Duckweed

Duckweed (Lemna sp.) is the small floating plant that covers still ponds and ditches with a green skin. Each plant is a single rounded frond a few millimetres across with a fine root trailing beneath it, and it multiplies by splitting rather than by seed, which is why a handful becomes a carpet in a matter of weeks. In an aquarium it shades the water, softens the light and draws nutrients straight out of the water column.

Aquarium care

• Floats at the surface. No planting or substrate needed.
• Grows in almost any light and needs no CO2.
• Reproduces very quickly. Expect to skim off the excess regularly.
• Prefers still or gently moved water; strong surface flow pushes it into corners.
• Useful for shading a tank and for soaking up nitrate.
• Very difficult to remove completely once established, so add it deliberately.

Suits shaded tanks, breeding and fry setups, and anyone keeping fish that appreciate dim light such as bettas, gouramis and kuhli loaches. Goldfish and many cichlids will eat it, which is either a feature or a problem depending on what you wanted.

Stock rotates as new plants arrive, and plants are sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. See the current live plants.