Bladderwort - is there any hope to completely eliminate from a heavily planted tank

[Yugang]

Bladderwort is notoriously difficult to eradicate because even a tiny fragment can regenerate. It has the same requirements as plants, which makes it harder to selectively attack than algae.

A planted tank can be taken down, cleaned and restarted, but success seems not guaranteed due to the near impossibility of completely removing even the smallest bladderwort fragments.

Is this the final word, or are there any remedies with a reasonable success rate? Anyone could share experience?

 

[BenB]

No remedies other than trimming everything as much as possible and trying to pick it out daily.
If you have moss though, it's impossible. It gets down in the moss and it comes from no where.
Good luck. I had it really bad one time years ago. Thought I was rid of it and months later it popped out.

 

[Koan]

How does it respond to a week or so of glutaraldehyde dosing?

 

[BenB]

It loves it. Grows great.

 

[Rob23]

As a preventative, does it survive an alum dip?

 

[BenB]

As a preventative, does it survive an alum dip?

Its a carnivorous plant. Anything that would kill it would kill other plants.

 

[BenB]

In the old days, we called it aquarium VD.

 

[JayP]

 

[Yugang]

Denial - Search for solutions, if not yet on Scapecrunch then surely somebody solved it on UKAPS or FB?
Anger - Nobody seems to care, but I do !!!
Bargaining - @Dennis Wong @plantbrain @Jeff Miotke @Burr740 @GreggZ , please don't say this is hopeless? If this were the unbeatable invader, why isn’t it found in every river and lake and indeed every ecosystem with aquatic plants?

 

[Burr740]

The only remedy is removal. Its not totally hopeless. The trick is not to try to pull a strand out, but to get below it and gently cut/pinch off whatever its growing in and remove the whole wad without disturbing the strand of gibba itself

You can pull a single strand out, but you have to be very careful that the tail end doesnt break off even a tiny piece. Seen from a distance it looks like a tiny stem with balls on it. A fragment of the "stem" part by itself will not regenerate. One of the little "balls" will. The little "balls" are what snap off so easily and go flying around to land somewhere else

*I know these parts are not "stems" and "balls" thats just what Im calling it here

 

[Yugang]

The only remedy is removal. Its not totally hopeless.

I guess the manual removal strategy may work, as opposed to a full restart, if the tank size and planting allows.


My tank today, 25 gallons with plenty of hiding places for fragments. Easy to imagine hundreds of bladderwort fragments in there, and who knows if it is possible to find the last one, and remove it.

Perhaps I start with taking out all Staurogyne, replant only some after careful inspection. In a similar manner, progressively cut back other plants, inspect them and hope I am lucky.

Still, it very much looks like if this Bladderwort gets into an established tank, be prepared for a full restart. Unless someone knows a better solution than manual removal.

The reason I need to remove it is that from time to time I am away from home for at least a month. I could always manage that, until I found my tank taken over by bladderwort last time. If left unchecked, it does grow (literally) exponentially.

 

[Dennis Wong]

The manual removal strategy works, same for duckweed. You just have to be detailed enough in the removal, which many folks do not have the time for. If you have very dense bushes, they would need to be replanted. In the thinner bushes, its easy to get it out.

i've gotton it a handful of times, and I manually removed it

 

[Yugang]

The manual removal strategy works, same for duckweed. You just have to be detailed enough in the removal, which many folks do not have the time for. If you have very dense bushes, they would need to be replanted. In the thinner bushes, its easy to get it out.

i've gotton it a handful of times, and I manually removed it

Seeing my tank, 25 gallon, from your experience is manual removal doable?

Also, would a 7 days blackout period be an option?