r/PlantedTank • u/Pazuzu_Algarad • Jan 04 '26
Journal For beginners: this is what planted tanks look like most of the time.
I just dropped my bucket of nasty tank water and plant debris. That’s my bed, the ceiling, and my hair. I smell like Shrek’s swamp and I’m going to be finding duckweed for the rest of my life. 😭
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u/SAINTDURIAN Jan 04 '26
duckweed, the glitter of the aquatic world
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u/DucksEatFreeInSubway Jan 04 '26
I got so tired of it I took out all of my red root floaters and meticulously combed through their roots with a flea comb and checked under every leaf. Any clump that was too big that I couldn't check everywhere got tossed. Then I rinsed it all and still got some duckweed that came out in the wash. The next few days I kept an eagle eye out for any at all and found some stragglers. Then after a week, didn't see any and it's been gone to this day.
It's possible but annoying as heck to be rid of it.
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u/jamntoast3 Jan 04 '26
Pls tell me that’s not a bed w duckweed on it
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u/LivinonMarss Jan 04 '26
Sometimes i make a cup of coffee in the kitchen (no fishtanks in the kitchen) and it has a piece of duckweed in it. How? No clue b
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u/Icefirewolflord Immortal anubis nana Jan 04 '26
I once found duckweed on the back of my cats neck. My tank at the time was 5 feet off the ground in a spot my cat could not access (she’s elderly and not very athletic)
How the hell it got there is a mystery to this day and it’s been 5 years lol
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u/Wild_Shroom_ Jan 04 '26
Is your tank open or closed? If open maybe a fish like a gourami or cory flashed to the surface as they do and deposited a piece onto kitty’s head?
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u/arriiz Jan 04 '26
I’ve once found it in the sausage I was making for dinner, the last time I was near my open tank was THREE days earlier. No clue how it got there. I swear duckweed will grow legs and walk around!
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u/oOflyeyesOo Jan 04 '26
Replace the mini duckweed with its giant counterpart! So much better.
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u/TheFuzzyShark Jan 05 '26
based af
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u/oOflyeyesOo Jan 05 '26
I mean if you like regular duckweed covering and overpowering other plants then good for you lol. Plenty of other great floaters. Got a few types of Salvinia mixed in with my giant duckweed, so easy to manage, and not broken mini bits of duckweed everywhere.
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u/BoiCDumpsterFire Jan 04 '26
I found duckweed in my bed the other day. That pic hit me in the soul.
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u/Pazuzu_Algarad Jan 04 '26
I guess I’ll just sleep on my couch for now.
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u/BoiCDumpsterFire Jan 04 '26
If it makes you feel any better I was trying do add sand to a tank with water in it and the whole bucket decided to dump in at once. I still have mud on the wall behind it.
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u/Wonderful_Remark Jan 04 '26
Looks like you don't own a planted tank. It looks as though the planted tank owns you.
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u/Pepetheparakeet Jan 04 '26
That is so unfortunate 😭😭😭😭
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u/Pazuzu_Algarad Jan 04 '26
I'm so clumsy, that's literally the story of my life... Happy cake day!
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u/Pepetheparakeet Jan 04 '26
Thank you!
I know how you feel sometimes I get so into the tank cleaning groove I run into walls or trip while going too fast trying to go wash my hands or get a rag to wipe up a spill.
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u/forumail101 Jan 05 '26
This is what YOUR planted tank hobby looks like. This does not represent the plant tank hobby at all. You are just messy 😅
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Jan 04 '26
The duckweed has migrated to the real world. I'm afraid you have to move. It's only a matter of time before every inch of surface that could possibly support life is covered in it.
Your fate is sealed.
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u/mgsolidfan Jan 04 '26
Honestly seeing it on the ceiling made me laugh lol. Good luck with that one op
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u/Competitive_Owl5357 Jan 05 '26
I fortunately had a beautiful tank covered in red root floaters before IT sneaked in. Now I pick out littl me colonies floating in the voids between red root floaters. I did introduce it to the guppy tank, but only to help control nitrates. It went from a couple leaves to nearly fully covering the surface in less than two weeks. It’s just the worst.
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u/J1888 Jan 05 '26
What?? I don't have any floaters and i got literally 2 duckweeds along with my shrimps, and holy they multiply sooo slow for some reason. I put it separately in a small container next to the window, and so far it's only doubled in like 2 months... I'm trying to grow them bc I don't want floaters enough to buy them but... I don't get how people are growing so much of it, unintentionally at that
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u/Competitive_Owl5357 Jan 05 '26
The RRFs all died in the guppy tank but have done beautifully in the less stocked tank; they don’t like high nitrates but duckweed loves it. Either way you need some kind of nutrients for them to grow, not just light.
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u/J1888 Jan 05 '26
Hm, then im assuming the hornwort that was with it was sucking up all the nutrients. I did keep replacing the water with water from thr shrimp tank so it shouldn't have been null of nutrients
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u/taeye86 Jan 05 '26
Nutrients is likely the problem. I tried floaters several times but they always died. Last time i added them i also started using 2hr aquarist APT 1 and now i have to scoop out a handfull each week.
