# so i got some anacharis for my tank



## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

i heard it grows pretty fast, so when is it really time to clip them?

i got two stalks and there was an extra small piece about 3 or 4 inches long on its own that i just planted separate just to see how fast it grows, ive seen tanks with plants that grow as tall as the water level and even bend at the water line and continue horizontally on the surface

is trimming just for the owners expense or is there anything beneficial to it?


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## M1ster Stanl3y (Dec 10, 2010)

i picked up 2 bunches 2 weeks ago and planted them in my substrate. I havent seen them grown any taller yet but have gone from the green/brown at the LFS to nice n green now. A few of them have sprouted off shoots and what looks like feelers coming out of the sides. When it comes to plants that grow from clippings i would think once it was the size you wanted to then you clip em there. mine are growing out in a vertical 10 while i wait for my 55 to get set up.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

M1ster Stanl3y said:


> i picked up 2 bunches 2 weeks ago and planted them in my substrate. I havent seen them grown any taller yet but have gone from the green/brown at the LFS to nice n green now. A few of them have sprouted off shoots and what looks like feelers coming out of the sides. When it comes to plants that grow from clippings i would think once it was the size you wanted to then you clip em there. mine are growing out in a vertical 10 while i wait for my 55 to get set up.


my fishes were thoroughly interested in the plants the second i planted them in my substrate, the 2 angel fish started eating it for a while and stopped eating the next day, they peck on it once in a while as do my platy's. at least they knew the difference between the real plants and the plastic ones.

my petco that i go to was out of anacharis so i went to petsmart and had a ton left over, all nice green little brown. and a much more clean fish presentation and selection, and i thought petco cleaned their tanks very well, if only petsmart was closer to me, or better yet a real fish store

the plants were much taller looking in my tank then they were in the store or the bag they gave me to take it home in


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You mostly clip at a point that you decide. If you want to replant the clip, then let the main plant grow out enough to where the plant left behind is what you want and the clipping is a decent size to be replanted. I usually clip 4-5", but you don't have to wait until the clipping is going to be that long if you don't want.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

what are the bubbles coming out of the anacharis? theres just a constant flow of tiny bubbles coming out some parts of the plants


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## tscott (Jan 7, 2011)

Most likely oxygen, they take in CO2 and give out O2


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

tscott said:


> Most likely oxygen, they take in CO2 and give out O2


ok, thats what i thought it was


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## J-Pond (Jun 8, 2009)

When you decide to clip anacharis the best way is to pick a height you like. Pinch off the top section, after you have the top section pulled off, at the bottom inch you should carefully remove the leafs then just place it into the substrate. I got a bunch (6 stems) over a year ago, it has turned into about 30 stems the first 3 months. I usually wait to trim until they reach the water surface. I usually give a bunch every month to a friend who has a turtle, great salad for him. My goldies do eat some but it grows very fast so it's hard to notice.


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

I've had ups and downs with Anacharis

I bought a bunch to put in my 10 gallon a long time ago. When I got out of the 10 gallon and set up and moved into the 30 gallon, most of the Anacharis was basically dieing and the little leaves were all over the tank and constantly clogging up the filter. So I tossed it all away when I moved into the 30 gallon accept for one small piece that looked very green and healthy. It was only about 4" long, and had about a 1" root protruding from one end, so I pushed that end into the substrate just to see what would happen. It didn't do anything for almost a month and a half, but in the last 10 days or so it has EXPLODED, and it probably about a 24" long vine now, and has branched off 2 shoots that are about 6" and 3". I'm not sure what made it suddenly come to life, but it's as green as can be, and isn't loosing any leaves. I do dose the tank once a week with ferts, but I had been doing that they first month and a half too when it wasn't growing any.


I haven't bothered to trim it yet; it's stretching it's way across the tank from the left to the right; it's a little over half way across the tank now. When I do go to trim it, I'm going to trim it right at the point where it branches out, because there's some more roots sprouting from there too. I'll just plant the new rooted ends in the substrate, probably on the other side of the tank, and see if they meet in the middle after time 














this is the same piece about 3 weeks ago before I rearranged the tank and put it in that back corner


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

J-Pond said:


> When you decide to clip anacharis the best way is to pick a height you like. Pinch off the top section, after you have the top section pulled off, at the bottom inch you should carefully remove the leafs then just place it into the substrate. I got a bunch (6 stems) over a year ago, it has turned into about 30 stems the first 3 months. I usually wait to trim until they reach the water surface. I usually give a bunch every month to a friend who has a turtle, great salad for him. My goldies do eat some but it grows very fast so it's hard to notice.


wow, even the leaves will sprout to grow as plants as well as trimming of larger pieces? this should be interesting when i start doing this


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## J-Pond (Jun 8, 2009)

Jack Harkness said:


> wow, even the leaves will sprout to grow as plants as well as trimming of larger pieces? this should be interesting when i start doing this


No, sorry if I confussed you, the leafs will not grow new stems. The reason you pull them off is to give the bottom a clean place to start, not sure why or how but with no leafs the roots seem to start in place of them.


