As a newbie with a 55 gal tank less than 1 week old, I have what it probably
a very basic question: what techniques do you guys use when it come time to
prune your tanks? Is it a constant battle of uprooting, pruning and
replanting? Especially with bunch plants? How do you do it with an extremely
heavily planted tank?

LeighMo wrote ...
... try to put the plants that require the most maintenance where they can
be
easily reached.


How many years did it take me to figure that one out? Oh, wait a minute, I
never did...

Most stem plants grow so fast that, even if you think you botched them, in a
week you won't be able to tell.

kush

"You can't have everything - where would you put it?"

Mike K wrote:

As a newbie with a 55 gal tank less than 1 week old, I have what it probably
a very basic question: what techniques do you guys use when it come time to
prune your tanks? Is it a constant battle of uprooting, pruning and
replanting? Especially with bunch plants? How do you do it with an extremely
heavily planted tank?

Here's my formula:

STEM PLANTS:
* When they hit the surface, remove cuttings strategically so
cuttings can be replanted, usually by cutting right where
a stem branches from another stem. Trim the original
plant back to 50% of original height.

* Sell/donate/replant cuttings. This can finance your hobby.

* After 2-4 repetitions of the above, the original plant
is usually a bit mishapen or no longer growing well.
Remove it and replace with cuttings.

SWORDS:
* I never used to trim swords, and they seemed to live
forever. Then, one sword got so dense and scraggly
that I trimmed 18 leaves from the outside. Over
the next few weeks, it responded with lots of new
leaves starting at the center. The new growth is
much more attractive than the older leaves which
were removed. Now I trim swords whenever
they start to look "scruffy."

Oh, right, I wasn't thinking of plants like cabombas and frils and such. I
don't even try to prune them. Just lop off the top half of the plant, plant
that, and toss the bottom away.

kush


LeighMo wrote in message
...
Most stem plants grow so fast that, even if you think you botched them,
in a
week you won't be able to tell.

That's definitely true of some stem plants, like Rotala and Hygro. But
some,
like Cabomba, get very leggy if you keep topping them. The internode
length
gets very long, and the bottoms of the stems lose their leaves and become
very
unattractive.





Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

Mike K wrote in message ...
As a newbie with a 55 gal tank less than 1 week old, I have what it probably
a very basic question: what techniques do you guys use when it come time to
prune your tanks? Is it a constant battle of uprooting, pruning and
replanting? Especially with bunch plants? How do you do it with an extremely
heavily planted tank?

Battle? Did you pay for those plants? Then growing them fast ,means
you could/should trade them to the LFS for food, credit etc.
Fast healthy growing plants are a lot like a farm.

I uproot most all stem plants and trim off the bottom older portion
and cut right below the first node with roots coming out of them.
Swords, crypts and other basal portion plants simply have the oldest
outer leaves removed if they become unattractive. The runners that
come off swords/crypts are simply cut and replanted elsewhere or sold
off.

One method is pruning one side one week and the other side the next.
Another is adding some slow growing plants like Anubias/crypts etc to
say 30%( more or less) of the tank. Adding rock work, driftwood with
plants attached to these also reduced work loads.

Using foreground plants for 30-50% of the tank also reduces trimming
since these plants don't get tall. But they do requie maintenance.

A number of book like Barron's Aquatic plant manual/James Aquarium
Plants etc have good sections on basic items and are don't cost much.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Did I say "battle"? I meant "labor of love". :-)

in article ,
at wrote on 12/6/02 9:12 PM:

Mike K wrote in message
...
As a newbie with a 55 gal tank less than 1 week old, I have what it probably
a very basic question: what techniques do you guys use when it come time to
prune your tanks? Is it a constant battle of uprooting, pruning and
replanting? Especially with bunch plants? How do you do it with an extremely
heavily planted tank?

Battle? Did you pay for those plants? Then growing them fast ,means
you could/should trade them to the LFS for food, credit etc.
Fast healthy growing plants are a lot like a farm.

I uproot most all stem plants and trim off the bottom older portion
and cut right below the first node with roots coming out of them.
Swords, crypts and other basal portion plants simply have the oldest
outer leaves removed if they become unattractive. The runners that
come off swords/crypts are simply cut and replanted elsewhere or sold
off.

One method is pruning one side one week and the other side the next.
Another is adding some slow growing plants like Anubias/crypts etc to
say 30%( more or less) of the tank. Adding rock work, driftwood with
plants attached to these also reduced work loads.

Using foreground plants for 30-50% of the tank also reduces trimming
since these plants don't get tall. But they do requie maintenance.

A number of book like Barron's Aquatic plant manual/James Aquarium
Plants etc have good sections on basic items and are don't cost much.

Regards,
Tom Barr