Tall thin cabomba

[savga]

I have some cabamba carolina in my tank and it grows pretty well. I have just over 3 wpg, fertilize with Flourish and have CO2. Nevertheless, it grows taller and stringier than pictures I have seen in books. Is there something I can do to make it grow more compactly?

 

[madasafish]

I don't know how to help you. I have the same problem with my cabomba! I'm not sure if increasing CO2 dosage can help...

 

[savga]

When I see it at the lfs is so thick and dense. Could it be the water temp? or maybe sunlight? I really don't have an option of changing those conditions so I guess it will never look like it did when I bought it.

 

[marcus russo]

What sometimes happens ( not sure if its the case of you )
Is people cut them and then have growth come out of the roiginal stem which can cause many stem plants to grow spindly.
Also you may not be getting enough nutrients via substrate as well

 

[malkore]

It seems like in my higher light tank, the cabomba grows with fewer leaf nodes. I think with higher light it doesn't need as much surface area. I say this because I pinched a stem off for a 15gallon tall, with 2 screw in PC bulbs,and it's growing more densley, more leaf nodes, and without CO2...just some Excel added weekly, when I remember.

 

[madasafish]

Yeah, I noticed the same thing when I moved my Cabomba to my low-light 10 gallon. Interesting.

 

[betowess]

Doesn't Cambomba prefer cooler water? I would think more light would help it stay more compact. What is the light spectrum of your bulbs. Are you dosing any potassium?

 

[savga]

I'm starting to think it is the water temp that is the problem. A book on aquarium plants I got says that plants tend to have longer distance between leaf nodes in warmer water. My tank tends to stay 79-80F even without the heater. My lights and filter keep the temp up I think.