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Hi all, This one isn't great, and doesn't look at Amazon Frogbit, but does look at Azolla and Salvinia. Eder Carlos Lopes Coimbra, Alisson Carraro Borges, Ann H. Mounteer, Andra Pereira Rosa, (2023) "Using wastewater treatment performance, biomass and physiological plant characteristics for...

Hi all, That one, and add <"a floating plant">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, @Tilly123 Diana Walstad recommends some water changes and water movement herself now. We have a thread <"Walstad revises"> You can get air pumps with a <"piezoelectric ceramic plate"> that run via USB etc - <"What air pumps do you use, how long between service, how long between...

Hi all, If it is powered by an air pump you have some "extra" oxygen, but the main advantage is that you can have a much bigger sponge for biological filtration. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, But what about <"the Clangers">? cheers Darrel

Hi all, That would do, and would also account for the damage being in a line. I hope so, I'm a great believer in <"Good things come to those who wait">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, No, they look pretty healthy. Looks likely to be some form of damage, it maybe fertiliser <"burn"> if they got some dry salts or strong nutrient solution on them. You need to remove all the brown leaves. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm obviously not an EI user, but I think that is the <"advantage of both Estimative and Duckweed Indices">, you don't need to worry about <"ratios or trying to measure"> the amount of nutrients in the water column. I think that where the <"Duckweed Index">* has an advantage <"over all...

Hi all, That looks fairly conclusive. You get it with variegated cultivars of Ivy (Hedera helix) as well, they go green ("produce more chlorophyll") in very low light conditions. You get it a lot in the winter when you keep them as houseplants. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think this very much <"depends on the plant">. I'd actually use normal leaf colour as an indication, plants with <"dark green leaves"> are likely to <"survive on petrol fumes">, but some other plants are <"turned up to eleven plants">, which need plenty of everything. We have...

Hi all, Found the original, purely by serendipity - <"has anyone read this? (sears-conlin article on algae)">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, We may have had a times, as a forum, where "heterodox" views weren't <"universally well received">. I love books and you can't really read a <"popular science book"> on a Kindle etc. Electronic readers are designed for linear reading (start at the start, end at the end), but useless...

Hi all, Been there, done that. @Hufsa 's manganese (Mn) deficiency <"being a prime example">. That one as well. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I should also have said that years ago we did talk about writing a book (when books were still a thing), but this foundered on the fact that both of us write horrible prose and he didn't think that my suggestion, that we wrote it in the style of <"Dr Seuss">, was a good idea.* * Some...

Hi all, I think so. It is very much "go big or go home" and a lot of people end up completing both options in quick order. At least if you use <"seasoned tank time"> and the <"Duckweed Index"> it takes longer to get to the "give up" option. cheers Darrel

Hi all, <"Same for me">. One advantage of low and slow is that if things go horribly wrong it is a slow car-crash, giving you time to apply the break, rather than having a full head-on collision. That does make sense. I <"talked a bit with Tom"> (@plantbrain), and one of the drivers for...

Hi all, Go on, <"say what you think">. At least there is no ambiguity to where you stand. I think we are, and need to be, <"a broad church">, so I'd guess the "vague talk" will, and has to, remain. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That one. cheers Darrel

Hi all, He definitely did. I'll see if I can find it, I can actually remember what it looked like, but that doesn't help with searching for it on the forum. I remember his low tech tank for Hypancistrus zebra L46 <"Update on the ADA no CO2 046L Zebra pleco 60p tank">. It was mainly...

Hi all, Watch this one for starters: <"Help needed with 0 Nitrates Levels">? and this one for managing the tank once it is up and growing <"What is the “Duckweed Index” all about?">? It borrows from both Tom Barr (@plantbrain) and <"Diana Walstad">. The main advice I don't like for a...

Hi all, I don't think there will be (m)any new Limnobium laevigatum phytoremediation papers that deal with nitrogenous wastes, purely because there has been enough research to hone in on the plants that give you most "bang for your buck". I'm expecting that research will concentrate on...

