Do healthy fish often get trapped in root balls???

[Magnum Man]

I have a lot of terrestrial plants growing in hanging pots in my tanks… 2 pothos vines have particularly large dense root balls… I realize I can trim the roots, but I don’t mind the roots thick, along the sides and back of the tank… the tank I’m talking about houses several species of South American tetras, that have begun to spawn I could see these root tangles, as a good place for eggs and or fry, as several are quite dense… I just wouldn’t want fish getting trapped in there, and becoming food for my plants..

I would think any fish worth its salt, would be fine, unless it was as sick, or running for its life, and got chased in there???

 

[Colin_T]

Unless they are sick they shouldn't get trapped in plant roots.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello Magnum. I understand your concern. If I was in this situation, I wouldn't trim the plant roots, I'm pretty sure this would harm the plant. Now, I've seen small fish get trapped in heavy moss before, so I try to keep this type of land plant trimmed or thinned.

10

 

[GaryE]

Healthy fish won't get caught in there. We captured many species by dragging nets through the roots of land plants. The roots destroyed nets, but the roots exposed by erosion on the stream bank were prime habitats. Nothing I have managed to grow on a tank could have tough root tangles like we found in nature.
I've never seen a healthy fish get caught in moss, though dying ones have hidden in plants like that here, over the years.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I lost one fish to a mass of roots from a java fern. The fish pushed into the tangled root mass and then could not back out as the roots caught in his gill flap. He was not ableyto swim out of the mass by going forward. When I did not see it for a couple of days and I went looking for it. This was a P. nicholsi male which is a small African riverine cichlid.

I trim the roots on anubias and Java ferns in my tanks. My plants grow huge. When I bought new rooted plants I always trimmed the roots a bit. I know for land plants which I did for many years before getting into fish and doing plants in tanks.

If done properly, root pruning can improve the plant's growth and overall health. This is especially true with container plants that can become “pot-bound,” with the roots girdling around the inside of the pot. This also means those roots can't take up enough nutrients and water to support the plant.

Let's straighten this out (pun intended). First of all, root pruning DOES stimulate new root growth. It's just like the response you see when you prune the crown of a plant – the buds below the cut become active and develop into new shoots.