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Death of Frogbit

AlanRR

Member
Joined
22 Feb 2019
Messages
103
Location
Yorkshire
I really like the idea of growing a floater such as frogbit in my tank but so far have managed to kill off Tropica two tubs of it. The first one seemed to be going quite well until I changed my underpowered hob style filter for a canister filter with a spraybar. The increased surface agitation and humidity that went along with it seemed to rot the frogbit. I tried restraining the plants with fishing line but this made the daily water changes I was performing difficult and they still eventually died.

For my second attempt I lowered the spraybar a bit to reduce the surface agitation. I also removed a section of the lid which got rid of the condensation that was forming on the underside of it and had been raining onto the frogbit. Circulation from the bar was still sending the frogbit around the tank so I made an open topped cage from plastic mesh to put it in. Despite this the plants never looked healthy and disappeared completely when I was recently away for 10 days. I have no idea why this happened.

Despite the setbacks I’d like to try again if I’m not attempting the impossible. Should I be able to grow frogbit (or another floater) in a 2 foot tank with a 1 foot spraybar located in the centre of the rear wall? The filter is providing a 10x turnover but I could reduce that if necessary and it won’t adversely affect the rest of the tank. Is there a better way to keep the plants out of the flow or isn’t that such an issue?

Thanks

Alan
 
Hi, frogbit and every other surface plant will benefit from some added ferts. Surface agitation does kill it. It helps if you have some long stem plants from which it can anchor itself. Some pics would help. I keep it in all three tanks of mine, one is with a lid and it managed to survive. Good thing is that in case you have even one healthy piece alive it will multiply for you.
 
Thanks guys. This is the tank and lid.

ecd6f22e9af18799dd967c31c3204d06.jpg


You can see the piece I now leave open. When this was closed I had a lot of condensation which would drip onto the frogbit. Now, with the opening, the inside of the lid is perfectly dry.

21d6cb77b64e3a7701210d84e439da55.jpg


I do have some stems at the back that are starting to reach towards the surface though I was thinking of trimming them soon and replanting the cuttings.

I feed them with Aquascaper CPF daily. There is no CO2 injection. Everything is looking a bit pale atm so was thinking of adding some magnesium and iron.
 
Frogbit is not the most tolerant surface plant, where surface movement and under a hood is at play. It can be done, though. The trick of using taller stem-plants for anchoring work very well.
I have much better "luck", using Salvinia in these conditions and Salvinia is often able to grow, where I could not grow Limnobium (=frogbit). Salvinia is a much smaller plant, though, which may not suit your purpose.
 
I like frogbit but just like you started with killing my first Tropica 1-2-grow. Later I bought a portion of well-established limnobium and that went better. Now I have it in 4 tanks, all with a glass or acryl lid (no hood). It's doing the best in my low-tech tank with low/moderate surface agitation, plenty of room under the lid and a temperature of 22-23C (=not too much condensation/humidity under the lid). In my high-tech with a lot of surface agitation I stick it between the vallisneria which is hanging over the surface. It doesn't grow much there, stays smaller but survives, and I can move plants around when needed. It's not easy with a spray bar but maybe try with a portion with bigger, stronger leaves and try to anchor it with stem plants in the calmer area next to the spray bar? I don't know what's in the Aquascaper ferts but frogbit is a sponge when it comes to nutrients.
 
Thanks Mick. I’m just wanting something to use for the Duckweed Index as a way to tell if my fears are ok. Maybe that would be a better option then.
 
I like frogbit but just like you started with killing my first Tropica 1-2-grow. Later I bought a portion of well-established limnobium and that went better. Now I have it in 4 tanks, all with a glass or acryl lid (no hood). It's doing the best in my low-tech tank with low/moderate surface agitation, plenty of room under the lid and a temperature of 22-23C (=not too much condensation/humidity under the lid). In my high-tech with a lot of surface agitation I stick it between the vallisneria which is hanging over the surface. It doesn't grow much there, stays smaller but survives, and I can move plants around when needed. It's not easy with a spray bar but maybe try with a portion with bigger, stronger leaves and try to anchor it with stem plants in the calmer area next to the spray bar? I don't know what's in the Aquascaper ferts but frogbit is a sponge when it comes to nutrients.

Thanks Majsa. If anyone has any frogbit they want to sell I’d be happy to give that a go.
 
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