Hi all, This last paper is from a special journal edition - <"Duckweed: Research Meets Applications">: Oláh, V., Appenroth, K.J. and Sree, K.S., (2023). "Duckweed: Research Meets Applications". Plants, 12(18), p.3307. From which I found <"Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture; Analysing...

Hi all, Another Lemna spp. (Duckweed) and microbe reference. This one is very interesting and looks at the effects of nutrient depletion: Bunyoo, C., Roongsattham, P., Khumwan, S., Phonmakham, J., Wonnapinij, P. and Thamchaipenet, A., (2022). "Dynamic Alteration of Microbial Communities of...

Hi all, Not specifically for Limnobium laevigatum, but a paper looking at <"plant / root microbe"> interactions in Lemna minor (my original "duckweed"): Makino, A., Nakai, R., Yoneda, Y., Toyama, T., Tanaka, Y., Meng, X.Y., Mori, K., Ike, M., Morikawa, M., Kamagata, Y. and Tamaki, H., (2022)...

Hi all, Madsen, J.D. and Morgan, C.M., (2021). "Water temperature controls the growth of water hyacinth and South American sponge plant". J. Aquat. Plant Manag. , 31 pp.28-32...

Hi all, Another one, this one looks at Pistia stratiotes, <"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213343720304504"> Kundan Samal, Shivanshi Trivedi, (2020) "A statistical and kinetic approach to develop a Floating Bed for the treatment of wastewater," Journal of Environmental...

Hi all, A couple more, partially in light of the questions in <"Filtration load capacity"> not all of them entirely about Limnobium laevigatum. <"Sustainable livestock wastewater treatment via phytoremediation: Current status and future perspectives">Hao Hu, Xiang Li, Shaohua Wu, Chunping Yang...

Hi all, Apologies, it just means a plant that needs a lot of everything, light, heat, nutrients etc. lt is from the <"film "Spinal Tap">, where one of the characters had an amplifier that goes up to eleven, and that makes it louder than all the other amplifiers, because they only go up to ten...

Hi all, That is <"pretty impressive">, and shows the plasticity in growth form that Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) can exhibit. That is one of the real advantages of L. laevigatum for the <"Duckweed Index">, it has the potential to get very large, very quickly, but isn't a <"turned up...

Hi all, They look good. Have they rooted into the substrate? When they are really enjoying themselves, and are <"beginning to become crowded">, they will often produce <"these aerial leaves and flower">. If you feed the<"water column plenty">, and they aren't crowded, they tend to look more...

Hi all, I don't think it will do any harm. My opinion is that changing more water than is strictly necessary isn't an issue, <"while changing less is">. I know exactly <"what you mean">, especially now that we are back on <"Greenwich Mean Time">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm pretty sure it was. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It does <"Anabaena azollae">. This was a "squash" from the direct ancestors ("same clone") as these plants. cheers Darrel

Hi all, The recent bright light, warm weather and high temperatures have provoked the <"Utricularia gibba, in the glasshouse, into flowering">. The "tank" had a variety of floating plants added earlier in the year, but only Utricularia gibba, and a small amount of Salvinia "auriculata group"...

Hi all, Yes, <"that is right">. It is a tropical plant and adapted to <"high temperatures and intense light">. That was one reason for <"starting with Duckweed (Lemna minor)">, it is cold tolerant. Additional light might help. Water Hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is the preferred choice for...

Hi all, These two aren't specifically about Limnobium laevigatum, but are reviews of the plants used in phytoremediation (for a wide range of pollutants) in wastewater: Hauwa M. Mustafa, Gasim Hayder, (2021) <"Recent studies on applications of aquatic weed plants in phytoremediation of...

Hi all, The ones I've had in the tank have been Acroloxus lacustris. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think we've probably all been there, the other day I was looking at a Google Search and I found a link where the person both agreed with me and was making perfect sense................. Only to find it was some-one quoting me and then my feelings of vindication were then cruelly...

Hi all, No, I'm just lazy, <"tight with my money"> and I always follow the <"path of least resistance"> if I can. I am lucky in that I've got (probably had these days) a really good memory, so I tend to remember when things went <"horribly wrong in the past"> and I make sure that I don't...

