Shrimpie Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 So do you guys use floating plants like Salvinia Minima just when setting up your tanks? Or is there a reason to keep in the tanks at all times? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maylee Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 I use frogbit and I've had salvinia minima as well. I like how they look and the shrimp seem to like hanging off the roots as well. And floaters are supposed to be nitrate sponges. Shrimpie and Shrimp Life 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumlover10 Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 I have duckweed and alittle bit of salvania in my tank, I keep it for the sole purpose of nutrient reduction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trotwood Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 I added some red root floaters to soften the light, which they do. The roots also look really neat and as stated above the shrimp love to feed on them and hang out so they add to the real estate. I'm a big fan. Shrimpie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpie Posted July 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Thanks guys. I will keep my floaters floating for the little ones. I actually contained them on each side of the tank - Mr. Aqua 22 gal - with some suction cups and airline hose so they are not just wildly floating around.Actually looks cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesHe Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Frogbit is the best choice. It has long root and suck lots of NO3. easy to remove if you want to thin it out. duckweed is a headache to clean if it over run your tank. Shrimp Life and Pokeshrimp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35ppt Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 I have heard some say they don't like frogbit. I am not growing it, so I don't know why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChadO Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 I have floaters in most of my tanks, and the shrimp love them. I use salvinia as well, both regular and Giant. The only things two things that I would caution: 1. They need to be kept in check, or it will block out a great deal of light (shrimp don't seem to care, though) in the tank 2. If you have newborn or very young shrimp, they love this stuff and if you are trying to stay good on #1 by removing portions of it, they will drive you mad. I have to really watch closely and shake or "fluff" the floater in the tank to make sure everyone has let go and left before taking it out of the tank. The newborn baby shrimp are especially difficult as they would much rather hang on than swim. I have one tank right now that I have been trying for 10 days to thin out the floaters. The females, though are hatching every 4-5 days, and there is a constant supply of baby shrimp wedged in the roots. And, you'd think they'd be smart enough to finally jump off as the plant is being removed from the water, but they aren't. I think that's why nature puts them in 30 group clusters... Soothing Shrimp, Shrimpie, sarah and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckielady Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 I had duckweed and it drove me crazy. It was a pain to remove because of all the babies but I would shake a bit, move it into a plastic breeding box and then really mess with it at eye level to make sure no babies were in there. It worked super well. I'm crazy in love with my frogbit now. Much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaj Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 Old thread, but I wanted to reiterate what ChadO posted. I have found salvinia minima to be a pain to deal with. In my well lit, well fed tank, it goes crazy. In only a few days, it would start to overcrowd itself to the point where old growth would be pushed down and die. It blocks out a lot of light when it's super dense, and when removing excess plants from the tanks there is a great chance of tossing out baby shrimp. I've found that it out competes duckweed, water lettuce, and frogbit. I don't test often, but I've never detected nitrates in the tank, or seen any algae. Frogbit- Very long roots, not so bushy. Slower grower, tolerates wet leaves ok. Water Lettuce- Hates wet leaves, most of mine struggle unless in a calm, uncovered corner of the tank. Bushy roots, generally shorter than those of frogbit. I pulled out all of the salvinia in the left 32 oz deli container out of my 10 gallon tank today. The cup on the right is all from my 5.5 gallon tank. The two tanks are still about 75% covered in frogbit, with about 10% salvinia. I sloshed the plants around in a bucket first, though at the time most snails and shrimp were feeding at the bottom of the tank. I only found a few baby ramshorns in the bucket, though I'm sure some were lost to the trash. Eventually I want to move all the remaining salvinia to a refugium type situation, maybe a marina breeder box that baby shrimp can't access. That way, I can still take advantage of it's fast nutrient uptake, but not have to worry about tossing babies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svetilda Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 Same in my tanks! Salvinia is growing like crazy! But it grows crazy only in one tank. I don't know why but it doesn't grow at all in my other tank where frogbit grows like crazy! And RRF don't like me:-( Seems I can't grow them... they are loosing their leaves... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrimpP Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 seaj, surely you must be mistaking water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes, the "dwarf" water lettuce is the same plant, just grown under different conditions) with something else. Water lettuce is one of the only floaters that CAN tolerate higher flows and water on their leaves, very well. And the root structures can get massive, I've seen them reach +6 inches down and 4 inches wide in aquarium settings (not even talking about ponds)! Biggest root mass of any "aquarium" floater I've seen (I've seen all the commons, and even some rare floaters). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackhead Johny Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 On 7/17/2015 at 1:24 PM, JamesHe said: duckweed is a headache to clean if it over run your tank. I refer to duckweed as "Aquarium herpes". oem 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Duckweed= STD of aquariums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaj Posted April 9, 2016 Report Share Posted April 9, 2016 On 4/7/2016 at 9:21 PM, ShrimpP said: seaj, surely you must be mistaking water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes, the "dwarf" water lettuce is the same plant, just grown under different conditions) with something else. Water lettuce is one of the only floaters that CAN tolerate higher flows and water on their leaves, very well. And the root structures can get massive, I've seen them reach +6 inches down and 4 inches wide in aquarium settings (not even talking about ponds)! Biggest root mass of any "aquarium" floater I've seen (I've seen all the commons, and even some rare floaters). All I know from my experience with these three floaters is that I started out with a small portion of all 3, and the dwarf water lettuce was not started to reproduce in the last 2 and a half months until now. I have 2 plants left, and they are now isolated in a marina breeder box. They've been in there for the last week or so and now one of them has a baby. Maybe they don't like my lights, or they are simply being out competed by the other plants, but they do not thrive in the main tank. They put out bushy roots, but they never reach the bottom of the tank like frogbit roots do. I've had water lettuce and water hyacinth in ponds before and it's impressive how they take over, but those conditions are very different than those of a covered aquarium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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