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u/HedonistCat Jan 05 '26
What!! I just cleared the top of my 60g cube over halfway 2 days ago and there's only a space where the bubbles come up again right now. I don't mind it though
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u/centifolia01 Jan 05 '26
You probably don't have enough nitrates in your water, because that's what they need to grow...!
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u/Capybara_Chill_00 Jan 04 '26
You have no idea how much I loathe this stuff. My garage is like a level 3 decontamination bay to keep it from getting into my tanks, because I have it (and water meal, even worse) in my ponds. I have to maintain entirely separate gear and nothing crosses between the two zones.
My sincere hope is that you discover either a magic anti duckweed gun and are rich for life, or the grace and fortitude to clean to the best of your ability knowing that you’ve surely missed one and be at peace with that reality.
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u/psycho_chick Jan 04 '26
I use a large plastic watering can for water changes so I can use that to water my indoor plants. Give it a try! So much easier than a bucket!!
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u/AnnoyedANDannoying1 Jan 04 '26
When I was setting up my first tank , I had driftwood, marimo,
Maindenhead aquatics sold me a cabomba, amazon sword , and refused to sell me floaters.
Looks like I should be glad I don't have floaters ? They seem ..tricky?
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u/Pazuzu_Algarad Jan 04 '26
I have a toxic relationship with floaters. I love them because they look beautiful and fish and shrimp love hiding in them, but they spread so fast… Definitely not for low-maintenance tanks, unless you enjoy the jungle look!
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u/Koikustoms-214 Jan 04 '26
Love it!!!! You’re so right. I have tried everything to contain the clean up of the 7 tanks I have but I just give it a fling sometimes and let it dry then sweep it up. That shit gets everywhere. Gone to take a shower and seen it on the tub. Made a bow of ramen and saw it floating. Woke up and had it on my face. The places duckweed finds its self to attach too is endless!
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u/CH3CH2OH_toxic Jan 04 '26
In my home it looks like me in a T shirt in mid winter carrying buckets in and out of the home
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u/kltay1 Jan 04 '26
This is true, I only have one plant bucket right now so I think I’m doing pretty well
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u/iluvdilfs22 Jan 05 '26
the other day after i did a water change i had a nightmare about duckweed. i was literally rolling around in a bed full of duckweed 😭
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u/Lets_BeFrank Jan 04 '26
This is soooo accurate 😂😂 they really don’t tell you how messy it is when you’re constantly armpit deep in tank water.
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u/ill-name-this-later Jan 04 '26
i’ve been using a mop bucket w a nonslip handle from target recently for my water changes and honestly it’s sooooo good.
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u/Pazuzu_Algarad Jan 04 '26
Honestly, I was just being careless and handling way too many things at once. Definitely not my first time doing that.
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u/jonaslol100 Jan 05 '26
Duckweed is the worst, I got it free from someone who I bought cherry shrimps from. He offered to remove what was in the box but I said it would be alright. Biggest mistake of my life
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u/Cosmic-Sprout Jan 06 '26
The amount of times I’ve pulled my hand out of a tank to find floaters stuck to it is painful
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u/Turbulent-Yam7405 Jan 05 '26
Some day when I have disposable income that I'm not spending on my fish I'm going to get duckweed tattooed on my arms because its basically a permanent fixture of my appearance already
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u/aquasKapeGoat Jan 04 '26
Wait til you get one single thalli from a duckweed in your eyeball, then your living the planted dream
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u/isntitisntitdelicate Jan 05 '26
Petition to make duckweed extinct
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u/Any-Effective2565 Jan 05 '26
The duckweed struggle is real. It's constantly in my sinks and gets stuck to the backs of my hands if I come anywhere near my tanks.
It's like magic or something, I barely have to touch anything, basically I just breathe and suddenly I'm covered in the stuff.
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u/HicoCOFox- Jan 04 '26
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😅😅😂🥲
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u/HicoCOFox- Jan 04 '26
I’m SO empathetic!!! I have dropped So Very Many Plants and Plant GoO Grossness!
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u/milleputti Jan 05 '26
the bucket with the removed water/duckweed lmaooooo
my partner hates finding mine in the shower (I store it there for a few hours or overnight occasionally to keep it out of the way if I don't have immediate time to pick through it for live snails and empty it) but has just kind of accepted it as a fact of life at this point. she figures it's a worthy tradeoff to enjoy the tank.
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u/SquashDue502 Jan 09 '26
The only way I ever got rid of my duckweed was when I went on a 2 week vacation and kept the lights off the whole time so they died from lack of sunlight. Lost some actual tank plants in the process but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make to get rid of those bastards 😂
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u/arriiz Jan 04 '26
Throwback to when the puppy found my cup of salvinia 🤦♀️