The Puffer Forum

Will puffers eat duckweed? Or cause harm to my puffer?

Terrance, I have no idea! BUT, as a Redskins fan, I appreciate you beating the Giants. I was a hughe seabird fan today! HTTR

Duckweed is a voracious dissolved nitrogen consumer. I have used it as such in a number of veggie filters, but it requires too much harvesting and is rather messy for a display tank. I have not used it as such for some years as the labor of controlling it is to me too much for the benefit in water quality.

I have not had any problems with duckweed re any toxicity to any fish, but have never used it in a tank hosing puffers that I ca recall.

FWIW

Total PITA IMO. That stuff takes over the surface of the water, blocking out ALL light & clogs up the intake & filters.

Pufferpunk wrote:clogs up the intake & filters.

Ok so I wont use these in my tanks

Go hawks! I'm a bigger cowboys fan though, so good for the both of us.

Terrance wrote:

Pufferpunk wrote:clogs up the intake & filters.

Ok so I wont use these in my tanks

Go hawks! I'm a bigger cowboys fan though, so good for the both of us.

It depends on what type of filter you've got really, if you've got a canister and the intake is lowish then the duckweed will never come into contact with the filter but if you've got a hang-on-the-back then the water entering the top of the tank will naturally push the weed towards the filter intake.

If you like the look of the plant then go for it, maintenance will be a case of carrying a bowl over to the tank every week or so and ripping out a clump with your hands or even a net and placing it in the bowl to avoid getting the floor wet. The weed is a pest if it is let out into the local eco system though and should be left to dry before being placed in your bin to make sure it is dead so it can't clog up the local waterways.