How do I prune anacharis?

[Ms.Bubbles]

Hi everyone,
I put some anacharis in my tank last week and it's already starting to grow a few inches and is sending out long white shoots/roots, which is great. Unfortunately, it's also starting to turn brown around the bottom 1 inch or so near the gravel (I just lightly pushed the stem into the substrate to anchor it and put a little gravel on the bottom half inch or so to weigh the stem down). So I'm wondering how to go about pruning this plant-- it's both rooting and decomposing at the same time! Also, the floating stems at the top of the tank are sending down long roots to the gravel, which looks a bit scary--do I need to keep these on the plant? Can I cut them off?
Thanks
:)

[Leopardess]

You can cut the white strands off. They're just trying to anchor the plant. Anachris can be floated or planted. Problem is, it doesn't grow true "roots" to speak of, and the parts in/near the substrate can get a little dumpy from lack of light.

As for how to prune it, pretty much anything goes. You could almost blend the plant up and it'd still grow. If you cut the plant in half, it will continue to grow from the cut (and branch out from there). If you're looking to propogate it, cutting it into many smaller strands will furnish more stems. If you're looking to keep the pretty tops, you can cut some of the bottom stems off and replant the nice looking tops where you want them.

[Ms.Bubbles]

Thanks Leopardess!