Re: Coldwater, duckweed-eating fish?

Your size is small for goldfish, but these are definitely cold water fish and I
cannot provide enough duck weed for how much they eat.  In winter they slow that
down, as does the production of duck weed, but we live in a warm winter climate
in S.central Texas.  The goldfish are in an outdoor pond.  They are hard to keep
in an aquarium without ongoing cleaning and they get way big.

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 14:27:12 -0600, yk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> opined:

>I'm looking for small (max ~2in) coldwater fish (mid 60's-low 70's F) 
>that eat duckweed, but not other plants.
>
>I've only been able to find two possibilities so far:
>
>White Cloud Minnow
>Zebra Danio
>
>I was wondering if anyone knows if they eat duckweed? Or if there are 
>similar sized coldwater fish that may?
>
>Maybe it's just a bizarre or crazy idea, but I have a bucket of water 
>with ghost shrimp, plants (incl. duckweed), ostracod-looking creatures, 
>and pond snails. Since I can't personally do away with them out of 
>guilt, I figure I might as well put it in (ideally) a 5 gallon tank 
>(although that might be a little crowded). At least I could see what's 
>going on in an aquarium. It's kinda hard to peer into a bucket. :) I'm 
>looking for duckweed eating fish to keep the duckweed under control. I 
>don't know necessarily if I want to get rid of it all, but to keep it at 
>bay.
>
>Although with all the snails I have, maybe I should get a loach... But I 
>suppose that would require a much larger tank and I don't have room for 
>that now...
>
>-----------------------
>By the way is it common for physa snails to grow larger than 1/2 inch? I 
>have one that's about that size now. It was a little spooky to see 
>him/her looking back at me.
>
>It is not uncommon for me to see several snails hanging out above the 
>waterline. Is this unusual? Are they sick?