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## J-Pond (Jun 8, 2009)

automatic-hydromatic said:


> I've had ups and downs with Anacharis
> 
> I bought a bunch to put in my 10 gallon a long time ago. When I got out of the 10 gallon and set up and moved into the 30 gallon, most of the Anacharis was basically dieing and the little leaves were all over the tank and constantly clogging up the filter. So I tossed it all away when I moved into the 30 gallon accept for one small piece that looked very green and healthy. It was only about 4" long, and had about a 1" root protruding from one end, so I pushed that end into the substrate just to see what would happen. It didn't do anything for almost a month and a half, but in the last 10 days or so it has EXPLODED, and it probably about a 24" long vine now, and has branched off 2 shoots that are about 6" and 3". I'm not sure what made it suddenly come to life, but it's as green as can be, and isn't loosing any leaves. I do dose the tank once a week with ferts, but I had been doing that they first month and a half too when it wasn't growing any.


When I planted mine in the goldie tank (where they are now) it took awhile for them to really start growing. I think once the waste really sunk through the gravel the roots were able to feed from there. 
I tried using Flurish Excel for my other plants but it seemed to melt the Anacharis so I stopped, they did bounce back.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

J-Pond said:


> No, sorry if I confussed you, the leafs will not grow new stems. The reason you pull them off is to give the bottom a clean place to start, not sure why or how but with no leafs the roots seem to start in place of them.


so when you clip a piece off a big one you clip the leaves on the bottom part that gonna be planted and in place of the leaves it grows roots?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

It will grow even if you don't clip leaves. I always left the leaves to give the substrate more to grab onto. I have very loose planted substrate and it comes up very easily. For that reason it has been removed from all my tanks. Good plant to start a planted tank with....easy.

Travis...your plant doesn't look like any anacharis I've had. Just looks different. My leaves were closer and more abundant. Different vars. I guess.


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## roacan (Dec 25, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> It will grow even if you don't clip leaves. I always left the leaves to give the substrate more to grab onto. I have very loose planted substrate and it comes up very easily. For that reason it has been removed from all my tanks. Good plant to start a planted tank with....easy.
> 
> Travis...your plant doesn't look like any anacharis I've had. Just looks different. My leaves were closer and more abundant. Different vars. I guess.


Mine is kinda mixed. Leaves have big gaps in the middle but when it got closer to the light, it grew denser leaves.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

i like when theres direct sunlight in my tank on my anacharis, theres a string of bubbles that come out when its hit with sunlight and, ive also noticed that its grown a little bit already.

by the way, how much live plants do you need to offset the ammonia since anacharis takes in ammonia


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## roacan (Dec 25, 2010)

I'm new to this but I'm gonna take a shot..

I believe that the bacteria colonies would take care of the ammonia and nitrite when the tank is mature/cycled. So the anacharis would be using the nitrates.

How much anacharis? I guess you have to experiment by checking the nitrates on your water.


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## J-Pond (Jun 8, 2009)

jrman83 said:


> Travis...your plant doesn't look like any anacharis I've had. Just looks different. My leaves were closer and more abundant. Different vars. I guess.


There are two types of Anacharis, Egeria najas & Egeria densa. with the najas the leaves are spread out more, I believe that is what Travis has. I know you don't have to pull off the leafs when you re-plant this, but it seems to give it a jump start.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

J-Pond said:


> There are two types of Anacharis, Egeria najas & Egeria densa. with the najas the leaves are spread out more, I believe that is what Travis has. I know you don't have to pull off the leafs when you re-plant this, but it seems to give it a jump start.


I've had both types and still none are even close in looks. Both vars are full of leaves and have no gaps between them.


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## Jack Harkness (Jan 20, 2011)

i have 2 pretty big stalks that have a lot of branching, its growing fast and at a weird angle on the newly grown parts that grew since i got it, almost like a 90 degree angle going down.

glad to know that the tank isnt too warm for them, the container at the store said between 65 and 75, but because of the fish in there i have to be around 80-82 and the anacharis is growing pretty fast, and insanely green


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