Many Aquatic plants grow roots at "nodes" on their stems--it means they are
happy!!!!

Lowcoaster

"Nemo" wrote in message
.. .
All right, at first it was fun to watch. Now it is becoming an unsightly
mess. All of the stem plants are growing roots in the water column outside
the substrate. Is this something I have to learn to admire, or is there
something that needs to be done I'm not doing?



The ludwigia repens is doing so well, the leaves are a gorgeous mahogany
brown. But the roots it has grown outside the substrate are so thick; they
are ruining its look

"Nemo" wrote in message
...
"RedForeman ©®" wrote in message
...
Usually it means that your substrate it too thin and light is
penetrating
the top 1" or
so, and when the roots see sun, they grow toward it... That's what
I've
heard, and it might be true, but I think it's just normal for roots
to
shoot 'out' and in your case, up... you can continue to pour gravel
back
over it, use your finger to stick the roots back down, or trim them.

I usually thin the patch a bit or add gravel to cover...

btw, how deep is your substrate?

No, the problem I'm having is with roots way up in the water column.
The
roots are growing where the leave nodes are, and are forming a
system/network in the water. Some of the roots actually head down
towards
the substrate but it is a long way down! Others just branch out in the
water
itself the way roots usually do in the ground - like the roots of the
water
lettuce.

My substrate is 2.5 inches 100% Fluorite. The light does penetrate the
upper
inch or so I'd say, but that's only because my dwarf hairgrass ground
cover
has not spread yet.

Nemo, I can't help you get rid of the roots, but if you keep pushing the
plant into the substrate, it will creep along the bottom like a
foreground plant. We have a single rosefolia covering about 3 square
feet of a 60g tank. We are going to try it with Pennywort in another
tank next. It looks really interesting. The tetras stay above it and
all the bottom-feeders (shrimps, Otos, Corys & SAEs) live under their
private jungle canopy. I could never catch anything under there, but
it's really a Neon tetra tank anyways.

NetMax