the brigs snails I keep with them. The snails keep this plant under control so it does not block the light. Duckweeds and Riccia need agressive control or they choke the surface and deprive the rest of the tank of nutrients.

I find that java moss and java fern are the best.

Lotus · Post by **Lotus** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:28 pm

One thing to watch out for if you have floating plants is that baby shrimp sometimes hang onto the bottom of them, so when you scoop out excess duckweed, you also scoop out some baby shrimp.

I had a duckweed "infestation" in some of my community tanks, and had to scoop the duckweed into a container with an inch of water in the bottom. When I had finished collecting duckweed, I would remove the duckweed from the container by hand, then remove all the baby shrimp from the container. Sure is a fun way to spend the weekend

I quite like salvinia as a floating plant, as it's easier to control than duckweed.

I haven't noticed that the shrimp particularly like floating plants, though. I think in my community tanks they like it because little bits of flake get stuck in it.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:51 pm

When I started my tank I was thinking about using duckweed, now I sure am happy I did not

It seems to infest the tank and become a battle to maintain

.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 7:56 am

Neonshrimp wrote:When I started my tank I was thinking about using duckweed, now I sure am happy I did not It seems to infest the tank and become a battle to maintain .

If you keep some apple snails, they keep it under control. Get the Brigs, not the Canas as Brigs are selective and don't eat plants with hard fibers, but they do love duckweed. Canas eat everything.

eklikewhoa · Post by **eklikewhoa** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:38 am

i have riccia in my tank and the shrimp play in it all day, its funny to see them catch a single strand of riccia and it sinks. the shrimp try to crawl up the riccia thinking they will get to the top but its all sinking together.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:48 am

The problem with Riccia in a shrimp tank is that it out competes just about everything else and you don't get a proper growth of other bio organisms. It also blocks off light to the bottom of the tank. If you keep it, be sure to remove some every week so that light can get to the bottom of the tank.

I grow riccia in several of my non-shrimp tank and love it. It also works super in tanks with Amano shrimp, but cherries seem a lot more particular.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 9:11 am

badflash, thank you for the tip about the snails.

Regarding Riccia, I hear that it is very messy and hard to work with. Do you have a particular way of dealing with it?

Lotus · Post by **Lotus** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:13 am

Pellia (or whatever it's supposed to be called) is nice in a shrimp tank, and less of a pain than riccia. It's not the same lime green, but the shrimp seem to enjoy it, and it's less demanding on light than riccia.

Najas guadalupensis is nice, and shrimp love it, but it looks messy and grows really fast.

wendyjo · Post by **wendyjo** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:43 am

I have a bit of moneywort floating on top of my water. I couldn't get the stuff to stay in the gravel so I just let it float and it's doing well.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 1:12 pm

Neonshrimp wrote: Regarding Riccia, I hear that it is very messy and hard to work with. Do you have a particular way of dealing with it?

It is easy to work with. You just need to keep it from getting caught in downward flow. If you have an HOB filter put a gaurd all around the outflow to keep the riccia from floating into it. I cut the gaurds from sections of 1 gallon plastic milk jugs.

If you use a powerhead that discharges below the level the riccia floats at, there are no problems at all. Riccia is the best plant I know of for hiding fry from hungy fish.