Can plecos eat duckweed?

[squid]

I have lots of duckweed in my pond.
Thinking of trying to feed them to my bristlenose.
Anybody tried feeding it to their plecos? I'' planning to dry some then grind it to
Powder. Anybody tried this?

[bekateen]

I've never tried processing duckweed into food. Good luck!

Cheers, Eric

[Redrain]

I have lots of duckweed in my pond.
Thinking of trying to feed them to my bristlenose.
Anybody tried feeding it to their plecos? I'' planning to dry some then grind it to
Powder. Anybody tried this?

I haven't tried it but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
You could also grind it wet in a food processor/blender and add a binder like gelatin to it. I used to make homemade mixes for quite some time and the fish seem to enjoy it and I've seen good results with growth and overall health. You can add a protein source like shrimp or tilapia, but be aware stuff can get a bit messy with those.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Haven't tried it but I don't see why it wouldn't work. You could also grind it wet in a food processor/blender and add a binder like gelatin to it. I used to make homemade mixes for quite some time and the fish seem to enjoy it and I've seen good results with growth and overall health.

Duckweed (Lemna minor) is protein rich (for a plant) and palatable, so should prove to be a nutritious feed.

This is feeding Tilapia, but gives some background.
"Growth and nutrient value of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fed with Lemna minor meal based on different fermentation time"

Lemna minor is abundant in nature especially in swamp waters, having high nutrient contents, such as 23.47% of crude protein, 3.99% of crude fat, 29.92% of crude fiber, and 19.02% of nitrogen free extract material.

They fermented the Duckweed (a bit like making silage with grass) to improve palatability.

Another one:
"Does ingestion of duckweed (Lemna minor) improve the growth and productive performance of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) given formulated feeds in a recirculation system?"

Daily consumptions of feed and Lemna were quantified......... Nile tilapia juveniles grown in a RAS can voluntarily ingest up to 0.5% of live weight in fresh Lemna with no effects on growth and productive performance

cheers Darrel

[squid]

Thanks!:) I tried drying some and grinding and mixing it into repashy , so far my pleco still ate the food.
Won't it be too high protein for baby bristlenose?

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Thanks!:) I tried drying some and grinding and mixing it into repashy , so far my pleco still ate the food.
Won't it be too high protein for baby bristlenose?

I would think it should be fine, it is high protein for a plant, but they are plant proteins (mainly RuBisCo) so it isn't like them eating beef heart etc.

cheers Darrel