Hornwort clogging up tank?

I have a ton of hornwort growing in one of my tanks (the silver dollars, 1
angel fish, a couple white cloud mountain minnows, and a ton of fancy
guppies) and have noticed female guppies and a couple of male fancy guppies
possibly getting stuck in the mass of hornwort. I haven't actually witnessed
any thing except for the occasional fancy guppy death which I previously
attributed to other causes. Is it possible that any of my fish are getting
caught in the hornwort and that that causes them to die (starvation?)?
Should I just rip out a chunk of the hornwort once in a while and throw it
out in the trash afterward (the hornwort dies off in my other tanks and I
don't know why and if I keep adding the spare hornwort I am afraid of water
pollution from doing that as the plants would die off in the other tanks and
cause excessive dissolved organic compounds and who knows what else)?
Thanks, give me an idea on how to deal with this! Good luck and later!

Daniel Morrow wrote:
I have a ton of hornwort growing in one of my tanks (the silver dollars, 1
angel fish, a couple white cloud mountain minnows, and a ton of fancy
guppies) and have noticed female guppies and a couple of male fancy guppies
possibly getting stuck in the mass of hornwort. I haven't actually witnessed
any thing except for the occasional fancy guppy death which I previously
attributed to other causes. Is it possible that any of my fish are getting
caught in the hornwort and that that causes them to die (starvation?)?

Are the dead fish excessively think? It takes a LONG time for a fish to
die of starvation (weeks).

Should I just rip out a chunk of the hornwort once in a while and throw it
out in the trash afterward (the hornwort dies off in my other tanks and I
don't know why and if I keep adding the spare hornwort I am afraid of water
pollution from doing that as the plants would die off in the other tanks and
cause excessive dissolved organic compounds and who knows what else)?
Thanks, give me an idea on how to deal with this! Good luck and later!

Sounds like a no-brainer. I regularly rip bunches of plants out of my
tanks to sell, give away, or discard. Think of it as nitrate export.
;-) Hornwort is funny stuff. It only grows outside in the shade or in
my shrimp tank for me. Go figure.

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"Daniel Morrow" wrote in
:

what else)? Thanks, give me an idea on how to deal with this! Good

I think you pretty well described the best way to deal with it. Take some
of that hornwort out of your tank. If you can collect a decent amount of it
your LFS will probably be able to give you a tiny amount of store credit
for it.

Guppies are not very bright and they are poor swimmers, so I'm not
surprised they managed to get tangled up in there, but I would be surprised
if they die as a result of it. Unless they're exhausting themselves to
death, they'd probably eventually be able to work their way out with the
aid of a little surface current.

Moments before spontaneously combusting Daniel Morrow at
was heard opining:

.. Is it
possible that any of my fish are getting caught in the hornwort and
that that causes them to die (starvation?)? ........
=======================
I've had hornwart for many years in my indoor and outdoor tanks and pools
and never had fish tangle and die in it. It does best (for me) in hard
alkaline water. I don't think it's the hornwart killing your fish.
--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

In article ,
Daniel Morrow wrote:
I have a ton of hornwort growing in one of my tanks (the silver dollars, 1
angel fish, a couple white cloud mountain minnows, and a ton of fancy
guppies) and have noticed female guppies and a couple of male fancy guppies
possibly getting stuck in the mass of hornwort. I haven't actually witnessed
any thing except for the occasional fancy guppy death which I previously
attributed to other causes. Is it possible that any of my fish are getting
caught in the hornwort and that that causes them to die (starvation?)?

No.

Should I just rip out a chunk of the hornwort once in a while and throw it
out in the trash afterward (the hornwort dies off in my other tanks and I
don't know why and if I keep adding the spare hornwort I am afraid of water
pollution from doing that as the plants would die off in the other tanks and
cause excessive dissolved organic compounds and who knows what else)?

Hornwort dies when it runs out of food or light, athough it doesn't
need much light. Add some aquatic plant fertilizer containing nitrate.

--
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Bottom posted.
Richard Sexton wrote:
In article ,
Daniel Morrow wrote:
I have a ton of hornwort growing in one of my tanks (the silver
dollars, 1 angel fish, a couple white cloud mountain minnows, and a
ton of fancy guppies) and have noticed female guppies and a couple
of male fancy guppies possibly getting stuck in the mass of
hornwort. I haven't actually witnessed any thing except for the
occasional fancy guppy death which I previously attributed to other
causes. Is it possible that any of my fish are getting caught in the
hornwort and that that causes them to die (starvation?)?

No.

Should I just rip out a chunk of the hornwort once in a while and
throw it out in the trash afterward (the hornwort dies off in my
other tanks and I don't know why and if I keep adding the spare
hornwort I am afraid of water pollution from doing that as the
plants would die off in the other tanks and cause excessive
dissolved organic compounds and who knows what else)?

Hornwort dies when it runs out of food or light, athough it doesn't
need much light. Add some aquatic plant fertilizer containing nitrate.

