Out Of Control Plants?

[pikabb]

Hi,

I'm new to the forums and a fairly new to the hobby. I've had my tank for several months and recently (2-3 months ago) decided to add live plants to my tank. What started out as nice looking strangly plants has turned into a tangled and huge mess. Are my plants supposed to get so big? Is there a way to trim them? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Loony Fish]

just cut 'em.

 

[Renate]

Why not clip them and plant the clippings. You obviously picked fast growing plants and have a balanced tank

I would like info about your tank. Lighting, ferts, co2?

 

[aaronnorth]

seperate the stems and plant about 3 stems 1-2cm apart, otherise the leaves in the middle get straved of light and die, the stems may also rot. If you cut the plant from the top, it will produce sideshoots and bush out. If they are prooted and cu from the bottom, then they will gro upwards. You can replant evry piece, make sure they are a minimum of 4cm, this gives them a better chance of growing.

 

[pikabb]

Thanks for all of the replies! I wasn't sure if it was okay to take it all apart and start cutting. I just finished trimming and separating and I'm really happy with the results. Here's what the tank looks like now...

To answer the question about my tank... all I have is 1 florescent strip built into my hood, no fertilizers or CO2.

 

[aaronnorth]

looks much better

 

[Renate]

You must have a lot of natural sunlight. For most hood lights are on 20 watts.

What size tank is that?

I am jealous. I have lost a lot of plants due to low light.

 

[aaronnorth]

You must have a lot of natural sunlight. For most hood lights are on 20 watts.

What size tank is that?

I am jealous. I have lost a lot of plants due to low light.

the bigger the tank the bigger the bulbs come dont forget! Which means more wattage. A 60cm tank wil come with 15w. 80cm 20w, 100cm 24w...

 

[pikabb]

You must have a lot of natural sunlight. For most hood lights are on 20 watts.

What size tank is that?

I am jealous. I have lost a lot of plants due to low light.

Actually, there is no natural sunlight that hits that room at all.

The tank is a 55g. I am not sure of the wattage of the bulb, but I can check if you wanted.

I'm not really sure why the plants are doing so well, I think they are just very low maintenance plants.

 

[kadkins20]

ya, my brother has amazon swoards filling half of his 70-gallon oscar tank... he barely even turns the light on

your tank looks amazing with the plants trimmed btw

 

[Renate]

Is that cabomba plant I see in there? Mine almost died. It is not a low light plant.

 

[aaronnorth]

Is that cabomba plant I see in there? Mine almost died. It is not a low light plant.

well it seems to be growing ok