Hornwort..Maybe not such a good idea in my tank.

[William]

Just got a beautiful Hornwort plant for my tank, have it set up in my stump, for those of you who saw the pic of my stump in the other forum, I removed the mondo grass and got the Hornwort to replace.


Anyways, I fed my guys brine shrimp this morning, SOmething which they make pigs of themselves on. Every brineshrimp in the tank is gone, there are NONE hiding in the Hornwort.

However, everyfish in my tank, Mollies, Bala's, EVERYTHING has been hovering around the plant ever since it was put in the tank, nibbling at it and eating.

argh, I didn't buy this for them to eat!

Whats worse is they were already so fat from the brine shrimp that every one in the tank, even male fish, looked pregnant! :? 8O :?

and they still continue looking for food!


Anyways, They havn't touched the small bunch of Javafern, only the hornwort. 80% of my tanks residents are in or on the hornwort, even the infamous HAMMER has claimed his perch on top of it, brandishing his massive claw at everyone that comes to close.

 

[tkos]

Soft thin leafed plants like hornwort are always a tasety treat. And Mollies and Balas are well known for eating plants. I have never seen fish or even snails go after java fern. I guess that is why it is so popular.

And most fish will eat until all of the food is gone. Instinct in the wild says to eat when ever you get a chance cause you don't know what is coming next.

 

[Guest]

My hornwort grows faster than it can be eaten, even by gold fish. I'm going to take a guess here, right now it is a novelty in the tank, give them some time, they won't eat it as much after a while.

 

[William]

I don't know, the plants naked compared to how much foilage it had on it yesterday..


and their still going mad on it.

They never went after any of the previous plants I'ev added, sure they nibbled here and there, but neverl ike this..

 

[William]

Oh, and just FYI.

My mollies just took a chunk out of one of the Java fern leaves. 8O

 

[jsoong]

Just for laughs:

When I put my hornwort in with my goldies, they went for it at once. However, having taken a bite, they found out they did not like it, and spit it out. THEN... go to another leave & try the same thing. Most of the leaves were stripped off in a day or so.

After about a week or so, they finally learn that hornwort doesn't taste so good, and now my plant had recovered, and is growing at phenomonal rate - I swear it is doubling in size every other day! Now I have to think about cutting it down to size instead.

 

[William]

Its been a week, Their STILL eating the hornwort.

The hornwort has barely 1/6 of the foilage it had when I bought it, and their still continuing to munch. Crabs, Balloon Mollies, Ghost Shrimp..even the Bala Sharks!

 

[William]

They have stripped my hornwort of all but a fraction of its foilage.

and I see a crab eating a baby java fern right now, and the mollies have all but demolishe one of the more mature javaferns leaves.


Oh boy,

 

[angelstiger]

As has been said hornwort grows very quickly. In my tank full of livebearers, they eat it, but every coule of week I throw out a bucket full, so lighting isn't blocked. I have found however, that will hornwort doesn't grow as fast in salted water, such as 1 tbs. per 5 gal, like in a molly tank.

 

[William]

I know, they eat it faster than it can grow

and their even eating the java fern!

what a bunch of wackjobs.

 

[Guest]

William, I have come to the conclusion that you just have weird fish!

If you lived close to me I'd give your fish so much hornwort they could not possibly eat it all.

 

[William]

You could always ship it to me!

But my guys in my tank are a bunch of wackjobs.

I have a pleco that likes to be out of the water [ He " suckermouth walks " his way up the glass and completly out of the water ]

I have a CAE that likes to jump, Bala Sharks that let even the smallest fish in the tank bully them around, and a female fiddler who attacks the males in the tank and wins.


Yep, a bunch of wackjobs already 8O

 

[bubo]

I have a pleco that likes to be out of the water [ He " suckermouth walks " his way up the glass and completly out of the water ]

I'd like to see a picture of that! 8O

 

[William]

Hes only an inch and a half long, just a baby Albino common

 

[Scottw68TN]

Is your cae a flying fox they like to jump! And look very similiar

 

[William]

No, Hes a CAE

 

[webmoose]

Hey William any Hornwort left? I was thinking that if you let it float at the top they might not be "as" interested. I have it at the top of my tank and a bunch of my guppy fry live in it. None of my fish seem interested in eating it. I had it in my tank before I got the fish... I've never anchored it.

Any how thanks for posting this subject because I was going to ask if anyone else has it in there tank.. I was starting to think it might be bad for my tank like a weed or something but I guess if other people have it in their tank it must be an ok plant to have in my tank.

I also have water wisteria and bacopa in my tank any plant experts know if that is an ok combination? They all seem to be doing great even going to have to do some extra trimming on the bacopa..

Anyone ever have bacopa flower in their tank?

 

[Guest]

Any how thanks for posting this subject because I was going to ask if anyone else has it in there tank.. I was starting to think it might be bad for my tank like a weed or something but I guess if other people have it in their tank it must be an ok plant to have in my tank.

I also have water wisteria and bacopa in my tank any plant experts know if that is an ok combination? They all seem to be doing great even going to have to do some extra trimming on the bacopa..

Anyone ever have bacopa flower in their tank?

No way is hornwort bad, unless you let it grow so much it blocks light and water movement. It is excellent for fry, giving cover to hide in and harboring tiny critters for them to eat. As with all plants, removes nitrate and ammonia too!

Bacopa and wisteria is a fine combo in a tank. Never had bacopa flower for me.

 

[webmoose]

Thanks for the quick reply!!! I am sure my Bacopa probably won't flower: It has reached the surface of my water and one is actually poking out.. Was going to trim it down but I might let it peak out for a few weeks and see what it does.

bad idea?

 

[Guest]

No, you can trim it, or let it go wild, whatever you choose. Just remember you don't want any one plant shading other plants too much.

My plants that grow out the surface will get too close to my lights and burn to a crisp, so I keep them trimmed. 440 watts of vho gets hot!