Thanks Altum, dc, koi-lo and richard sexton! I am going to rip a bunch out
from time to time so at the very least my silver dollars and soon to be
physically mature angelfish can swim around decently, and it might help the
fancy guppies to keep them from getting stuck (just in case only as the
consensus here seems to be that fish will always be able to find their way
out of the mass of hornwort) and I will put the ripped out hornwort in the
compost pile. Thanks all - and I think you are probably right koi-lo, the
guppies might be taxing their environment here by over breeding. My water
quality isn't perfect nowadays probably because of overcrowding of the fish
thanks to the fancy guppies breeding so much (but that shouldn't happen for
much longer as from what I have read on the web angelfish are excellent
guppy fry eaters and my angelfish will most likely be big enough to help
with that soon I think I hope). Nitrite is borderline and nitrate is way too
high. Every other parameter is fine except for maybe the ph being at 6.5.
Ripping out the hornwort should cause more to grow and thus more nitrate to
be removed in the process. Thanks again - good luck and later!

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 12:40:23 -0800, "Daniel Morrow"
wrote:

Bottom posted.
Richard Sexton wrote:
In article ,
Daniel Morrow wrote:
I have a ton of hornwort growing in one of my tanks (the silver
dollars, 1 angel fish, a couple white cloud mountain minnows, and a
ton of fancy guppies) and have noticed female guppies and a couple
of male fancy guppies possibly getting stuck in the mass of
hornwort. I haven't actually witnessed any thing except for the
occasional fancy guppy death which I previously attributed to other
causes. Is it possible that any of my fish are getting caught in the
hornwort and that that causes them to die (starvation?)?

No.

Should I just rip out a chunk of the hornwort once in a while and
throw it out in the trash afterward (the hornwort dies off in my
other tanks and I don't know why and if I keep adding the spare
hornwort I am afraid of water pollution from doing that as the
plants would die off in the other tanks and cause excessive
dissolved organic compounds and who knows what else)?

Hornwort dies when it runs out of food or light, athough it doesn't
need much light. Add some aquatic plant fertilizer containing nitrate.

Thanks Altum, dc, koi-lo and richard sexton! I am going to rip a bunch out
from time to time so at the very least my silver dollars and soon to be
physically mature angelfish can swim around decently, and it might help the
fancy guppies to keep them from getting stuck (just in case only as the
consensus here seems to be that fish will always be able to find their way
out of the mass of hornwort) and I will put the ripped out hornwort in the
compost pile. Thanks all - and I think you are probably right koi-lo, the
guppies might be taxing their environment here by over breeding. My water
quality isn't perfect nowadays probably because of overcrowding of the fish
thanks to the fancy guppies breeding so much (but that shouldn't happen for
much longer as from what I have read on the web angelfish are excellent
guppy fry eaters and my angelfish will most likely be big enough to help
with that soon I think I hope). Nitrite is borderline and nitrate is way too
high. Every other parameter is fine except for maybe the ph being at 6.5.
Ripping out the hornwort should cause more to grow and thus more nitrate to
be removed in the process. Thanks again - good luck and later!

The compost heap! Too bad. It's great to have a little on hand for a
quick water cleaner upper. I should have you send me some before it
gets added to the list of banned plants in my state. It seems to have
those qualities most likely to get it blacklisted soon.

-- Mister Gardener

Daniel Morrow at was heard opining:

Nitrite is
borderline and nitrate is way too high.

The hornwart should have taken care of nitrates. It sounds like your tank
needs a lot of partial water changes and some good gravel vaccing.

Every other parameter is fine
except for maybe the ph being at 6.5.

I found keeping guppies alive and healthy takes water with a PH over 7.
They do much better in harder more alkaline water. In a PH below 7.2 an in
slightly acid water they don't do nearly as well. Anyway, that's been my
experience with guppies and other live bearers.

Ripping out the hornwort should
cause more to grow and thus more nitrate to be removed in the
process.

That can happen! :-) I'm surprised it's growing so well for you as it
didn't thrive for me in NY's soft slightly acid water. I just had an odd
thing happen with hornwart. After having it for many years, both indoors
and in my ponds - about 90% of it suddenly did a die-off! I once read about
bamboo doing the same thing. I suppose it'll spring back from the small
bits I have left of it....... if not I'll have to start with a fresh bunch.

Thanks again - good luck and later!
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Moments before spontaneously combusting Mr. Gardener at
was heard opining:
The compost heap! Too bad. It's great to have a little on hand for a
quick water cleaner upper. I should have you send me some before it
gets added to the list of banned plants in my state. It seems to have
those qualities most likely to get it blacklisted soon.
====================
It probably will be added soon. It should live over the winter in Maine.
It's lived through the coldest winter's we've had with both ice and snow
covering the ponds and pools. Since it needs no rest period will live year
round in aquariums. Or mine did until this past winter.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Mid posted.

Koi-Lo wrote:
Moments before spontaneously combusting Mr. Gardener at
was heard opining:
The compost heap! Too bad.

I know - it seems like a waste except as it grows it eats nitrates among
other things and it grows so fast in this one tank that it will be a good
thing in the long run to compost it and let it regrow and eat those danged
nitrates. If you want me to send you some and you are patient and you cover
my expenses and it doesn't get banned too early I will send you a bunch if
you want after it regrows - keep it in mind as I like to help people and be
proactive in general. I think you and koi-lo are probably right that it will
soon be banned in maine especially after I read your post and the banned
list it contains.

It's great to have a little on hand for a
quick water cleaner upper. I should have you send me some before it
gets added to the list of banned plants in my state. It seems to have
those qualities most likely to get it blacklisted soon.
====================
It probably will be added soon. It should live over the winter in
Maine. It's lived through the coldest winter's we've had with both
ice and snow covering the ponds and pools. Since it needs no rest
period will live year round in aquariums. Or mine did until this
past winter.