Paludarium terrestrial roots

[Casperw]

In my paludarium my terrestrial plants have started to grow roots under the water . I am wondering if this will cause any negative effects ?

 

[ScareCrow]

It shouldn't cause any problems, if anything it's a benefit as they will help to remove excess nutrients from your aquatic area and act as filter as they're not CO² limited like submerged plants. I have a few plants growing exactly as you describe for their water filtering benefits. If they really take off you might need to add extra fertiliser to your aquatic section, to compensate for their vigorous growth.

 

[Casperw]

Is it worth me trimming the roots

 

[ScareCrow]

There's no need to unless you don't like the look of them.

 

[mort]

I've got a mass of terrestrial roots growing in my tank and you only really need to keep an eye on them if you have fish like siamese fighters as they can get stuck and drown if the roots become too dense. The roots are good for shrimps to hideout in and you only need to trim if they take over or you don't like the look.

As scarecrow mentions it can be a bit of a balancing act to get good aquatic plant growth with lots of terrestrial plant growth on top, so I wouldn't let the emersed plants get to overgrown without adding lots of nutrition to your aquatic substrate to compensate.

 

[not called Bob]

You have a hydroponics setup at its most pure. Unless you have to many as mentioned don't worry about them

 

[Gill]

TBH they will only help with adding to your filtration. As they will be hungry for nutrients. And the roots will provide area for biofilm to grow, which is beneficial to any inverts in the tank to graze upon. As yes if any labyrinth fish, they may become trapped if fancy finned

 

[Casperw]

could someone recommend a co2 canister setup for me. It's to go in a paludarium . The water level is about 35-40 cm with a volume of 175 litres.