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View Full Version : DUCKWEED, which one ?



davidstcldfl
03-19-2010, 01:45 PM
Stucco had given me some duckweed awhile back. I eventually ended up feeding it all to the tilapia. So...I went on a hunt for some more. I found some, and brought home a 5 gallon bucket full. I noticed, this was much larger......so I did a little research......

Small duckweed.....Lemna valdiviana
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/226

Giant duckweed.....Lemna valdiviana
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/435

I've got the new stuff floating in a kiddie pool, with some bleach added. Hope that takes care of any 'extras' I may have picked up. Then I'll get to see if they'll eat the large stuff (?)
They eat about any leaf I've tried so far.... :)

dufflight
03-19-2010, 02:13 PM
I use a couple of half drums that get a bit of AP flow to grow duckweed. The fish are kept away so they can't eat it all and so far it grows all year. Even the cod tank and swirl filter can grow some extra duckweed.
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/dufflight/DSC02230.jpghttp://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/dufflight/DSC02164.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/dufflight/DSC02165.jpghttp://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv276/dufflight/DSC01050.jpg

jackalope
03-19-2010, 06:00 PM
Stucco had given me some duckweed awhile back. I eventually ended up feeding it all to the tilapia. So...I went on a hunt for some more. I found some, and brought home a 5 gallon bucket full. I noticed, this was much larger......so I did a little research......

Small duckweed.....Lemna valdiviana
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/226


I bought some small duckweed ..... it was Lemna Minor .... I'm still hoping to find someone that sells Wolffia (water meal) ..... Duckweed doesn't grow real well for me ..... it dies out after a few weeks, but when I have it the fish really like it! I don't see it in the creek here, so maybe it's the water hereabouts.

badflash
03-20-2010, 08:18 AM
I've got some wolffia, just waiting for the weather to warm up. This stuff is hard to deal with, I'll warn you in advance. Being so tiny it gets into lots of places you don't want it.

The other duckweed I have is around 1/8" in diameter. Grows like mad and the tilapia love it. I got my start from a gold course pond in Richmond VA about 5 years ago. The stuff can not be stopped!

davidstcldfl
03-22-2010, 03:23 PM
I've set up a 'kiddie pool' as a duckweed pool. I'm feeding it water, comming out of the swirl filter. The 3/4 inch pipe goes to the bottom. I drilled 2 small holes in the side of a slip cap, just enough for a slow flow of water.
The drain is a slo-drain, picking up water from the bottom, so the duckweed will stay in the pool.

Not real fancy....but the pool was 'free'.... :)

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/davidstcldfl/duckweedpool.jpg

stucco
03-22-2010, 03:44 PM
Cool! 8-)

jackalope
03-23-2010, 01:43 AM
I've got some wolffia, just waiting for the weather to warm up. This stuff is hard to deal with, I'll warn you in advance. Being so tiny it gets into lots of places you don't want it.

The other duckweed I have is around 1/8" in diameter. Grows like mad and the tilapia love it. I got my start from a gold course pond in Richmond VA about 5 years ago. The stuff can not be stopped!

The duckweed you sent me is the last stuff that died ..... I'm thinking it's the water here .... I've tried duckweed from about 4 different sources, and none lived longer than a couple of months .... and it doesn't reproduce well either, I've read that it will reproduce by double each dday or two, but I had some outside last summer and it died before it could cover the water in a coolr ..... this is waste fish water, not tap water! :( :(

urbanrunoff
03-23-2010, 08:59 PM
I read somewhere that duckweed does not like acidic water but likes iron.
i had one Rubbermaid tub with duckweed that got taken over by algea, foaming and oozing couldn't even see the duckweed anymore.

davidstcldfl
03-23-2010, 11:48 PM
i had one Rubbermaid tub with duckweed that got taken over by algea, foaming and oozing couldn't even see the duckweed anymore.

Did you have water flowing through it....?



I got this 'link' from Sylvia at Aquaponic Gardening. I call it..."More then you'll ever want to know about duckweed".... :lol:

http://www.fao.org/Ag/AGAInfo/resources ... DW/Dw2.htm (http://www.fao.org/Ag/AGAInfo/resources/documents/DW/Dw2.htm)

urbanrunoff
03-24-2010, 07:10 AM
well now that's some info :shock:

and no i did not have water flowing through it... guess i got a new project now :mrgreen:

davidstcldfl
03-24-2010, 09:49 AM
I should of said....flowing slowly....guess it doesn't like 'a lot' of flow.
Likes 'some' shade....I've got to get mine covered before it get's too hot.


I don't remember 'where' i got this link (somewhere in DIY, maybe?) :? ... It's from Fishfarming.com

Shorter article, good basic info....on duckweed.

http://www.fishfarming.com/recirc.html

stucco
10-13-2010, 01:22 PM
Now that I have both types of duckweed I see that the tilapia will go through and pick the small stuff out and eat it first. ;)

badflash
10-13-2010, 05:53 PM
Wolfia is best, but very hard to keep out of the beds. I have a larger duckweed I collected from Virginia about 5 years ago. Very hearty. I'm happy to share for the cost of shipping. Be quick as it gets cold here soon. Right now it is $5 for a flat rate box. Soon it becomes express and expensive.

mike
01-26-2011, 05:39 PM
Some Filipino Methods
http://www.alohahouse.org/web_images/duck_weed.jpg
We run our lesser with the larger together and harvest whichever grows quicker.
We have a converted container with bottom flow/bottom drain/constant height
on line with AP system.


http://www.alohahouse.org/web_images/duck_azolla.jpg
Azolla is another favorite of our tilapia that grows well in duck weed conditions.
Some we grow in our large pond with our bigger fish so we just keep it netted
from the bottom so that fish don't eat all our crop!

urbanfarmer
01-26-2011, 09:56 PM
I don't know any numbers, but I believe duckweed offers nitrogen fixation, which means it does not pull as much nitrogen out of the water... or maybe it might even put some into it? I'm still doing research, but just food for thought! :geek: