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If a dieing or dead plant is left in a tank too long, what would the results be?

How do you know for sure if the plant is really dieing or dead?

what kind of plant?? my crypts will have leaves die off at the rate of about 2-3 per week. my plecos love to munch on them as they decay, so i rarely see the decaying plant matter laying around for very long. the same thing happens with the amazon sword i have. the leaves will turn brown-ish, start to "melt" away, and then the plecos pounce on it and take care of it. if you are certain you won't be able to save the plant, then you should pull it out of the tank and throw it away. but i don't think it would affect your tank very much unless it is heavily overplanted.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Again, it depends what kind of plant. Most plants will have an awful smell if they rot. Taking it out of the water and sniffing it might give you an answer. Plants which leaves come out of the centre might die if the centre is rotting. At first it will look as if they've just stopped producing new leaves, and then the older leaves will slowly die. Take it and examine the centre. If it's rotting, then discard of it. If it's only the outer leaves, then just cut them off and put the plant back.

Having a rotting plant in your tank might foul your water, so it's best to make sure and take it out if it is rotting.

Currently, I just have some Hornhort. I've only had it for a week now. Some parts of it look a little withered and limp, but the rest looks fine. I just wanted to know if there is any definite way to tell when a plant is too far gone.

with hornwort, you can cut out the wilty parts and it will keep right on growing around the cuts.

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

Sounds good, thanks for the help.