Can I put duckweed in with my bullfrog?

[Gnag the nameless]

Ok, so this is probably a very stupid question, but I always put the safety of my frogs first so I decided to ask:

Can I put regular Duckweed, this product: Mr.Pet's
in with my Juvenile bullfrog, who is currently 3.5 inches snout to vent, and is in a 30 gallon 90% compromised of dechlorinated water with medium sized smooth pond stones for substrate, fake lily pads, fake water reeds, a fully cycled Fluval U2 filter, driftwood, and a bit of moss on the side? I do 50% water changes weekly, will this help control the population of duckweed?

Photo's:

A shot of the land portion of the tank, showing the lily pads and filter. The water is approximately 4 inches deep, but Gnag is a big frog.


Sorry if the tank looks a bit messy, I just finished doing a major water change and substrate move-around to release all the gunk trapped or stuck under the pond stones, and didn't have the time to wipe down the glass. Also, I took this photo a bit rushed, so it might look a tad grainy.

Thanks,
Caspian

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

I see no reason not to.
In a normal aquarium I wouldn't because of a few reasons.

as soon as it is established in the tank it is darned hard to get rid of unless you
break down the entire system.

It will reproduce very quickly and will block out light to the rest of the plants below the surface.

Since this is not a aquarium the only problem could be a clog to your Fluval filter intake.

[Gnag the nameless]

Thanks for the response, Louis

I could place some of the small pond stones on top of the filter, or on the edge of it so it kind've holds off the intake. Both intakes, the lower one that's near the glass and the upper one that's near the water line are functional.

I have no other plants in this tank except the moss, the rest are fake.

I'm just worried about it emitting a chemical that could harm Gnag, or making my room smelly. Could it do either?

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

I'm just worried about it emitting a chemical that could harm Gnag, or making my room smelly. Could it do either?

Don't think so. I think you are safe and so is Gnag

[Gnag the nameless]

Alright. I'll be adding the Duckweed now. Once it's fully established I'll post some photo's.

If it's safe to go with Gnag, then I'll probably add some to Bumpy's tank too. She's a very skittish frog, and I'm sure she'll appreciate something to duck and hide under.

One more question: What would happen if she accidentally ate some duckweed?

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

One more question: What would happen if she accidentally ate some duckweed?

It will add a little fiber to her diet.

[Gnag the nameless]

Ok. Here's a photo of the tank now that I've added the duckweed:

The water area, now flooded with duckweed:

[Namio]

Alright. I'll be adding the Duckweed now. Once it's fully established I'll post some photo's.

If it's safe to go with Gnag, then I'll probably add some to Bumpy's tank too. She's a very skittish frog, and I'm sure she'll appreciate something to duck and hide under.

One more question: What would happen if she accidentally ate some duckweed?

All bullfrogs are skittish. It is their skittish nature that allow them to survive and thrive in the wild. Anyways, back to your question. I think they'll be fine if they had ingested a small amount of duckweed. It should pass through their system without harm. Why I think that is because I've known bullfrog ponds that have plenty of duckweed in them.

[Gnag the nameless]

Yeah, I see tons of bullfrogs at my nearby lake, and some hop into the water when I'm only 10 meters away from them. Gnag's not like that, though. If I make fast movement's, she'll swim fast into cover, but typically she doesn't care if I watch her hunt crickets. In comparison to Bumpy, Gnag is hardly skittish at all.

On the other hand, Bumpy is extremely skittish, even though she's a Green frog (Rana Clamitans). She'll swim into cover the second I walk in the room, except for at night or when hunting, and unlike Gnag, who I can hand-feed earthworms, I typically have to place the crickets in her tank and wait 'till I hear splashing. I've been unsuccessful with feeding her earthworms, too, and I still have to get a good photo of her. When they lived together in the 30 gallon (and when they were much smaller), Gnag hogged all the food and I had to typically wait for Gnag to be out and about near the filter to feed Bumpy.

[Heatheranne]

I would agree, the duckweed is fine. It may clog your filter. You could cover the intakes with fiberglass netting with a zip tie. Be sure to sand any rough edges of the cut zip ties.

[Gnag the nameless]

Well, I went to feed Gnag, and I could tell she HATED the duckweed. She went after one cricket and got a mouthful of it, and had a hard time getting the rest of the crickets. So, I decided "If it's making her unhappy or causing her troubles, I'm removing it."

So, after 2 hours of work, finding every last bit of this duckweed, it's finally clean. I also had a slight technical issue with the filter, but it's fixed. I swear, I did about 5x worth the normal water changes I do there. That's something I don't ever want to do again, although tommorow, I'll clean the duckweed out of Bumpy's tank, which should be easier considering it is smaller and there is A LOT less duckweed in it. For now, I'm going to feed them all and then get some shuteye.

Lesson learned: Never go ahead and add everything at once!

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Heather thanks for confirming and expanding on my original post.

I see no reason not to.
In a normal aquarium I wouldn't because of a few reasons.

as soon as it is established in the tank it is darned hard to get rid of unless you
break down the entire system.

It will reproduce very quickly and will block out light to the rest of the plants below the surface.

Since this is not a aquarium the only problem could be a clog to your Fluval filter intake.

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Well, I went to feed Gnag, and I could tell she HATED the duckweed. She went after one cricket and got a mouthful of it, and had a hard time getting the rest of the crickets. So, I decided "If it's making her unhappy or causing her troubles, I'm removing it."

So, after 2 hours of work, finding every last bit of this duckweed, it's finally clean. I also had a slight technical issue with the filter, but it's fixed. I swear, I did about 5x worth the normal water changes I do there. That's something I don't ever want to do again, although tommorow, I'll clean the duckweed out of Bumpy's tank, which should be easier considering it is smaller and there is A LOT less duckweed in it. For now, I'm going to feed them all and then get some shuteye.

Lesson learned: Never go ahead and add everything at once!

Sorry you had to go though all that work.
Never thought a bull frog would be a picky eater. LOL

[Heatheranne]

Well, you tried. Sorry for the busy clean-up.

[Gnag the nameless]

No need to apologize, it was no one's fault, and it gave me a very good reason to get to sleep early. So glad I don't have school today, I'd be exhausted. Well, you know what they say, "Live and learn."

I'm just glad Gnag is happier now. She's out and about among the lily pads as I speak. I'm going to keep the duckweed in Bumpy's tank, because I can tell she appreciates the extra cover. I've also put a little bit of it in the water section of Nivose's tank, because he's quite the skittish little thing too.

[Namio]

Well, I went to feed Gnag, and I could tell she HATED the duckweed. She went after one cricket and got a mouthful of it, and had a hard time getting the rest of the crickets. So, I decided "If it's making her unhappy or causing her troubles, I'm removing it."

So, after 2 hours of work, finding every last bit of this duckweed, it's finally clean. I also had a slight technical issue with the filter, but it's fixed. I swear, I did about 5x worth the normal water changes I do there. That's something I don't ever want to do again, although tommorow, I'll clean the duckweed out of Bumpy's tank, which should be easier considering it is smaller and there is A LOT less duckweed in it. For now, I'm going to feed them all and then get some shuteye.

Lesson learned: Never go ahead and add everything at once!

I'm sorry that it didn't work out because your terrarium looked awesome with duckweed in it.

[Gnag the nameless]

I agree, but for me the golden rule always been: "The happiness and well-being of my amphibians always goes over my own needs and wants."

So, if the Gnagger's doesn't want the duckweed in her tank, I'm not gonna force her put up with it in her tank.

[Heatheranne]

Exactly!