Hornwort

[Divinityinlove]

I added it to my shrimp tank and its doing OK. I'm now considering adding it to other tanks but just read that hornwort releases a chemical which inhibits the growth of other plants. It said you might see other plants die off after adding it.

My shrimp tank only has moss. The moss has slowed in growth but I thought that is due to lighting change or more plants competing.

Pleaded share your experience if hornwort has been kept in your tank along with other plants. I was going to add it to my goldfish tank, 22°C with some carpet plant or stem plants.... Currently researching what to choose. I don't want to spread the hornwort to other tanks if it needs to be the only plant.

 

[Uberhoust]

I keep Hornwort and Vallisnaria in my tanks. I have kept Vals since 1970s. I cannot say I have seen any Allelopathic issues though both are considered to produce them. If they do have an effect it would be reduced by large water changes. There is some stuff on the web about it. Note one site suggests that hornwort is allelopathic towards blue green algae, but if it is the effect is so minor that I still can have the bacteria grown on my hornwort. https://aquariumbreeder.com/allelopathy-or-warfare-in-aquarium-plants/ https://pondinformer.com/hornwort-c...ombination,blue-green algae and cyanobacteria

Some of the sites I have looked at suggest that Allelopathy is affecting their plants but in others they list examples of where it is more a competition for resources. Likely a bit of both, but if the plants have enough resources, nutrients, they should do well. I will mention that a recent issue I have had has indicated to me that the Amazons swords, the Echinodorus species do not compete as well as Vals do for nutrients, but once the nutrients were available the swords bounced back.

 

[Aqua67]

I have kept hornwort off and on over the years. Right now for the past 9 months I’ve had it in a 5.5 gallon tank. It was so thick I pulled out about 8 cups of the stuff so I could see in order to remove molts when I was trying to solve a problem. Anyhow, this tank has had dwarf saggitaria and while all of that hornwort was in the tank the saggitaria has sprouted off a “baby” plantlet. The susswassertang is doing fine, it grows slowly anyhow. The small java fern on some driftwood is still growing and wrapping onto the wood nicely. The small pieces of guppy grass continue to exist. The water lettuce is doing fine. I do not fertilize my crusteacean tank. If ever there was enough hornwort to choke out all of the plants, I surely had it. I still have a lot in the little aquarium but much of it has been moved to my other aquariums, a 30 gal and a 38 gal.

Perhaps that is true though for some plants(?). I cannot say. But it has not seemed to adversely affect the plants in my little 5.5 gallon crusteacean tank (shrimp, micro crabs, scuds, bladder and ramshorn snails).

I hope this is helpful.

 

[Divinityinlove]

I have kept hornwort off and on over the years. Right now for the past 9 months I’ve had it in a 5.5 gallon tank. It was so thick I pulled out about 8 cups of the stuff so I could see in order to remove molts when I was trying to solve a problem. Anyhow, this tank has had dwarf saggitaria and while all of that hornwort was in the tank the saggitaria has sprouted off a “baby” plantlet. The susswassertang is doing fine, it grows slowly anyhow. The small java fern on some driftwood is still growing and wrapping onto the wood nicely. The small pieces of guppy grass continue to exist. The water lettuce is doing fine. I do not fertilize my crusteacean tank. If ever there was enough hornwort to choke out all of the plants, I surely had it. I still have a lot in the little aquarium but much of it has been moved to my other aquariums, a 30 gal and a 38 gal.

Perhaps that is true though for some plants(?). I cannot say. But it has not seemed to adversely affect the plants in my little 5.5 gallon crusteacean tank (shrimp, micro crabs, scuds, bladder and ramshorn snails).

I hope this is helpful.

Very helpful thanks

 

[sharkweek178]

I keep Hornwort and Vallisnaria in my tanks. I have kept Vals since 1970s. I cannot say I have seen any Allelopathic issues though both are considered to produce them. If they do have an effect it would be reduced by large water changes. There is some stuff on the web about it. Note one site suggests that hornwort is allelopathic towards blue green algae, but if it is the effect is so minor that I still can have the bacteria grown on my hornwort. https://aquariumbreeder.com/allelopathy-or-warfare-in-aquarium-plants/ https/pondinformer.com/hornwort-ceratophyllum-demersum/#:~:text=Hornwort releases a specific combination,blue-green algae and cyanobacteria

Some of the sites I have looked at suggest that Allelopathy is affecting their plants but in others they list examples of where it is more a competition for resources. Likely a bit of both, but if the plants have enough resources, nutrients, they should do well. I will mention that a recent issue I have had has indicated to me that the Amazons swords, the Echinodorus species do not compete as well as Vals do for nutrients, but once the nutrients were available the swords bounced back.

