Dead plant matter bad for tank?

[ConanTheLibraia]

I bought amazon sword plants a few months ago. They weren't the best quality, and had leafs that were dying and/or falling off. I put the plants in my tank, and let the dead leaves and such just take care of themselfs, falling off naturally rather than pruning them myself. Also, with my plants I don't do pruning, I just let the plants naturally grow and take out the leaves when I find that they have fallen off and are stuck to the filter or floating. Is this bad for water quality, the plants, tank, and/or fish?

 

[Guest]

Is this bad for water quality, the plants, tank, and/or fish?

Nope, not unless it's a large quantity of dead laeves all at once. as they break down they actually release their carbon compounds back into the water and/or substrate, which actually helps the rest of the plants grow. I just remove ugly dead leaves. Ones I cant see, i leave in the tank also.

 

[ConanTheLibraia]

Thanks, it sounds good. I don't think I'd be having problems then because I remove the leaves once they fall off or are completly dead.

 

[Bearfan]

I agree, I let simulated nature take it's course. It works in lakes and streams.

 

[samimnot]

So far I've let my plants dead leaves die off, only problem happened when one almost got sucked into the filter (not sure how it got over there either.. fish moving co?) and started to block water from being sucked in.

 

[ConanTheLibraia]

getting caught in the filter isnt much of a problem, but if only I could figure out how to anchor this java moss...

 

[ghettorigged]

I am glad you guys started this thread. i had been wondering the same thing. I don't usually pull any leaves off unless they just look too pitiful. Glad to know I wasn't doing any harm!

 

[Bearfan]

Java moss is easily anchored with black thread. Once it roots, cut the strings and there you go. That's how I do all my mosses.

 

[connor31556]

looking at this thread in 2019 most important questions are answered in these old ones