dont EVER take plants out

[panboy]

Don't even take plants out.

they make a mess.
I was cleaning my tank today and i was trimming down my water wisteria.
Well i decided to take a semi large established root out, and OMG did it make a mess!
Once I pulled it out junk under the gravel uplifted and went all over the water. My tank became completely cloudy, And only from a decent size stem. It had a good root system, so thats what i think made a mess, since it disturbed so much gravel.

So i decided to come back half an hour later to let it settle. Well it settled alot, but now all the junk that was floating around is now settling and become a layer itself. You can clearly notice it settling on the plants, and even around the gravel, it looks so gross.

Ahh well now I have to vacuum my tank again, most likely tomorrow since its been a couple hours and its still cloudy.


My wisteria has been growing for a long time now sow i havent cleaned the gravel around it for a long time to....

Has this happneed to anyone with a heavily planted tank.

 

[Teelie]

Well rooted plants should never be taken out, no. It more often then not causes root and stem damage not to mention upsetting the rest of the tank and possibly killing the plant.

 

[Mamaschild]

I've had to remove plants that were well established....only because they grew so much I couldn't keep them in the tank I planted them in

I only do that WHILE doing a gravel vac/water change. That way, most of what is brought out of the substrate by the roots is immediately sucked out. You will still get some that's loose in the tank, but nothing like you got by removing it alone.

 

[Teelie]

Fortunately for me, none of my plants have had to be moved before they were well established, although I have had a few die from root damage before. I keep them in sand with a nutrient stick to feed the roots and they do extremely well on that, I just don't look forward to the day I have to move them. At least with the sand, there won't be the mess of detritus.

 

[snotirl]

DOnt u have a filter that should take care of the problem but maybe u dont

 

[Teelie]

Filtration can only do so much at once.

 

[Dwarfs]

Well I don't think panboy has an extremely large filter on his tank to instantly clean the water of all particles

 

[panboy]

yes i have a filter. lol

its an emperor400. plenty big and works great, but yeah u seriously wouldn't imagine the mess it made from just bringing up one plant. i was so shocked

 

[panboy]

Ahh im going crazy.

So the next day (today) after the mess has settled, i decide to vacuum the gross layer that has settled over my plants and gravel.

I vacuum and do a water change, and then a couple hours later i walk up to the tank and there is still stuff floating in the water.... not so bad.... but its not crystal clear how it use to be. ahh i dont wanan do another vacuum.

what the heck can i do to stop it

 

[Teelie]

Give it time to settle. Sometimes it can take days.

 

[blue_ram]

Give it time to settle. Sometimes it can take days.

Yup, it's the easiest and the best way to handle it. If you've already done vacuuming and water change, then don't worry about it. It'll be crystal clear again in a few days. Or you could have a major algae out break!