Moving a huge Amazon Sword

[CACAdmin]

I decided to rearrange and remove some plants from my 70g tank.The big mistake I made was to assume I could easily move my huge amazon sword without making a big mess. Wrong! The root ball when I pulled it was the size of a softball.:swoon: I never imagined it would be so massive. Now I know why the amazon sword is so big and healthy. I replanted it a little further back in the tank and hope it hasn't been too much of a shock to the plant.

Of course my fish are suffering through all of this will soil particulates floating throughout the tank. :wideeyed:Poor fishies. ::(: Dumb thing to do.:Embarassing: Did a water change, doing extra filtration and will do another water change soon.

Not that I plan moving this plant again, but just in case or for anyone else dealing with such a plant, how does everybody else deal the moving or pulling plants with massive root structures? Do you remove you fish from the tank first?

[KnaveTO]

Unfortunately I do it the exact same way you do and will have to in the near future when my caves from the states arrive. Although when I move plants I take the opportunity to trim the root structure back a bit... supposed to help the plant.

[CACAdmin]

Have your fish suffered any ill effects from so much suspended soil in the tank?

[KnaveTO]

I use Eco-complete planted aquarium substrate in all my tanks and so far there has been no ill effects when I have re-aquascaped. They are a tad stressy for a few hours but after that they are usually fine.

[grumpystiltskin]

Ive moved lots of big swords Jay.mine always clouds the water, it settles down pretty quickly, Another problem pulling them up is that it ususlly uproots plants close by,
They get huge dont they?:smile:
Ad Knave said, i usually reduce the root ball by half, doesnt hurt the plant at all, and makes it easier to replant, i bet you have a few roots still visible?

[CACAdmin]

Thanks Ross, I just use regular aquarium gravel but of course the soil particulates are from soil created over time by decayed plant matter and such. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[thegrandpoohbah]

A big waterchange is a must when you disturb the substrate like that. Watch out for ammonia spikes.

[Gramma]

I am no expert, but here is what I do. I move plants quite often and it makes quite a mess sometimes. I always worry about the fish, but they seem to survive. I usually do a 50% water change after doing this. Another thing you can do to get rid of the particals in the water quicker is the somehow attach a net with some filter floss to the tank just past the output of water from the filter. I catches alot. It is actually amazing how much gets past the filter. I also keep an eye on the floss in the filter and change it when it looks yucky. Also running a net back and forth in the tank catches alot, particullarly if you have one of those fine blue ones. Good luck with it.

[KnaveTO]

hmmm... water change after you re-scape the tank... what a novel concept.. :twitcy:

All this time I have been doing it backwards. :eek:

[Gramma]

OOPS! Sorry :Embarassing: I did not mean to say AFTER. I really do the water change, then aquascape.:yes:

[KnaveTO]

You may have a valid point there though. When pulling up plants you are releasing particle matter that was in the substrate into the water column. By removing your plants... letting the water settle and then do a water change you are removing that waste from your tank and replacing it with clean water. Plus we all know that aquascaping is usually easier with only 60% of the water in the tank rather than it being full.

[Bristol]

A bit OT: But what kind of root tabs are you using! I Just now got some for my plants from a member of BCA, I am so excited as I'm sure my plants will start growing healthier now!:yes:

[KnaveTO]

I don't use any root tabs... I use Seachems Flourish line of ferts

[CACAdmin]

I use no root tabs, no ferts of any kind and it's a low-light tank.(one 25W flourescent bulb in a 25in tall tank). However, the planted area never gets gravel vac'd and the amazon sword in question was extremely healthy and a good size when I got it from member mykiss a little over a year ago (but I'd say it has about tripled it's size in that time.)

[CACAdmin]

Update: I had done a big water change before I made such a mess of the tank and did another big one afterwards (when there was so much suspended soil that my tank looked like ditchwater:rolleyes: ), keeping fingers crossed that it would not be too much for the fish. For that last water change I trickled the water slowing into the tank over the period of about an hour and a half so that any difference in parameters wouldn't be too much of a shock.

The good news: Tank is clear today and all fish appear just fine, thank goodness. :smile: Once I was finished mucking about in the tank last night they had a great time checking everything out.

[grumpystiltskin]

Good news Jay:smile:
I think we need to see a pic of your efforts:yes:
In my tanks im never 100% satisfied with the way i scaped it, im always changing and moving plants, havnt lost any fish in the process yet. when i first started with plants, i had a sword that looked so nice, but it soon became a monster, in just three months, the leaves didnt even sit in the tank, the stems were so tall, 2ft, so that meant the leaves were in the hood ,getting burnt by the lights, i had two of them in the tank ,i just pulled them out and threw them in the garbage.
Anyway i,ll sit here and wait to see a pic of yours:laugh:

[KnaveTO]

In my tanks im never 100% satisfied with the way i scaped it, im always changing and moving plants, havnt lost any fish in the process yet. when i first started with plants, i had a sword that looked so nice, but it soon became a monster, in just three months, the leaves didnt even sit in the tank, the stems were so tall, 2ft, so that meant the leaves were in the hood ,getting burnt by the lights, i had two of them in the tank ,i just pulled them out and threw them in the garbage.


