# Plants too compact?



## default (May 28, 2011)

Anyone ever seen plants too compact?
I have a tank where plants are growing very dense and compact, I understand it dosent seem like a bg deal, but the plants don't seem to grow tall.
I'm not sure if its a deficiency? The plants turn red and are a lush green, so no visible deficiencies.
Examples:
Stauro repens are almost as dense as hc.. And they don't seem to grow taller than 1.5 - 2".
Bacopa caroliniana turn orange at the top and usually stop getting taller at about 4.5" despite it saying they grow big and tall.
Flame moss dosent grow taller than an inch.. Looks insanely cool, but dosent seem right.
I dose strictly flourish and occasionally iron and trace.
Tank uses dual 39w t5ho with pressurized co2.

Any advice or experiences would be great


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

Not an expert, hopefully someone will come, however, just stating some of my own experience or common knowledge.

they say the staurogene repens grow dense with high light, or grow tall with low light. I have medium light in one tank, and it seems to be indeed growing thick. How does one duplicate this plant? Mine are looking nice and thick, and under 2", and that's good for giving a more carpet like forground to midground.

I have low light in another tank, and bacopa slowly grow high and are dark brown. They grow light brown to almost yellow emerged near the light (high light) in my tank.

cant tell about the mosses, but if it looks cool....


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

+1 about high light.

I am observing similar behavior with a few plants growing compact or stunted while other are doing amazingly well. Of all thing, sunset hygro grew quite stunted under high light for me, and start to grow better under less lighting.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

+1 more about high light. The plants are doing very well! They're just not doing what you might expect. On the plus side, they are probably oxygenating your water like nobody's business. . .


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Ok that's good to hear that it's not a problem 
However in a past setup with same equipment grew my plants taller.. In the same tank half a year ago, my toninas and stauros grew normally, and the stauros were reaching 3-4" high very quickly.
Side note, they pearl so much, it's really distracting


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

you are lucky


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## colio (Dec 8, 2012)

pyrrolin said:


> you are lucky


+1

I have high light, and my plants are still reaching for the stars! I wish I could get some denser growth.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Usually compact growth is due to high or near 'ideal' light levels and adequate nutrient intake. Unless they are actually deformed, I'd be happy this is going on. The pearling is only going to make the water higher in oxygen, and your fish happy. Just think of all those folks who buy various air gadgets to try and fake this effect !

Commercial nurseries for garden and house plants use hormones to make plants more dwarf, compact and stouter, and these often disappoint the buyers later on when the hormones wear off and the more usual growth habit is reestablished. Doubt this is done with water plants, they'd have to use huge amounts to get usable levels in the water and it would cost too much.

I'd be happy they're growing that way, unless you're in a hurry to have them grow up and fill in. Perhaps adding something that naturally grows taller would help if this is the case ?


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## default (May 28, 2011)

So it shouldnt be anything of concern?.. its just nothing looks like they can get tall.
It does seem like one plant is trying to get tall, my hygro pinnatifida is getting to the top but all side shoots remain extremely short (keep in my mind this plant was 6-7" to begin with..)
And for the pearling, just worries me, like what if there is a big build up in my canister? Lots of bubbles go in, but dosent seem like anything comes out. Tank pearls like an airstone for almost 4.5 hours. Photoperiod is only 6-6.5hr/day.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

sounds like you have perfect conditions and we are all jealous of you!


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## default (May 28, 2011)

pyrrolin said:


> sounds like you have perfect conditions and we are all jealous of you!


 no.. It's not all that great though.
Horrible time trimming, always worried the under leaves would die, bubbles stuck to everything..
But if someone wants these results, I don't really have a regime, but I have high light, with lotsa co2 - I use a diffuser and pump in 1.5-2 bps, always found that to be a lot. Have a good flow setup to optimize co2 distribution (especially the tiny bubbles).
Dose heavy almost every other day (I should have a regime with this )
Also quite heavily stocked, with lots of water changes.
Works well, just gives you way too compact growth.


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## balutpenoy2oy (Feb 17, 2011)

That is what I am trying to achieved ,*COMPACT*, even i trimmed too much my plants seem to like T5. They are racing to it (t5). Do I missed your plants/tank picture here...


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## default (May 28, 2011)

balutpenoy2oy said:


> That is what I am trying to achieved ,*COMPACT*, even i trimmed too much my plants seem to like T5. They are racing to it (t5). Do I missed your plants/tank picture here...


It's the same stauro tank as the one in the planted tank pics section.
Everything except the plant on the left seems to stay these heights.. Like those stauros look like they're crowding each other already.
I was just thinking perhaps there was a deficiency that was causing it to be this compact. Like how certain deficiencies could stunt and make the leaves look smaller as well.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Now I've seen the pic, and also by your comment, it's clear the tank is indeed very densely planted. And there is a chance this may be the reason for the compactness you don't like and possibly the small leaf size as well. 

Frequent pruning along with very crowded roots can have a dwarfing effect. The two primary methods of producing bonsai trees are almost constant pruning of new growth, along with limiting root space, usually accompanied by pruning back the roots. This produces both compact growth and smaller leaf size in many plants. You're probably not pruning roots, but simply crowding the root space can have an overall stunting effect.

So, if you really want to encourage more height and larger leaves, one thing you might try would be to remove some of the plants. Pull them out roots and all, which will give the remaining plant's roots more space. With any luck, it may help reduce some of the compactness of the growth. Less frequent trimming of the growing tips may help increase leaf size. You'll have some bare spaces for awhile, but if the remaining plants grow better, they should fill in the bare spots fairly soon.

I'd also cut back some on the feeding. You say you feed a lot, but now there will be fewer plants to use it, and it might, possibly, reduce the pearling a bit, but I honestly don't know if that would be the case. You can maintain the plants you remove for awhile in another tank or even a bucket with a light and air stone running to prevent stagnation of the water, in case you decide you'd like to put them back, or use them in another tank, or even sell them.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I missed the small leaf size in the original post, that shows a problem. Fishfur's advice sounds pretty good to me. I know for some of my plants, when they are doing well, the leaves are much larger.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Oh I don't have small leaves!  lol it was just a example, as I figured that deficiencies could lead to that so I was thinking maybe compacted short growth could also be caused by certain deficiencies.
And I don't think pulling out plants will work for me lol, these stauros have most likely entangled their roots together, pulling them out would most likely ruin the scape for good.. Maybe when I need to rescape I'll keep them more distanced from each other.
But the other plants like the bacopa and glandolusa seem to stay short too, and they have lots of space between each other.


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## balutpenoy2oy (Feb 17, 2011)

Clearly said Karen (Fishfur), you really did your homework. These are another knowledge gain...


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Well, I guess in that case, you'll just be stuck with the pearling and compactness. I can think of some who'd be thrilled to have this issue instead of whichever other one they have. At least your plants appear to be healthy.. be happy .


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Lol I will try to enjoy it, it's a relief to know its not due to any deficiency.
Thanks guys


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

This whole thread I have been thinking, piss off with the complaining you lucky SOB, hahaha. This thread was educational


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## default (May 28, 2011)

pyrrolin said:


> This whole thread I have been thinking, piss off with the complaining you lucky SOB, hahaha. This thread was educational


-.- I was seeking for advice not to complain


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I think it's simply that some of us might, possibly, {  } be a teeny, tiny, wee little bit jealous, cause your plants are doing what we wish OURS would do, and it seems as though you may not be as thrilled with this as, say, 'I' would be, if they were my plants.

Enjoy.. if everybody had problems like this, nobody'd have any problems ))) !


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