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Aquarium guides/Trimming aquarium plants

Trimming aquarium plants: stems, rosettes, rhizomes, carpets

Trim stem plants by cutting the top off and replanting it, rosette plants by removing the oldest outer leaves at the base, rhizome plants by cutting old leaves at the rhizome, and carpets like a lawn. Trim before plants reach the surface and shade everything below; remove every cut piece so it does not rot.

Trimming aquarium plants: stems, rosettes, rhizomes, carpets
Photo: Show_ryu, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Stem plants

Ludwigia, water wisteria, hornwort and other stem plants grow from the tip. Cut a stem a few inches below the surface with sharp scissors: the stump usually sprouts side shoots and the plant turns bushy. Replant the healthy tops and pull out bare old stems.

Rosette plants and rhizomes

Swords, crypts and vallisneria grow from a crown: remove the oldest, outer leaves at the base and leave the crown alone. Java fern and anubias: cut damaged or algae-covered leaves where they meet the rhizome. Cut vallisneria leaves only when needed; cut leaves stop growing and slowly die.

After trimming

Net out every floating piece. Big trims free nutrients and shade, so a water change afterwards helps keep algae away. Cuttings can start new plants: propagating aquarium plants.

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