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Recently my plants have for some reason been growing really well, are lovely and healthy and generally look great. I only have straight vallis, a crypt and one other leafy variety which I'm not sure of the name. I think they had a growth spurt because I really cracked down on how much algae was in the tank (would this have an effect by the way?)

The problem is I think my plants are now doing TOO well! There's so much of them I'm worried they might steal the fishys oxygen at night or that they are taking over the swimming space..

Can you have too many plants and should I do some gardening or is it ok to have loads and should I be please that they are growing so nicely... Thanks for any help!

Many planted tanks will get a trimming on occasion . Depending on the tank some will need trimming more often than others.
The way to tell if your plants are consuming too much of the oxygen overnight is to check on the tank right before lights on. If the fish seem to be gasping @the surface you may want to take steps to increasing the ammount of oxygen in the water.
Something you'll want to keep an eye on is the nutrient consumption of the plants...once they deplete whats available you may end up with algae issues.

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cookypuss01,

Now that is a nice problem to have, what is your secret?

IMHO I would say that you could let your plants grow until you don’t like the look of it anymore.
For sure there are many other aspects that you might consider, for example, as you mentioned, the
free space for your fishies to swim. Regarding your concerns of a lack of oxygen at night, you could
always add an air stone (and run it only at night).

I am sure that you will reach a point at which you will have to trim your plants, if you want to see
your fish once in a while.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well little fish I'm not sure what my secret is! I think maybe the algae that was in the tank was stealing the nutrients or something, and when I got rid of it all the plants had a growth spurt.
I don't think the fish are having breathing problems at all, (though I will watch out) and I make sure to have an airstone on all the time. But I think I might attempt to do some amateur aquascaping today, because it's like a jungle in there at the moment! Or I might branch out and get some more varieties of plants and cut back on the vallis

well..a said...when u think its getting to big..its time to cut them....trim them well...make sure u just remove the eye sore and not to shock the plants. if u dont see any fish gsaping for air...and u maintain surface agitation..then...that would be enuf...adding an airstone will just displace the co2 during daytime specially if ur have alkaline and soft water....so..if u have one...just turn it on at nite.

So is it bad to have airstones on in the day too? There is a bit of surface agitation from the filter outlet, but I think i'm a bit of an obsessive fishkeeper and worry about my fish not having enough oxygen, which is why i have an airstone on all the time.....


Should I only have the airstone on at night?

Last edited by cookypuss01 at 19-Jun-2005 15:11

Yes, during the day the plants produce oxygen and if doing well enough they can be as effective as a bubbler. During the night the plants consume oxygen and may reduce the concentration enough to cause problems for your fish. Adding an airstone would only be necessary if your fish are having trouble breathing. However, if you add an airstone during the day you may lose some CO2 which plants use to grow, and your plants will then suffer. So it would seem the best idea to add the airstone at night when it is the most likely that your fish will need more oxygen.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Just want to underline that you really should only add an airstone to a planted tank if the fish are actually gasping for air in the mornings before lights on. Otherwise as matty mentioned you'll end up with swings in your CO2 levels...which can lead to it's own host of issues; including but not limited to ph swings and various algae issues.

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Well thanks for the info. Maybe thats why I had a problem with algae beforehand. Though surely if the C02 was being diffused the plants wouldn't be doing so well and mine are doing crazily well...plant growing is confusing....

I would rather the plants not do so well than the fish though! perhaps I'll experiment with the airstone off for one day and see how they like it.