Will goldfish eat hornwort (and other submerged plants)?

Mmathis

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I keep buying hornwort [and ancharis]....and I keep buying it.....and I keep buying it.....

What's happening to it?
 

HARO

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Hornwort tends to get covered in calcium deposits, seen as whitish cuticles along the leaflets. This makes the plant less palatable to goldfish than most other 'oxygenators'. As noted above, they tend to fall apart in low light. Also, I wonder if your southern climate is a bit too warm for the plant?
John
 

Mmathis

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Hornwort tends to get covered in calcium deposits, seen as whitish cuticles along the leaflets. This makes the plant less palatable to goldfish than most other 'oxygenators'. As noted above, they tend to fall apart in low light. Also, I wonder if your southern climate is a bit too warm for the plant?
John
Guess I'll have to look back into the temperature & light requirements before I order any more, LOL! If memory serves me (which it may not....), I think my water tops out in the low to mid-80's during the heat of summer. I have a thermometer probe at surface and on the bottom (at around 3-1/2'). Year round, the temps (above & below) only differ from each other by maybe 1/2 a degree, so the only difference the depth would make would be the amt. of sunlight. And right now, pond gets full sun for about 6-8 hours (split between an AM and a PM exposure with short periods of tree-shade). Sooo....
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Sorry to rant:rage:, but I get frustrated(n)! These are the kinds of things you don't learn about when you read about aquatic plants :bookworm:. The ads or articles will say, "tolerates all light conditions," or, "thrives in lower light," or "does best close to the surface," or "does best at more depth," or "this plant will triple in size....." or, "prefers calm water," or, "likes to be in a current," or, "grows in all USDA zones....." And on and on. Pick 5 web sites, and you'll get 5 different descriptions about the same plant!:banghead: So, most of the time it ends up being trial & error........:bored:......'cause they don't go on to explain that there might be combinations of conditions for that plant to survive. Such as, "tolerates heat IF shade is provided," or, well you get the idea (I hope).
 

addy1

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Mine get frozen, low light, full light, fish nibbling, slow flow, fast flow, they grow. Dumped in pond nothing done special. No soil, no hold down anchor. Summer around 80 plus degrees, winter cold!
 

tbendl

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So does mine TM, it just disappears. I was blaming the hubby but it just doesn't stick around in my pond. Since TM is having the same issue, I guess hubby is off the hook. (Not that I'll tell him that though :ROFLMAO:)
 

HARO

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I keep buying hornwort [and ancharis]....and I keep buying it.....and I keep buying it.....

What's happening to it?

So does mine TM, it just disappears. I was blaming the hubby but it just doesn't stick around in my pond. Since TM is having the same issue, I guess hubby is off the hook. (Not that I'll tell him that though :ROFLMAO:)

Colleen has a ton of hornwort in her pond (I see it on her videos) and she has koi as well as goldfish so I'm not so sure they are eating it.
So does anyone else see the pattern here? Two ponds in zone 8a are having problems with hornwort, while someone in zone, what, 4 maybe, has it growing like the weed it is! Good reason to suspect it MAY like cooler water.
John
 

Mmathis

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So does anyone else see the pattern here? Two ponds in zone 8a are having problems with hornwort, while someone in zone, what, 4 maybe, has it growing like the weed it is! Good reason to suspect it MAY like cooler water.
John
Good point! My water was 88 degrees yesterday.
 

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