Too much of a good thing??? The ability of roots to damage the aquarium over time???

[Magnum Man]

I love the Pothos vines growing out of my tanks… but I’m becoming worried about the roots damaging the tank seal… climbing vines have very versatile roots, they can attach themselves to nearly any surface… the “foot roots” the vine puts down, along the vine, for support, are different than the bushy roots, that come from the base of the plant… I have some growing all the way through the water, to the bottom, and under the substrate, they have forced their way, between the sealant ( caulk ) I used between the tank, and the wall, when the tanks were built in, 25 years ago, so they are capable…
Mrs. planted some trumpet vines outside, on the stone fireplace, and they forced themselves under the siding, and re-emerged 20 feet later down the wall of the house…

On the tanks, my goal was to let them grow naturally, but I think the thicker foot roots maybe should have the ends trimmed, so I can always see them, rather than forgetting about them, and having them cause a leak on the seal of the tank??? thoughts???

 

[GaryE]

That is something I've never considered. And it's a serious something.

I've avoided the question by regularly having to move roots around, and I usually trim them above the surface because with tiny fish, they can vanish into root tangles. You need to be able to check on them, so I haven't allowed the roots to get too dug in. That hasn't been because of the question you've raised, but maybe it should have been.

 

[noahm]

I would not have thought of that with most plants, but some are designed for exactly what you are describing. Nearly all vining epiphytes exhibit this to some degree -- breaking through mortar, cracking brick, and generally stiicking to any surface. As you know, Pothos have very very fine hair roots for attachment in humid environment. Those same roots lead the way for the root tip...

That said, they "should" be far less likely to separate a normal aquarium seam than most other situations. The taper and smoothness of the glass/silicone joint is a pretty difficult place to insert the hair roots that will eventually expand. Even in your wall example, I suspect the roots penetrated the micro-pores and micro-cracks of the wall/sealant part of the joint rather than the glass/sealant part unless it was not layed smooth somewhere.

In any case, I would keep them from reaching the bottom and up under frames etc. We have a pothos in the corner that regular attaches to the wall if left too long.

Very cool and interesting experience BTW.

 

[Magnum Man]

This is the tank the Pothos grows out of, and at the base of plant roots, they grow bushy…

This is the tank that most concerns me, these long straight roots, are “foot roots” that grow out of mid stem… I like the vine look, and the fish love them, but shooting down to the corners concern me… the tanks are old, so the sealant may be harder, than on a new tank, not sure if that would help, or hurt???

 

[Magnum Man]

I have white shower panel type material as liners on the aquarium side of the walls that are built around the aquariums, and that is a smooth & sealed type material, yet the Pothos can literally weld it's self to these panels, with their micro fibers, on those foot roots...

I have a long handled stainless scissors, made for pruning plants... I may take the most concerning roots, & trim the ends, just to see what happens... if it stops growing further, that would be good, if it send out multiples from the trimmed end, that could actually be worse, & I may have to start trimming them a couple inches from any contact with the tank???

 

[noahm]

... I may have to start trimming them a couple inches from any contact with the tank???

This ^^. The Pothos will take nearly any kind of beating you give it, but the tank may not. The flat glass is fine, but anything close to the seams, I would remove.

This reminds me of a bigger picture thought I occasionally have. How long would it take to make the cities and streets unrecognizable if left without cleaning up leaves and weeds and no people. My feeling is in 5 years there would be trees 8 feet tall lining nearly every street curb, not to mention actual growing areas.

 

[GaryE]

This ^^. The Pothos will take nearly any kind of beating you give it, but the tank may not. The flat glass is fine, but anything close to the seams, I would remove.

This reminds me of a bigger picture thought I occasionally have. How long would it take to make the cities and streets unrecognizable if left without cleaning up leaves and weeds and no people. My feeling is in 5 years there would be trees 8 feet tall lining nearly every street curb, not to mention actual growing areas.

We're drifting off the original post (as usual) but as a northern person, I was astonished at the strength of the forest growth in Gabon. Everything is weathered there, but signs from Chinese corporations by roads could still look crisp, while the logging camps abandoned one or two years before already had vines stretching across their access roads. In the equatorial climate, the wounded and transformed secondary forest still tried to reclaim everything, rapidly.
Here, with the seasons, it's slower, but there are tracts of northern Maine that were settled and farmed before the Americans had their civil war, but that now look like they've always been deep forest. You see the stone pile fences, and aerial photos show the fields, but at ground level, a city person like me'd think it was all undisturbed.


And the future shall be heralded by trumpet vines?

 

[Magnum Man]

they have been doing a lot of road construction around here the last couple years... even on a concrete freeway, if a lane is blocked off, for even a few weeks, knee high weeds grow out of the cracks and expansion joins