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Eleocharis acicularis trimming

jonny_ftm

Member
Joined
21 Jan 2009
Messages
137
Location
Switzerland
Hi

In the nano in my signature, I have a nice Eleocharis background going great since 8 months of immersion without any trimming. I only control the new roots so that they don't invade whole tank. It is now becoming too dense and I noticed subtle signs of potential problems due to the density (mainly organic matter accumulation while I never saw this before thanks to my shrimps and snails army + good flow)

I trimmed it hardly to the roots. Now, I fear that the trimmed dense carpet will decay while new leaves will grow. What will happen with all that decaying part? Can it trigger BGA and BBA as I know organic matter helps them a lot? Is this a good way to trim it? I saw others removing groups of the plant with their roots while maintaining nearby plants to avoid uprooting the whole stuff.

I'm wondering if I have to remove all the carpet (uproot) and replant small parts that will spread slowly like when I started it.

By the way, this tanks was always an algae free tank. I even never cleaned the glasses thanks to the low light and high CO2 combo. But with only 7 gal real volume, pollution with organic matter can be quickely an issue if not cared about in time.

Many thanks for any help
 
As a precautionary measure I would change more water more frequently to dilute any potential ammonia release.

Other than that I don't see any real issues. The 'decaying' part of the plant should recover quickly in a well-maintained and nutrient-rich set-up, especially if water changes are kept up. Eventually any decaying matter that isn't recovered may also be used up by the new roots systems.
 
In agreance over most points except that I found A. a much less forgivign of trimming than parva, A.a tends to prefer being trimmed much closer to the substrate than a parva and it also seemed to be more likely to die back when "shaped" than parva which to an extent was fine with it, just my observations and I'm sure others might well have found different but for me that's mainly how it's acted.
 
Thank you all for the feedback

No problem with nutrients/CO2 as plants are doing very well and no algae. I still do 50-60% WC every week.

It is hard to trim it close to the roots. The runners are above the ground often and of different height, so it would end up with many plants cut under the stem --> die

I'll add some waterchanges, keep an eye on fish/shrimps and any signs of algae. If I see issues, I'll increase waterchanges. If it doesn't help, I'll uproot it all and replant as when I started it. It will take less time than trimming this thing. Hopefully, 1-2x/year is ok for me

I'll let you know how it goes

Here's before the trimming:





Here's after trimming the mosses a week ago, and eleocharis a week later

 
Hi, here's the feedback

3 weeks later, with low CO2, less dosing, Riccia was completely rescaped and growed in 2 weeks as in the photo:





Also, this is now under lower Co2 (from 48 bpm to only 6 bpm), Waterchange 10% (2-3L) /week (was 60% /week), no more dosing macro, TPN only 1ml /week

No issues, no algae, no melting or bad decaying of trimmed parts
Many thanks to all of you
 
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