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Re: trimming plants



>Date: Fri, 01 May 1998 12:20:21 -0400
>From: Kelly <apples at midohio_net>
>Subject: trimming plants
>
>Hi all,
>
>I've got a couple plants that have already grown out of the water--tall
>ways!!  They have only been planted for 14 days!!  One is an amazon
>sword, not sure of the other.  My question is how do I trim the plants? 
>Do I just snap of the protruding part or can I cut it off at the bottom
>of the stem and then stick the stem elsewhere in the tank and expect it
>to grow?  I have a 120g tank, layer of duplarit G and a 400W MH light.

Your swords, given proper care, will begin to send up or out runners.  The
runners will develop plantlets that can be detached from the parent plant
and planted themselves when they obtain a size of around 2-3".  You will
probably want to remove leaves from the base of the plant as they die.
Amazon swords will not regenerate from leaf cuttings.  

You can trip the plants by just pinching off the leaves that you want to
remove.  Without information about the other plant, I can't tell you
anything about it.  You may wind up with more help than you need or want in
trimming your plants, though.  See below for details.

>BTW, I bought a GIANT pleco to eat the algae that is just starting.  He
>is about 1/2 lb of fish, maybe 15 inches long.  The LFS has had him for
>about 2 weeks and I've been looking at him--they said he came out of a
>100g tank and they stuck him in a 20g--he has looked sooo sad and they
>cut his price in half, so I took him.  He knocked a few plants out, but
>not bad--that was my main concern w/him.  I will have to watch that he
>doesn't eat the plants w/the algae--he has a huge mouth!!

There a many species of suckermouth catfishes.  Most are abysmal algae
eaters and would much rather rasp on wood (or your plants) instead.  All
reports that I have read concerning "large" pl*cos involve large appetites
that don't particularly include algae, particularly if something more
palatable is available (plants).

Suckermouth catfish recommended on this forum include Ancistrus
(bristlenose catfish), Farlowella (whiptails), and Ottocinclus.  These are
much, much smaller fish than your large pl*co, and at least with
Ottocinclus, you will want a school of them.

--
David W. Webb