Hornwort in 75 gallon live breeder tank

[twodaend]

I got 2 bunches of Hornwort (petsmart) based on recommendations for my community tank with live breeders. I was told this would help some of the fry survive as this would be a place for them to hide. I was wondering what do I need to do to ensure that the plant survives.

Do I need to buy some plant food or anything special for the plant? The only light I have is the standard 4' strip lights as I was told this plant does not need special light. So far, the only thing I did was remove the metal clip, shake the plant in a bucket of tank water, similar to what you do for your bio media. I was glad I did as a lot of stuff came off of the plant. Now most of it is floating, while some of it is floating in the middle of the tank rather than at the top. Not sure why.

Only about half of it is floating. I tried to trim it, but it still does not float. Is it something wrong with it? Should I plant it or get some more, or is that just how some hornwort is?

Thanks

 

[jsoong]

You can either plant it or let it float ... hornwort is not fussy. I think the hornwort moves up & down the water as the leaves are open & close. In winter, the leaves are closed & hornwort sink to bottom of the pond, so I would suppose that moving up & down might be temperature or light dependent.

Although hornwort is "low light", they do better with at least 1-2 wpg. With your very low light setup, it might do better at the surface.

 

[BillD]

Depending on the light, the plant will alter it's growth pattern. In high light, the whorls are close together, and the plant gets lighter in colour, possibly even reddish. Lower light, the whorls will be farther apart, more open, and darker green. I have some right now that doesn't want to float, but don't know why. Under no circumstances will it root. It is a good plant for what you want, and being a fast grower, is a nitrate sponge.

 

[twodaend]

I have the standard 4' light with a 40 watt bulb in it. So that is not even 1 watt per gallon. Right now I'm not trying to keep any other plants except the hornwort. I hope it start to grow soon because I think a few of my mollies are pregnant.

 

[zenkatydid]

in a related question... sorry to hijack...

i bought a plant labelled as hornwort, and looks like hornwort, but it has lots of thin white roots. i thought hornwort didn't even get roots?

 

[BillD]

It must be mislabeled, as Hornwort does not root, from what I have read. No hornwort I have ever kept, including some that has flowered, has ever, grown roots.

 

[Mosaic]

I keep (and have to trim!) hornwort in just ambient room light. So whatever you have will work. Don't worry about it growing. It will. I pull out all my hortwort every other month or so, and inevitably I miss a small bit, and it rebounds very quickly.

Along with being a good biofilter, its also a good mechanical filter, as you found. Its leaves get clogged if you're not studious about clean water. Yuck.

 

[jsoong]

i bought a plant labelled as hornwort, and looks like hornwort, but it has lots of thin white roots. i thought hornwort didn't even get roots?

maybe a cambomba?
www.wvu.edu/~agexten/aquaculture/Weeds/Weed2.htm

 

[zenkatydid]

i don't think so. the leaves it had when i bought it were thicker and flat, some single line and some had little prongs on them. the leaves it's grown in my tank (very quickly) are much thinner and bushier. here is a pic from just now:

 

[jsoong]

Sure doesn't look like the 2 common hornwort species that I've seen, but there are other types of hornworts as well.

May be it's a Limnophila, or Egeria? (Both are pretty common in lfs .... but then you are in Oz ... might have other species we don't have.) I leave the ID to the experts.

 

[rkilling1]

Sure doesn't look like the 2 common hornwort species that I've seen, but there are other types of hornworts as well.

May be it's a Limnophila, or Egeria? (Both are pretty common in lfs .... but then you are in Oz ... might have other species we don't have.) I leave the ID to the experts.

Good call. I would go with Limnophila indica that is going from emerged to submered growth.