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By Jelly | 15 January 2020 | 0 Comments

8 Main Points of Aquatic Plant Trimming (1)

1. It is best to turn off the Surface Oil Skimmer when trimming
 
Foreground grasses, such as cow Eleocharis parvula, Hemianthus callitrichoides 'Cuba', and Glossostigma elatinoides, have a lower density than water, and there will be a lot of debris floating on the water when trimming. The debris is likely to enter from the surface skimmer into the filter cartridge, causing excessive accumulation of debris or even clogging.
 





 
Even though it is not immediately blocked, if too many aquatic debris rots in the dark and dull filter cartridge, it will also pollute the water quality. And at the same time, it will cause the filter cartridge flow to decrease, and the filtering effect will be significantly reduced. Therefore, before trimming, it is best to temporarily turn off the surface skimmer device, generally only need to lower the central screw.

2. When trimming, cannot cut too much at once
 
It is recommended that novices only trim one-third of the entire area at a time. The plants that have been trimmed will grow new shoots and then trim the other two-thirds in turn. This can keep the entire grass tank in a very stable state, avoiding the aquatic environment balance outbreaks due to the loss of too many opposite competitors. Here, we need Plants Aquascaping Tools to help you complete this task!






And if divided into three times, the labor intensity will not be too large each time. You can trim in the order of left, middle, and right; Or you can trim the background grass first, then the middle grass, and finally the foreground grass. This method has the least impact on the aquarium's viewing.
 
It is not recommended to trim the foreground grass if there are a lot of tall and lush grasses in the tank, because it will block the light. More experienced fish lovers can trim all the plants in two times, and master-level players can trim all the plants at once. (Novice is not recommended to imitate)




 
3. When trimming, should be gentle and careful
 
Except for a few species, aquatic plants are very vulnerable.
Taking care of aquarium plants that are vulnerable can be a little bit difficult. Any excessive twisting or squeezing may cause irreversible damage to the stems and leaves of water plants.

An important reason for the partial black stems of the Rotala Rotundifoliavar. Gontin is that the stems have been bent by external forces (human hands, water currents, fish, etc.) to an angle that may cause a partial fracture. However., aquatic plants have a certain ability to repair themselves. Usually, a large number of air roots grow at one or more stems folding nodes above the crease. At the same time, the crease area is likely to turn black, then rot, and finally break.





 
An often overlooked detail is that when a stem grass is cut off from the middle, if replanting, the upper half needs to be taken out of the water, so it is likely to twist into a large angle. Not as good as just directly plant it in the water.
 
4. Do not turn off the filter when trimming
 
This is a matter of subjective opinion. Some people advocate that the filter should be turned off during trimming. One of the reasons is that they are afraid of the strong water that blows the plant debris to the tank, which is difficult to clean; Another reason is that they need to change the water anyway after trimming, so it doesn't matter if the water is messy or turbid now.
 
However, from the perspective of protecting, turning off the filter during trimming will have an adverse effect on the organisms.
 
After the water flow is interrupted, one is that it will cause a short period of hypoxia in the aquatic organisms, and the other is that the toxic and harmful substances in the churned bottom will not only be muddy if it is not immediately sucked away by the filter, it will also cause serious harm to organisms such as shrimp, snails, which is why they often die after large trimming.
 
In contrast, fish are much more resistant, but fragile fish such as Siamese algae eater and Dwarf sucking catfish should also pay attention to it. Once you find its head floating, it must be fished out and keep it in another tank, or use an air pump for oxygen.



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You may also want to read:

Physiological Injury and Bio-mechanical Injury of Aquatic Plants
How to Keep the Amazon Sword?
Java Moss, One of the Easiest Aquatic Plant

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