Hi all, Welcome back @Fabio Perini. I still often refer to your <"Corydoras in hard water"> thread Personally I'd go for something with <"fewer nutrients in it">. Is <"pyo soil"> a possibility? <"I like molehills">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It is just a smaller version of Bolbitis heudelotti. @George Farmer took some <"to Tropica">, but they decided that it wasn't small enough to be worth producing commercially . I don't have any spare at the moment but @Konrad Michalski has spare bits quite often. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I like <"a venturi">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Welcome to the forum, we have a <"few Discus threads"> you might be interested in commenting on. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Only accessible after 25 posts, cheers Darrel

Hi all, I've never seen them for sale, I'll have a look in the ponds at work and see if I can find some. I think mine originally came with some moss I collected. They are <"reasonably common in the UK">, wherever the water is reasonably clean and hard. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I usually have a few in the tanks, but they tend to <"come and go in abundance">. I've never seen them move, but I'm assured that they are nocturnal and graze at night. I don't tend to get <"much algae on the glass"> but I have Tadpole (Physella acuta) and Ramshorn (Planorbella duryi)...

Hi all, I wouldn't have any real qualms about using pond sediment as an inoculum, you could run it through a brine shrimp net or similar if you wanted to make sure you didn't add any Planaria etc. Just wait would be my guess. cheers Darrel

Hi all, And the past and present for me. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think we both been down this particular avenue before? I'll link in <"the thread">. It is certainly true in terrestrial situations, nearly all plants from naturally nutrient poor (oligotrophic and mesotrophic) habitats have an extensive suite of micro-organisms associated with them...

Hi all, You would need a plant to grow up through the water column, as a floater isn't going to work with the flow. A longer leaved Cryptocoryne spp. would work, (or Vallisneria) but I might give Potamogeton gayii a go, if you can find it. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I use a "12 hr day" in all my tanks. The original reasoning was that it's how long the <"sun is out for every day at the equator">. If I have a really bright light I just have more plant mass to form a more effective <"net curtain">. Realistically I always have all the PAR utilized...

Hi all, Have a look at <"this post"> from @BigTom. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I'm a great <"Diana Walstad fan">, but I'd rather rely on water turn-over for gas exchange (<"both CO2 and oxygen">), rather than <"not having any water circulation"> and having dissolved CO2 from decomposition build up. I'm a <"venturi fan">, in fact I'm <"an oxygen fan"> generally...

Hi all, Either a typo, or I made it up wrong at the time. No way of knowing now, but my guess is that it is the latter. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I used to make up the micronutrient solutions from scratch, so I'd guess it was the level from the "selected recipe", which was probably <"Long Ashton Solution">, but I can't actually remember. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I was <"sent these the other day"> (they were on some web pages that I wrote ~20 years ago, and which are no longer accessible for me). They aren't strictly aquarium related, because the trial plants are Radishes, but they were grown hydroponically and it does show the effects of very...

Hi all, Don't worry about the pH, plenty of plants like alkaline water, and the pH will always be <"somewhere near pH8"> because of the carbonate ~ CO2 ~ pH equilibrium. I'm a great Hornwort <"(Ceratophyllum demersum)"> fan. Because of where you live you are likely to have fairly high nitrate...

Hi all, Yes it is only really the "lots of fish, not (m)any plants" scenario where you are reliant on microbial nitrification. Oxygen becomes even more important at that point, you don't have the net oxygen production of the plants from photosynthesis, you don't have their fixed nitrogen...

Hi all, You will need to change a reasonable volume of water just to control nitrate (NO3) levels, and again this would be dependent upon having a low nitrate supply for water changes. If you could have some quick growing plants that would help with reducing nitrate levels, even if the plants...

Hi all, No, you still need the <"fourteen essential nutrients"> for plant growth, although for some <"plants"> they can be available in vanishingly small amounts. We used to <"get a really fine fuzz of green algae grow in the aspirators"> when we made distilled water (about 5 microS ~ 3 ppm...

