Hornwort

[laurenrocksth]

Hi everyone!!! I just bought several bunches of horwort for my 125g oscar tank. The tank right now only has stupid plastic plants. I would love to plant it but don't trust the oscars and the pleco. Anyway, when I get the hornwort, do I just stick it in there and let it float? I read somewhere that once the hornwort uses up all of the nitrate in the water that they will die. Is this true? Do I just need to replace it when it starts to look gross? I know that I shouldn't buy plants unless I've researched them but this was on ebay for super cheap and I thought that I may may have finally found a live plant that I could put in there.

 

[petluvr]

What is your wattage over the tank? I have hornwort in two tanks one it floats and the other it has grabbed on to some java moss so it stays in place. Both are doing fine no shedding as of yet. Hornwort does like cooler temps. What is the temp in the tank?

 

[laurenrocksth]

Crap... I have two standard 36" all-glass aquarium lights with whatever bulbs they came with. I could upgrade to plant bulbs without a problem. The problem is that the tank is pretty consistently 78-80 degrees. Is that awful?

 

[KIM_TMA]

I have a tank that hornwort floats in and it stays around 78-80 degrees too. It stays more of a lime green color than a rich dark evergreen. It don't shed in there. So you may be alright. My snails groom it alot though so that might be what is helping it.

 

[clsanchez77]

I read somewhere that once the hornwort uses up all of the nitrate in the water that they will die.

I would believe that your oscars will provide the nutrients needed to continually grow the plant through you feeding them and then their waste. Unless, of course, your filters can out compete the plant for the nutrients.

 

[Notophthalmus]

You can sink the hornwort with metal plant weights; this way it's not floating around and getting tangled up with the filter, but it won't rot either (sometimes it will rot if you bury the stem in gravel).