Hornwort Issues...

[DarylF2]

How do you all keep your Hornwort clean and tidy?

Mine catches every bit of gunk (floating bits of plant, bits of food, etc.) in the tank... It also seems a favorite place for algae to grow, but this is a lesser issue.

In the past, I'd tank it all out every week or two and clean it in the sink, then trim it and put it back into the tank. I now have Amano shrimp in that tank, though, and they love to hang out in the Hornwort. So I'm afraid to take it out for fear of harming the shrimp. I'll have to do so this weekend, though, as after three weeks untrimmed its gotten WAY too big. Its taking over the top 1/2 of my tank!

So, how do you all deal with Hornwort? I LOVE it as a plant: its beautiful and it shades 1/2 of my tank for plants that want less light & provides a shady haven for shy fish (my Cory's love this shady 1/2 of the tank). Its just that it seems to be high maintenance as compared to my non-floating plants...

 

[joannde]

I just clip it every couple of days as I'm getting ready to feed the fish. - sometimes I removed lower shoots to keep it less "dense" but most times I just clipped the top with my fingernails. Since it was in a 10G it would have taken it completely over if I didn't keep up - I could swear the plants grew 2" a day in that tank !
I actually just took all of mine out of the tank - talk about attracting algae - imagine what hornwort covered in BGA looks like !!!

 

[Purrbox]

One handy trick for getting shrimp out of plant trimmings is to get the plants a light shake. Generally the shrimp will decide to find someplace else to perch allowing you to safely remove the trimmings.

 

[DarylF2]

One handy trick for getting shrimp out of plant trimmings is to get the plants a light shake. Generally the shrimp will decide to find someplace else to perch allowing you to safely remove the trimmings.

That worked like a charm. They scurried off when I gently shook the stem(s) they were on.

Boy the tank looks better with the hornwort cleaned and trimmed. I cut off and discarded 2/3 of the hornwort; that's how much it had grown! 8O

 

[Lonewolfblue]

It's a very fast grower, you'll be doing that more often, lol.....