Hi Guys,
I built a duck weed tank in January and for a while things were going ok. Then I noticed bubbled forming under the duckweed, and when I scooped one up I found this slimy hairy algae that is growing from the bottom of the tank upwards. I am pumping water from the fish tank and the water is returning directly to the fish tank. I know I could cover the tank to stop the light but that would kill the duckweed. Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop the algae?
Hi Peter,
Is your duckweed tank being used as a sedimentation tank at the same time, by any chance?
If so, get used to vacuuming your tank bottom each week as you harvest the duckweed. It's probably a good idea to vacuum the bottom of the tank to get rid of as much of the algae as possible anyway.
As the duckweed breeds up it will form a dense mat which will inhibit the growth of the algae. Only ever harvest half the duckweed at any time.....so that a complete cover quickly forms.
Can you isolate the duckweed tank (so that you can clean it up) without interrupting the rest of the system?
Gary
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Hi Peter,
once the duck weed covers the entire surface area of the tank, the algae will be in the shade, and most of it will die off..... my 4' x 4' x10" duckweed tray did this last year.... i feed some of the algae to the baby tilapia while it was growing real good...... then harvested duck weed every other day for them......
RS
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