I finally got tired of the weedy stem plants that shaded my tank a couple
of days after pruning them. So I decided to redo the tank and get rid of
all the stem plants. I ordered a bunch of small sword-type plants online
(great service, btw aquariumplant.com) and today I got to work. I took out
a bucketful of stem plants plus a humongous sword that had gotten too big
for my 110 gallon tank. That's the second sword I've gotten rid of for
being too big! Anyhow, the tank looks very empty, but the fish seem to
like having more space to swim. This should decrease the maintenance
required significantly and improve the health of the other plants. Some of
my crypts were hurting due to all the shade those weeds produced.
I can't possibly imagine how fast they would grow if I added CO2!?!?!?!?

Anybody out there ever got tired of their stem plants?

Cheers.

Victor

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

I don't like them either. All the plants in my tank now are roset
plants, not because I didn't like the look of stem plants but my loaches
would not leave them be. Every morning I had to replant them and that
gets old. A rock or two is all it takes to hold them firmly down and in
a week they are rooted enough that my loaches can't dig them out.

Vicki

*snip*

"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
I finally got tired of the weedy stem plants that shaded my tank a couple
of days after pruning them. So I decided to redo the tank and get rid of
all the stem plants.
Anybody out there ever got tired of their stem plants?

Cheers.

Victor

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

When I set up my 4' tank 5 months back I vowed never to stick any stem
plants in it after nightmare trimming/replanting in my 2 and 3' tanks every
week. It doesn't look all that great with just swordplants/hairgrass but
then I only have to prune the old leaves once a month. I've also been very
careful not to infest my 4' with java moss either, my other two tanks have
their substrate infested with the stuff.

I ditched my hornwort, hydrocotyl and
E. densa as they grew too fast. I also got
rid of all my swords as they got too big.
I still have some stem plants though and
trim them about once a fortnight.

--
Graham Ramsay
You might be a Bright:
www.the-brights.net

"Victor M. Martinez" wrote in message
...
I finally got tired of the weedy stem plants that shaded my tank a couple
of days after pruning them. So I decided to redo the tank and get rid of
all the stem plants. I ordered a bunch of small sword-type plants online
(great service, btw aquariumplant.com) and today I got to work. I took out
a bucketful of stem plants plus a humongous sword that had gotten too big
for my 110 gallon tank. That's the second sword I've gotten rid of for
being too big! Anyhow, the tank looks very empty, but the fish seem to
like having more space to swim. This should decrease the maintenance
required significantly and improve the health of the other plants. Some of
my crypts were hurting due to all the shade those weeds produced.
I can't possibly imagine how fast they would grow if I added CO2!?!?!?!?

Anybody out there ever got tired of their stem plants?

Cheers.

Victor

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv


I also get tired of pruning a couple of times a week, but when I did get rid
of some of my stem plants I noticed an increase in aggression in some of my
fish in my community tank, I put this down to the fact the stem plants act
as good boundary markers and camouflage. How do you guys get around this? Or
are your fish better behaved than mine?

Tony.

Stem plants are a lot of work. I've gotten rid of a lot of mine. But I still
keep a few, of the easy-to-maintain variety. (Hygrophila difformis, Limnophila
indica, etc.) I've found that without stem plants, algae is more of a problem,
so I'm not planning to get rid of them all together.


Leigh

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