Hornwort Needle Shedding

[FlyingFishKeeper]

Hello everyone! Is there a way to prevent new hornwort from shedding its needles when put into a new aquarium?

Edited November 28, 2020 by FlyingFishKeeper
Grammar

[ange]

Not really. A lot of plants melt back when initially added and shedding is hornwort's own version of that. Luckily that phase doesn't last forever.

[Maggie]

My hornwort has also become "leggy" due to losing needles. In one tank it grew to the top and is bent over, but at the bottom it is slim on needles. The only solution I found online is to trim it so it spreads out and not just up. 

[Tanked]

I'm glad to see this topic come up.  I've never had a problem with HW shedding until recently.  When the HW cloud in my 29 gal.  was the predominant surface plant there was almost no shedding.   When the Anacharis  established itself on the surface, the HW began to suffer.  

 

[Seized]

They shed alot when they get moved. Kind of like crypt melt. Best way to counter this is to get the tank parameters as close together as possible. Ph Gh Kh and temp are the most important ones. The more nutrients they have in the water the less they seem to shed.

[FlyingFishKeeper]

Will adjusting the parameters to match the previous tank stop it, or only lessen?

 

[H.K.Luterman]

Fertilizer would help too. Hornwort grows so fast, giving it a lot of "food" really helps. I find mine does really badly in tanks that don't have a lot of bioload.