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As the title states, there are long stringy things hanging off the egeria densa (anacharis) plants I have in my tank. Does anybody know if these "strings" are part of the plant, or are they hitchhikers ????

Those are probably the roots of the plant (can't be certain without a picture, but they do send down roots and I can't think of anything else it would be). Egeria doesn't root in the substrate as much as it takes nutrients directly from the water, so those roots allow the plant to get the nutrients it needs to grow.

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Are they coming off the main stem of the plant and if that is so they will be the aerial roots of the plant. If they are coming off the leaves then it will be something totally different. If it is that I suggest you post a photo.

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Thanks folks,
I kind of figured they would be roots, but I have seen no pics of this plant with such. They are indeed coming off the stem of the plant & sort of appear as though they wrap around the stem once then hang. They were not there when I purchased them, so I wasn't sure what they were. Unfortunately, I cannot post a pic as I am not a premium member, but having read alot of info on this forum from ya'lls posts, I am very confident that they are as some of you have said, roots. Thanks again for your help

Hi,
As has been stated, and you surmised, they are "aerial
roots." Just grab them and pull them off to eliminate
the "stringy" appearance. It won't hurt the plants at
all.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

We have the same plants (in a just started aquarium) that are yellowing on the tips. There are some Cabomba plants, a small lily pad, 1 Beta, a few ghost shrimp, a few river guppies and some mosquito guppies in there so far. Our substrate is a mix of river sand and larger rock. Is it yellowing due to lack of nutrition or is this a natural cycle? They look fine other than the yellowish tips and everyone else looks like it's doing well.No leaf droppage of any kind. There's even new leaf growth on the lily pad plant. Any tips or suggetions?

Hi,
This might be an interesting article for you to read:
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm

When you start up an aquarium with sand and river rock,
there is nothing there for the plants to feed on. Every
thing is new, and freshly washed. You might consider
adding one of the general fertilizers such as SeaChem's
Flourish, to the tank for a month or two until the tank
seasons, and some organic waste products start to accumulate.

Anacharis, is essentially, a cold water plant. If the
temperature of the water climbs too high (into the tropical
fish temperatures) then it can start to wither and die off.
Cabomba can be a "tricky" plant to grow as it likes
specific water conditions to really thrive. It looks great
but for many it's a matter of "luck" (the right combination
of nutrients, light, and water conditions) to maintain a
lush growth.

When you transplant plants, they have to acclimate themselves
to their new environment. During that acclimation time,
the older, larger leaves, will yellow and eventually die
off as the plant uses its stored energy to grow new roots
into the new substrate, and it will also grow fresh new,
smaller leaves. Your yellowing of the tips could be this
acclimation process, or it could be symptoms of a nutrient
deficiency. Adding a liquid fert, carefully, dosing
within the limits on the container should help the plants.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

That is pretty much what we had been thinking. Thank you so much for the beneficial information, it will be very helpful. We bugged the guy at the pet shop too and he suggested we use RO water from our koi pond (which is in tip top condition, it's 3 years old and well established) to supplement the nutrients in the form of fish emulsion as well as fertilizers. This is our first aquatic plant tank so we're stumbling on it a bit, but with the help everyone is providing it's been so much easier! Thank you

Hi,
If there was some way for you to ensure that the water
taken from the Koi pond was "pure, clean, and parasite
free" then your LFS's suggestion has merit.

Personally, I would not chance it.
I'm curious why you are using Reverse Osmosis (RO) water
for the Koi pond? That must take a huge amount of water
over a season. Why not simply top the pond off naturally
with rain water, or with a hose from the tap?

If you are successful with a pond, then chances are, as
long as you keep in mind how small the tank is compared
to the pond, that you should be successful with the tank
as well. It's a "nano" pond. Things happen much faster
in a smaller enclosure. If it takes a month to happen
in the pond (algae, disease, infection, parasites),
then chances are you only have a week, maybe, for the
same thing to happen in the tank.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Oh, i thought he meant "run off" lol. No reverse osmosis here. It's rainwater to fill it with a home made bio filter. The pond outside has a very balanced plant and live animal ratio (fish, turtles, tadpoles, frogs)and we maintain it with barley straw during rainy periods to control the algae bloom. Other than it pretty much runs itself and we've only lost 1 fish in 2 years (a catfish during a cold snap). We have been putting the bubble stone in when it's the tank's dark time and today we grabbed some rich soil plugs and stuck them in there. The situation isn't too dire, I was just trying to be preemptive.

Ah, OK, we are all on the same playing field now!

Anytime you see something in Fish Profiles, that looks
like this MTS let your cursor sit on the letters and
the meaning will appear in a box on your screen.

CUL
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--