Hi all, I haven't kept either Nerite Snails or Amano shrimps, but I think that Nerite shrimps are good for hard surfaces, but not soo much for algae on plants and that Amano shrimps will eat green hair algae, but not Cladophora. cheers Darrel

Hi all, This is only really true if you add pressurised CO2. In that case with increased surface movement you have a <"larger gas exchange surface area"> and more CO2 will be lost to the atmosphere. <"Glutaraldehyde based carbon supplements"> (like Excel) don't ever actually become CO2, so...

Hi all, They will be <"absolutely fine">. Most of the bits you'll read, or hear, about <"cycling and nitrification aren't right">. You could have a look at our thread where we talked to <"Dr Tim Hovanec">. You might also be interested in the <"Aquarium Science"> webpages on Biological...

Hi all, It should be OK. You'll need to play with the dimmer, and the amount of Salvinia, to give you a light level in the <"Goldilocks zone">. In terms of fertiliser addition you can either use the <"Duckweed Index"> or some proportion of EI dosing. I like the Duckweed Index, but you might...

Hi all, One should be fine, as @Nick potts says they are efficient biological filters. Have a look at the <"Envobee ones">. I've used these <"big sponge blocks a lot"> (although mainly with a powerhead). cheers Darrel

Hi all, If they are up the bank above from the water level? The <"Sand Martin"> is the most likely excavator, they won't arrive back for ~6 weeks or so. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Probably sea sand then, but it doesn't sound like it has much maerl or shell in it. I wouldn't have any reservations about using it. Any bits of wood that don't smell resiny and/or have lost their bark should be fine. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It could be where it <"crosses the sandstone">, or it might be water worked glacial till, or possibly loess (or other aeolian deposit) from periglacial conditions. Another option would be the <"remains of raised beaches">. When the <"Lake District Glacier"> finally melted ~12,000 years...

Hi all, Where is it? I know you are in W. Cumbria, so you have <"sandstone deposits"> at the coast. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Should be fine, the matrix holding the sand grains together might be soft, but the grains themselves are quartz and really hard. Just don't add much in. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It depends a little bit on how much you use, and whether it was <"JI No3 etc">. A lot of people have used the <"potting soil they sell for Water Lilies"> etc successfully. I've not tried it, but I think <"Westland Aquatic Compost"> is the preferred option. @Tim Harrison is your "go...

Hi all, It does. Yes, you probably have got a reasonable amount of NO3- and PO4--- in your water. Severn-Trent have an analytical lab. with a lot of expensive kit and scientists who can use it, so there values will be pretty accurate Personally I don't <"regularly add fertiliser">, and one...

Hi all, Yes, you can never have too many plants. We don't know what <"causes algae "outbreaks">, we know tanks with low levels of organic debris and a high plant mass are less likely to have algal issues, but we don't really know why. One problem is the the green algae have the same...

Hi all, That is some <"very healthy Frogbit">. Have a look at <"The Scientific......">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think you are right, and CO2 would diffuse in more slowly at night, for the reason you've given. I'm not sure how much difference that would make to the CO2 levels in the tank, purely because of the <"high solubility of CO2">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Yes, most UK <"tap water is treated"> to raise the pH and has phosphate added to <"precipitate out any heavy metals">. Those metals <"would include iron"> (Fe), even though that isn't the main target. Water companies will aim to reduce levels of iron (and manganese (Mn)) in tap water...

Hi all, Iron (Fe) is probably the most likely to micro-element to be "missing" (probably just unavailable), which is partially why I've gone to using a <"hybrid duckweed index">, where I add iron and magnesium (Mg) <"on a regular basis">, but don't add any other fertilisers until the <"Frogbit...

Hi all, Some people <"will tell that there isn't">, personally I'm not sure and would rather have low levels of nutrients. My guess is that plant growth is the important thing, and that as long as you have plant growth (and you aren't adding toxic amounts of ammonia etc.) not a lot else...

Hi all, I assume that is because the plants are carbon and/or light limited, so they can't make use of that level of fertiliser. As you drop the dosing rate, and/or frequency of dosing, down you are eventually going to arrive in the "Goldilocks zone" where there is the right level of <"some of...

Hi all, That one. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think if you get it from UK ponds it is pretty likely to survive at tank temperatures. Some mosses from rivers grow OK (Fontinalis etc.), but they tend to get a bit leggy. I've only tried Gammarus as an invertebrate, and that definitely has higher oxygen demands than warm water can...

