A tank gone wild...

[julielynn47]

Hi everyone! Some of you may remember my tanks. I have been gone for awhile. I just want to share and ask a couple of questions.

The plants in both my 55 gallon and my 75 gallon are just out of control. I have never had such luck before, and I am doing nothing to encourage it at all. I have not even used root tabs in months....I don't even know how many months.

I have a picture of the 55 gallon. I didn't take on of the 75 before I thinned things out. But the 75 was just over ran with hornwort....again. A few months back I took out a bucket of the stuff, kept just a few stalks, and tonight I took out another bucket. That stuff grows in that tank like wildfire. But that was easy...it is hornwort, just pinch it off and keep what you want. It won't hurt it. But...now on the the 55. The pic I am posting is of it.

The Amazon Swords have grown to absolute mega proportions and I really don't know what to do with it. If I trim it, with it kill it? I am afraid it will. So that is the right side of the tank. The ball that you see on the left side is Water Wisteria mixed with Jungle Val.. The Jungle Val has grown so long that it is growing from the left to the right and back to the left and wrapping up in that ball. Can Jungle Val be trimmed? I know I can trim the Water Wisteria. It is easy to trim and plant somewhere else. Not sure about the Jungle Val.

I can't see the fish anymore. They have that one little area that you see in the middle that is clear of plants. I don't think the fish mind. But honestly I can't even tell how many I have in there anymore.

Now I know that some of you, if not all, will tell me that what I am about to say has nothing to do with this plant growth. But all this seemed to start when I accidentally got Ramshorn snails hitchhiking on some plants. At first I did not want them in there because gosh, they are like rabbits! They multiply so fast. But I can say one thing for them, my tanks have never been so clean, and the plants have never grown like this...ever...before the snails.

So any thoughts on trimming Jungle Val? I guess the Amazon Swords probably can't be trimmed. I would think that the way the light is being blocked they would all start dying at the bottom, but they aren't. They just keep getting bigger.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Yes, You can trim Jungle Val. I used to cut on an angle just below the water surface as the angle cut looks more natural. Don't cut really low or they may not recover. I once cut some jungle val very low based on some Youtube advice (Dustin's Fishtank's) with the claim that they would come back thicker - they never came back at all!

Water Wisteria is best pulled, cut and replant the upper 6-8" of the stems and discard the lower portion (I toss mine in the turtle pond in the basement). I once tried just trimming but they looked hacked and didn't recover well.

You really can't trim Amazon Swords, but you can completely remove outside leaves at the base to thin the plant and encourage new inner leaf growth.
As for snails, they are a great clean up crew and their waste will help feed plants. I see a huge advantage with my zillion Malaysian Trumpet Snails. The MTS burrow into the sand so their 'leavings' (like worm castings in the garden) really help fertilize root feeders.

 

[NickAu]

I also prefer Malaysian Trumpet snails, But as I say " A tank without so called pest snails is not as clean as it could be "

I see a very nice tank, its a pity you didn't post a photo of the tank that needs trimming. Ha Ha Ha

 

[julielynn47]

I have given it some serious thought since I made this post last night. I watched the fish...the ones I could see LOL....swimming through the leaves and the overgrowth doesn't not seem to bother them. So I am thinking, that even though it is totally out of control, that is better than no plants at all or unhealthy plants. And just because I think it is overgrown does not mean the fish do.

I agree on the snails, the tanks have never been cleaner. I remember when I couldn't keep the tanks clean. I am so happy I do not have that issue any longer.

I agree on the Water Wisteria trimming. I always kept the roots and not the top, and it does look like a hack up job like that. If I do decide to trim it I will get rid of the bottom this time.

And seriously, on that ball of Jungle Val and Water Wisteria in the upper left corner...all I can think to do is cut the ball off if I do anything at all to it LOL. How I would ever think I could separate it all is beyond me. If I had live bearer breeding in there it would be a great place for baby fish.

 

[julielynn47]

Malaysian Trumpet Snails would need a sand substrate would they not? The 55 has a gravel substrate. They probably would not be able to bury themselves very well would they?

 

[AbbeysDad]

Malaysian Trumpet Snails would need a sand substrate would they not? The 55 has a gravel substrate. They probably would not be able to bury themselves very well would they?

I really can't say since I've only had them in my silica (pool filter) sand substrate where they seem to thrive. Gravel might be more of a challenge for them, I'm not sure. Perhaps someone else has tried them with a gravel substrate?
My only 'concern' with the MTS is they are seemingly so prolific that at some point they may out produce their food source and some may perish.
Also, after a time I began to only see small MTS at 'dusk' and in the 'early hours' (I have a Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 LED light running in 24/7 mode). My water is neither soft nor hard, so I wondered if maybe there needed to be more calcium in the water (for shells) so I began adding a modest amount of Seachem Equilibrium with each weekly water change. Now after a couple of months I'm starting to see larger snails.

 

[NickAu]

MTS are fine on gravel.

My only 'concern' with the MTS is they are seemingly so prolific that at some point they may out produce their food source and some may perish.

That is correct,and thats what we want,

Only get a few MTS about 4 is heaps, The population will explode for a short while but will die down to manageable numbers once all the food is consumed.

Do not bother to trap or remove them thats actually counter productive just leave them be.