:Eek: :cry:

[CACAdmin]

:yes: Good news Jay:smile:
I think we need to see a pic of your efforts
In my tanks im never 100% satisfied with the way i scaped it, im always changing and moving plants, havnt lost any fish in the process yet. when i first started with plants, i had a sword that looked so nice, but it soon became a monster, in just three months, the leaves didnt even sit in the tank, the stems were so tall, 2ft, so that meant the leaves were in the hood ,getting burnt by the lights, i had two of them in the tank ,i just pulled them out and threw them in the garbage.
Anyway i,ll sit here and wait to see a pic of yours:laugh:
I should have taken a 'before' and and 'after shot'. The tank is no longer a jungle (looks even sparse compared to what it was) but actually I think that's better for the plants and they will fill in quickly enough I am sure. I'll take a pic tonight... nothing special really but at least the fish are having fun exploring.

:swoon: Don't throw the plants out... someone out there would want them for sure... put them up for auction (http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/ClassAuction/)next time. (There are folks who would die for huge plants like that.:yes:)

[CACAdmin]

OK Mick, here's what the tank looks like tonight after the removal of about 1/2 dozen leaves off the large sword, the removal of 2 small swords, 4 hygros and some java fern and shuffling plants around. (This is not the first time that I have trimmed the amazon sword.) The tank actually looks a little sparse. Wish I had taken a 'before' pic so you could have seen the jungle look. To give you an idea, the rocks and heater were all but invisible.
http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/jb_images/70g-2008-01-07.jpg
To give you an idea of the size of thw sword, the tank is 25" tall.

[KnaveTO]

That is a beautiful Echinodorus... wish I could get mine to grow that well!

[Gramma]

Nice looking tank Jay :yes: and well worth the effort in the end. But I am sure you were wondering "What did I get myself into" while in the process of reaquascaping.

[CACAdmin]

That is a beautiful Echinodorus... wish I could get mine to grow that well!
Thanks, Ross. I'd offer advice but have none... it simply grows in spite of me not because of anything I'm doing. :confused: Nice looking tank Jay :yes: and well worth the effort in the end. But I am sure you were wondering "What did I get myself into" while in the process of reaquascaping.
Thanks. But you're right. I sure made a big mess in the process. And replanting anything is tough with a tank that tall (especially when you're short like I am... I need longer arms.:twitcy: )

[grumpystiltskin]

ok i,ll attempt to write this post again:confused: we lost internet for 4 hrs today
i wrote a post ,pressed submit, and pow lost my connection lol anyway....

I love how your tank looks, its simple but effective, i really like how you can see the whole sword, i have several in my tank, but they are just leaves in the background, hidden by loads of stem plants, im going to do my next tank like yours, so i can actually see all of the sword, i have to keep trimming mine each month, they can easily take over a tank, you can see depth in your tank i really like it :yes:

[CACAdmin]

Thanks, Mick. I made it the center piece of my tank right from the time I got it. Before the move the sword was much closer to the front of the tank (it's long leaves laying against the glass). I just hope it stands the shock of a major move (I figure if it has survived under my care up to this point, it's gotta be tough. :laugh: )

One sad note: I lost my tiniest long finned cory. ::(:All that remained this morning was the skeleton, sitting perfectly upright on the gravel at the front of the tank... the cleanup crew (my snails) had taken care of the rest. However, happily, everyone else seems to be just fine. :smile:

[grumpystiltskin]

Thats too bad that you lost your cory.
Do you think it was a result of you moving your sword? Although i have many corys, and moving plants never seems to bother them !

[CACAdmin]

He was a runt so probably weaker than most but he seemed to be swimming around fine after the move. However, being so tiny, maybe the extra silt in the water or the extra water change was too much for him... or he could have been injured without me knowing it with moving everything around (rocks, plants, etc.) It's hard to say. My other 2 LF corys are fine.

Glad to see you're managing to keep your internet connection... what a pain in the butt to be without it for 4 hours. It's amazing how much we have come to depend upon the internet.:spinny: :GEEK: :twitcy: Just think, we grumble, but what about businesses?... they really take a hit... especially when their site goes down (which happens even with the major corporations). Look at it this way, you could spend more time with your fish. (Did you get water changes or some aquascaping done? :wink: :DevilGrin: )

[grumpystiltskin]

It is funny how we rely on the internet these days lol
What did we ever do way back when:confused:
I did play around with the tanks for a bit, i also had to pick up my son from pre school.
I even phoned my wife to make sure she paid the bills this month:laugh: . and yes my wife does all the bills, just for those ladies who were going to jump on that one haha.

Hopefully your cories will spawn for you. Id like to see mine do that.

[CACAdmin]

Surprise... it was one of the bigger corys not the little guy... fishy skeletons are deceiving... they look smaller than the live fish but by the shape of the head and the rest of the skeleton I can tell it was a cory. The bigger ones aren't all that much bigger than the little guy. Actually, I'm happy the little guy made it... he's cute and I'm a sucker for the ones that manage to beat the odds.