Hi all, Gerard (@frothhelmet) had some, I'll cc. him in. They have persistent resting cysts, which blow about in the dust etc. and then re-animate in contact with liquid water. My guess would be that all water bodies (that are more persistent than a standard puddle) will soon get Ostracods in...

Hi all, Your Ostracods are doing very well, judging from the photo. I've never tried Sphaerium (or Pisidium), next time I encounter them I might try a few. A few people have been successful with <"Theodoxus fluviatilis">, but I'm pretty sure they need harder water. I have Acroloxus, although...

Hi all, They will to some degree, but it isn't a straight forward case of "30% cover = 30% less oxygen", leaf architecture will matter, as will radial oxygen loss etc. cheers Darrel

Hi all, If you don't mind doing it over a couple of weeks I probably would. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That is why I like a floating plant, it takes CO2 out of the equation, and many of them are adapted to <"very bright sunlight">. These (below) are from a Varzea lake in Amazonia, where they occur with extremely tricky" turned up to 11" plants like <"Ludwigia sedioides"> and <"Victoria...

Hi all, Definitely the Frogbit, but then again I'm a <"Frogbit obsessive">, and treat this forum a bit like "Frogbit Anonymous"................"My name is Darrel, and I am a frogbitaholic" . I wouldn't shorten the photoperiod, in fact I wouldn't ever go under eight hours. Even with an eight...

Hi all, My guess is that a greater range of plants will thrive in water with low carbonate hardness and, as you say <"CO2 will be more available "> and a lot of nutrients are <"more available at, or below, neutral pH">. Many plants can use <"bicarbonate (HCO3-) as their carbon source">, Diana...

Hi all, I think <"shallow tanks"> are definitely easier to manage. cheers Darrel

Hi all, You just need more <"floating plants">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Light is definitely the driver of everything else, but you can always control light intensity, even when you can't control light intensity with a dimmer, by adding floating plants, as a <"net curtain">. Personally I like a long photoperiod and a reasonably bright light. Floating plants...

Hi all, Have a look at @hydrophyte's threads. He (<"Devin Biggs">) isn't active on the forum any more, but I think his company ("Aqua Verdi - Riparium Supply") is still active in the states. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Because you had problems when you went from RO to hard water it was likely that it was a problem with insoluble compounds forming, and a lot of iron compounds are insoluble in harder water. Because iron isn't mobile in the plant it <"will take a while"> for the plants to perk up. The...

Hi all, Those look OK. Perfect, that is what we need to know. You can discount CO2 and light so that just leaves the mineral nutrients. Have a look at <"Duckweed Index says">, and see if that looks like your Frogbit? cheers Darrel

Hi all, Welcome back. Can we have a full tank shot? What do your Limnobium laevigatum (Amazon Frogbit) plants <"look like">? They aren't CO2 or light limited so would help remove those from the equation. It could be a nutrient issue if your plants grew much better before? The hardness in your...

Hi all, I have started collecting the references for a series of articles that cover the the ground mentioned in <"Bedside Aquarium">. It is going to depend a little bit on what happens at work, but I'm hoping to pull this together by Christmas. cheers Darrel

Hi all, There is a numerical scale, but it doesn't give you any <"real empirical values">. This is the original research (from Takebe & Yoneyama). I think so, put at its most fundamental level the plants can't lie. Because plants need more nitrogen (N) than the other mineral nutrients, and...

Hi all, As a couple of people have asked about the <"leaf colour chart" (LCC)">, (that is linked into various threads talking about <"Amazon Frogbit and the "Duckweed Index">*), I'll add some references into this thread, I'll add more as I collect them. * In December 2023 I wrote a more...

Hi all, You could try a very thin layer. The problem with <"all of these types of compost"> is that they have <"composted garden green waste"> in them. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I found when I was sending people moss they were subsequently getting Asellus in their tanks , and I've found most of these small crustaceans travel pretty well in damp moss. We used to deal with Blades at work, and a couple of times they sent us something close to what we had ordered...