I was keeping water wisteria and it was growing fine. After I added salvinia minima, it stopped growing and started dying. I sometimes wonder if the problem isn't more of fast growing plants competing for the resources in a limited space.

 

[Uberhoust]

fast growing plants competing for the resources in a limited space

I have had a similar issue. My amazon Swords have actually been dying off. I have been having an issue with cyanobacteria in one tank so I went to a lot of effort to keep the nutrient load in the tank low. I went too far and my swords have started to die back, but not the cyanobacteria. The Vals continued to grow but not a vigorously as they had in the past but I still had to remove about 8 new plants a week. But after applying liquid and solid fertilizer the Swords have in three weeks started to vigorously grow again. So in my mind faster growing plants will outcompete the slower ones in a nutrient limited environment. Of course this would be the same time that any Allelopathic compounds would also have their greatest affect.

 

[sharkweek178]

I have had a similar issue. My amazon Swords have actually been dying off. I have been having an issue with cyanobacteria in one tank so I went to a lot of effort to keep the nutrient load in the tank low. I went too far and my swords have started to die back, but not the cyanobacteria. The Vals continued to grow but not a vigorously as they had in the past but I still had to remove about 8 new plants a week. But after applying liquid and solid fertilizer the Swords have in three weeks started to vigorously grow again. So in my mind faster growing plants will outcompete the slower ones in a nutrient limited environment. Of course this would be the same time that any Allelopathic compounds would also have their greatest affect.

Finding the right balance between the needs of the plants and the right amount of light and nutrients is a bit of a struggle. But it's an interesting challenge. And when setting up a tank, it's dynamic. You might have it figured out but when you add more plants or fish, the balance is off again.

 

[Divinityinlove]

I moved the hornwort from the shrimp tank to the goldfish tank, now I can see clearly the moss have become stringy and weak looking... However it is very visible with the hornwort planted in the goldfish tank that this hornwort is the greenest, healthiest performing plant I've ever had in my 3- 4 years of aquarium keeping. So, perhaps it is a great plant for my tanks, but maybe I'll see how the Anubias and few hygrophilas do sharing a tank with it, and also will see if the mosses improve now they aren't competing... Will update this thread as well if any worthy notable changes

These mosses were growing so well before the hornwort and now you can see one of them isn't growing at all on the right perch... It's jusr dying on the steel mesh instead. The one on the left perch is fluffy but was at that level before and hasn't grown much since hornwort added.

This was much more lush than it is now.

Hornwort looks as great as months ago when I received it. I had it floating and I think one reason all my floating plants do well is they're right up against the light like the tops of the hornwort. None of my other plants perform this well but I'm not sure how much brighter I can go without bothering the fish. I have 4.5W LED tubes.

 

[Divinityinlove]

I keep Hornwort and Vallisnaria in my tanks. I have kept Vals since 1970s. I cannot say I have seen any Allelopathic issues though both are considered to produce them. If they do have an effect it would be reduced by large water changes. There is some stuff on the web about it. Note one site suggests that hornwort is allelopathic towards blue green algae, but if it is the effect is so minor that I still can have the bacteria grown on my hornwort. https://aquariumbreeder.com/allelopathy-or-warfare-in-aquarium-plants/ https/pondinformer.com/hornwort-ceratophyllum-demersum/#:~:text=Hornwort releases a specific combination,blue-green algae and cyanobacteria

Some of the sites I have looked at suggest that Allelopathy is affecting their plants but in others they list examples of where it is more a competition for resources. Likely a bit of both, but if the plants have enough resources, nutrients, they should do well. I will mention that a recent issue I have had has indicated to me that the Amazons swords, the Echinodorus species do not compete as well as Vals do for nutrients, but once the nutrients were available the swords bounced back.

This is the article I read as well. So does hornwort stop the growth of Black algae and brown algae too?

 

[Uberhoust]

In my honest opinion I don't think hornwort will stop Black Algae or Brown Algae. It might if you had all hornwort in your tank and never changed the water but that would bring with it other issues.