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I finally set up a tank to try to raise some plants. The only problem is wondering how long it will take to rid the tank of the MTS and duckweed the plants brought in when I transferred the plants to the new tank. I'm still pulling out stragglers every day. Any guesses as to how long it will be? Denny

MTS never go away. Duckweed can be controlled and eliminated over time but only removing all the substrate and careful cleaning of all other parts of the tank will eliminate the MTS. I have frozen them, cloroxed them boiled them, let the substrate sit dry for months, and still had them come back from substrate.

Yeah, that's what I expected. Actually this is a test to see if I can even grow the plants. My setup will adapt very well once I either get rid of these plants or are successful in the eradication program. I've got time to see what will happen. Denny

MTS = ? I'm guessing Malaysian needlepoint snail, AKA trumpet snail? If boiling or bleaching doesn't do it, I don't know what would. And you only need one to repopulate. They are all female and deliver clones of themselves.

Boiling and bleaching would probably take care of the duckweed instantly. I've always used a wet-vac. I snake a smaller hose inside for better control and repeat daily until gone. (See picture below.) You can't get it in one pass because filters and pumps wash some down into water column, where they tangle in plants. Eventually, they float free and you can get 'em. Duckweed is also capable of producing seed that falls to the bottom.

Of course, there are fish that will eat duckweed. American flagfish, koi, goldfish, silver dollars, etc.

Industrial Strength Duckweed Sucker!

I've got 2 strip lights on this tub, and so far not seeing any growth to speak of. Of course I've got Anubius and Crypts, so maybe I'm just being impatient. I guess only time will tell. I'm still pulling some MTS out of the tank, and occasionally a few duckweed, but it has slowed down a lot. I may set up another tub and try different lights to see if that makes a difference. Denny