To trim, or not to trim?

[Scaperoot]

    In the latest stream, Cory mentioned that he doesn't bother trimming dying leaves from plants in his tanks. I always thought you needed to trim in order for the plant to focus its energy on new growth. What am I missing? I currently have a couple plants with leaves that are dying, which have drawn the attention of my Otos. Are they eating them? 

[Pepere]

Well, In a natural environment, nobody is going down and trimming off dying leaves in the wild…

But I am pretty quick at doing it in my tanks.. a dying leaf is not likely to recover.  It is impeding water flow, taking up space, blocking light to below it, and leaching waste organics and a likely starting point for more algae to grow….

 

You dont “have” to do anything about it, and if I had as many gallons worth of tanks Cory has,  and as many business needs and other needs to attend to, I probably wouldnt either.  But I have 3 tanks and I enjoy tending to them in the morning.. I find it relaxing…

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I don’t immediately trim dying leaves. Like @Pepere mentioned about Cory, I have a lot of gallons and work more than anybody should, so I leave them be. At least for a bit. However, there definitely comes a point that I don’t want it in the tank anymore and pull it out. Essentially, I put up with it longer than some people do, but eventually I take it out of the tank. 

[Scaperoot]

I understand. If I had many tanks I probably wouldn’t find time to deal with it either. I guess what I should have asked is whether not trimming would have any kind of negative impact on the health of the fish or other inhabitants. Thank you both for your insights. 

[Ninjoma]

On 7/17/2023 at 1:50 PM, Scaperoot said:

    In the latest stream, Cory mentioned that he doesn't bother trimming dying leaves from plants in his tanks. I always thought you needed to trim in order for the plant to focus its energy on new growth. What am I missing? I currently have a couple plants with leaves that are dying, which have drawn the attention of my Otos. Are they eating them? 

The explanation I have heard from Cory, is that if a leaf is dying off it is because the plant is consuming the nutrients from the leaf to use elsewhere. I personally trim dying leaves if I don't like how they look, and leave them otherwise.