Plant name and how to prune?

[Ericwm]

I am mainly somewhat new to planted tanks. I have had mine up for a couple months and am pretty confident with the fish part of it. I am not too knowledgable on the plant part of it. This was one of the first plants in my tank and it has grown really well, I'm not sure the name but here is a pic



I was thinking of pruning it and planting the trimmings but am not sure where I should prune. The way I see it I could take the top half off and have a wider plant or take the branches off the side and have a taller plant. Is there a specific way I should do it for this plant or is it just a preference.

Thanks in advance.

 

[aqua_chem]

The bottom of the plant looks weird, but the top looks like lobelia cardinalis. Google it and tell me what you think.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I don't know what plant that is but I'm surprised to see that lucky bamboo in the background. That's not fully aquatic, FYI.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Bamboo

I see that you have some bamboo in there... It is not a fully aquatic plant and will rot. Just a suggestion.

 

[Ericwm]

I am aware the bamboo isn't fully aquatic, my wife wanted it and the tank is in her office so it gets to stay for now.

As for the other plant I looked up lobelia cardinalis and it didn't look the same. I have no idea. Any one else recognize it?

 

[aqua_chem]

Can you take a picture from the top?

 

[Nathandohnt]

Kinda looks like some sort of Anubias

 

[aqua_chem]

It looks like a stem plant to me.

 

[Zimmanski]

Looks like a stem to me too. Where did you get the plant?

 

[Ericwm]

It definitely has a stem. I got it from my LFS. Here is a pic from above.

 

[Smcoyle87]

Lobelia cardinalis

 

[aqua_chem]

I'm sticking with my original guess. Lobelia cardinalis goes through a leaf morphology change going between emersed and submerged growth. Your plant looks like it has the more elongate leaves at the bottom and more oval shaped ones at the top. The way the leaves are coming off the stem also looks like lobelia. It's also becoming more common in fish stores lately, so it's entirely possible you could find it there.

 

[Ericwm]

That sounds like I will go with that. Any idea on proper pruning, I am guessing I will be pruning this a lot. This is how I bought it 2 months ago.

 

[Smcoyle87]

Regular stem plant pruning, take some off the bottom and replant the top.