Hornwort clogging up tank?

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

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.

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:44:16 -0800, "Daniel Morrow"
wrote:

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.

(Picture of big smiley face goes here) No need to confuse the post
office contraband sniffing dogs. They have more important work to do.
And I think the compost heap is great, if you truly have a compost
heap and use it in your garden.

-- Mister Gardener

"Mr. Gardener" wrote in message
...
(Picture of big smiley face goes here) No need to confuse the post
office contraband sniffing dogs. They have more important work to do.
And I think the compost heap is great, if you truly have a compost
heap and use it in your garden.
=====================
If you want to see tropical houseplants as well as tomatoes thrive, start
watering them with the water from partial water changes, complete with the
mulm vacuumed from the gravel.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 20:31:06 -0600, "Koi-Lo"
wrote:


"Mr. Gardener" wrote in message
.. .
(Picture of big smiley face goes here) No need to confuse the post
office contraband sniffing dogs. They have more important work to do.
And I think the compost heap is great, if you truly have a compost
heap and use it in your garden.
=====================
If you want to see tropical houseplants as well as tomatoes thrive, start
watering them with the water from partial water changes, complete with the
mulm vacuumed from the gravel.

Oh yes, the dirtier the water, the better for the houseplants.

-- Mister Gardener