orlando

Also! I guess you could say, when in doubt don't be afraid to hack!

-O

BryceM

Great thread!!!

Thanks Ghazanfar.

It's shocking that algae would dare make an appearance in one of your setups.

I was astonished the first time I saw the guys at AquaForest in San Fran mutilate their giant display tank. They were mercilessly mowing it down to within an inch or two of the substrate.

I then went home and tried the same thing with excellent results.

Freeman said it best: "Plants love scissors!"

With taller aquariums it's important to not let the growth get too high before cutting it way back. If you do the lower portions will be too far gone to regenerate nice growth.

Thanks for sharing!

AaronT

An excellent point. This is part of the reason for sloping the substrate so much higher in the back of the tank.

Bunbuku

Great thread!!

Will the trimming technique and timing be the same if one is interested in preserving a good looking scape long term (as opposed to maximizing the appearance for the perfect shot)?

AaronT

No, the technique is the same for long-term scapes. I've topped the same group of Rotalas 15+ times before replanting them.

Sunstar

I might consider doing this with flourite added to the substrate when I do. that way I can yoink out the old plants, replace with new ones but mingle flourite or remove old substrate alltogether in spot areas. Think that would work? That would keep my happy bacterial alive in other spots and not cause a full cycle. Hmmmmmm

davemonkey

Great post! This was VERY helpful to me as I am just now considering whether a good 'hacking' of my stems would help or hurt me. My stems are at a point where they need to be shaped, but I have let them get lanky at teh bottoms and bushy at the tops. Now I see that I should not be afraid to hack it off!

Off to get my scissors...

-Dave

nfrank

This would be a good site to list those stem plants and tanks conditiosn that might not be appropriate for "hacking" to get the stems to be bushy and still look nice. For example: Rotala macrandra. I typically hack off the tops many times but have noticed that eventually the bottoms develop a large mass of roots and have to be replaced with the tops. In the past, i have mostly had low amounts of nutrients in the water column and did not have rich substrates.

So, ...
(1) what are the stem plants that dont like hacking?
(2) are there certain tank conditions that are more appropriate for the hacking approach?
(3) can we prevent the lower stems from developing too many roots?

If there is interest, this should move to a separate thred. If so, add a link from this popular sticky.
--Neil

AaronT

There's not real way to avoid adventitious roots. Some plants will have them and others won't. A well planned aquascape always hides the lower portions of stem plants in the backround.

Rotalas are by far the easiest to hack back and let them regrow. It can also be done with Hygrophilas, Limnophilas, Ludwigias and several others.

Tonina fluviatilis is one that will not respond well to being hacked down.

Ghazanfar Ghori

Aaron is right on the money with his answer there. Rotalas, hygros, ludwigias - basically any stem plant that produces side shoots readily can be hacked back. The more easily the plant produces side shoots, the better it will be suited for this type of pruning. That said - this type of pruning is usually used for scaping. Before you start scaping, you should always know how specific plants grow in your tank / conditions. Most folks already start off that way - experimenting with different plants - gaining experience growing them, pruning them etc. With that knowledge, you should be able to make a good decision weather to hack back or not.

Tank conditions more appropriate for the hacking approach - high growth stem plant tanks are best suited. You don't want that tank to look bare for more than a week or two - just ugly!

As for the lower stems producing roots - I haven't found a way to prevent that - not that I've tried - the bottoms don't usually pose a problem because they're always well hidden beneath or hidden behind the hardscape. If you're able to see the ratty bottoms, you're doing something wrong - either from the pruning perspective or the scaping perspective - or it may just be time to start that group of plants over again with fresh stems.