# Hornwort suddenly shedding all leaves(?)



## rusticitas (Mar 10, 2004)

This is strange. I have an Eclipse System 6. All has been going quite well until just yesterday. Suddenly the hornwort which has been growing nicely just started to jettison all of it's leaves. I started dosing with the Seachem line of ferts about a month ago. The other plants seem ok. Can overdoing any of the ferts do this? Am quite baffled. What could cause this?

I know I'm not giving much info here, but what should I look into? Tests?


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

_Do you have the Hornwort planted or floating?_


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## rusticitas (Mar 10, 2004)

trenac said:


> _Do you have the Hornwort planted or floating?_


It's floating.

Tomorrow morning when the sunlight's coming through the window and the lights are on I'll get a better overall look at the tank to see what's going on, if any other plants are affected.

I just recalled that the only thing I had done was _remove_ a wad of nitella flexis three days ago that had had some hydra growing on it. I can't imagine how that could be related, thought...


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## bunlet (Mar 24, 2006)

Mine had shed its leaves too when I first got em. New leaves replaced it though and it didn't die. Maybe it has something to do with the change in lighting not really sure. :retard:


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I thought maybe you had it planted, because that will cause die off from my experience. It could just be going through an adjustment phase.


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## rusticitas (Mar 10, 2004)

Weird though. It wasn't even the whole plant just the center length. The ends still had the leaves. And smaller pieces at the side of the tank were fine. Only the longer one that spanned and doubled back, and only the portions that spanned the center part of the tank... Weird one. All the other plants and the guppy inhabitants seem a-ok lately.

Will make a note of that one for the "X-Files".


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Maybe the light intensity is greater at the center, causing more heat, inturn drying out the plant and causing that portion to die.

I would just cut off the dead portions and leave the live portions to produce more growth.


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## rusticitas (Mar 10, 2004)

Will do. Thanks!


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## lsmutz (Feb 26, 2010)

I just took a shedding hornwort out of my lightly planted tank and spent an hour netting all the floating debris to boot. I did s 2 minute soak in a mild bleach solution (1:19) to kill bugs before putting it in the aquarium. Could that have done the damage?


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## Darkblade48 (Nov 14, 2004)

lsmutz said:


> I just took a shedding hornwort out of my lightly planted tank and spent an hour netting all the floating debris to boot. I did s 2 minute soak in a mild bleach solution (1:19) to kill bugs before putting it in the aquarium. Could that have done the damage?


Definitely. I have tried a bleach dip with Hornwort before as well, and it simply shedded all its needles.


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## lsmutz (Feb 26, 2010)

Darkblade48 said:


> Definitely. I have tried a bleach dip with Hornwort before as well, and it simply shedded all its needles.


Well, next time I'll try potassium permanganate and hope for better results. What do you use to de-cootie new plants?


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## lsmutz (Feb 26, 2010)

Darkblade48 said:


> Definitely. I have tried a bleach dip with Hornwort before as well, and it simply shedded all its needles.


Yep--it's the bleach. I tried a new hornwort with a potassium permangante dip and all is well. Wish I'd done that in the first place. Wonder how long it will take to get all of the debris from the first one that shedded all its leaves out of the tank. Does it appeal to Malaysian trumpet snails? I have a bunch that never come out of the gravel so maybe they have all the food they want right down at the bottom. So much for counting on them to keep tank walls algae-free.


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