[Dempsey]

Can anyone ID this, stringy, root-like stuff growing from the top of this plant? It is easy to remove but when you pull it off, it can break up and spread to the whole tank. It's slowly sticking to every plant.....:icon_frow Sorry for the bad pic.

 

[zzyzx85]

that would be bladderwort

 

[Dempsey]

Should I worry about it?

 

[legomaniac89]

Looks like Utricularia gibba. It's a plant, but not really one you want. It'll smother everything if it gets out of control.

 

[Church]

Yeah the only tank it ever looked acceptable in is Ugly Genius's utricularia tank. And even then, I don't think he intended for it to be there... it just hitchhiked in on the graminifolia if I remember correctly.

 

[Dempsey]

Thank you! Are there any tricks to removing it or, do I just have to stay on the front line?

 

[HoustonFishFanatic]

Your best bet would be to trash all the plants (especially stem) from this tank when you redo it. You leave in even a 1 cm of it and it will bounce back with full fury.:angryfire

 

[Dempsey]

That's a bummer!! No special shrimp that will eat it?

 

[FrostyNYC]

Yeah the only tank it ever looked acceptable in is Ugly Genius's utricularia tank. And even then, I don't think he intended for it to be there... it just hitchhiked in on the graminifolia if I remember correctly.

It looked incredible in that tank.

 

[Church]

LOL, I wouldn't go that far... it's still Utricularia gibba... but I will say that I didn't mind seeing it in that scape. It just seemed to fit, so therefore I wouldn't suggest he remove it or anything.

But yeah, I can't stand this stuff. Better other people than me, that's for sure. The only one time I ever found it, I trashed EVERYTHING and started anew. I just couldn't take it.

 

[Dempsey]

That was when it was bad. As of now, you can't see any of it. Come tomorrow, there will be more..... It pulls right off and if you pull slow, it doesn't break. I guess I should let my LFS know about it because it was on some plants when i picked them up...... That's where it came from. Maybe I can get my money back for trashing my tank! I just thought it was some loose root structure from another plant. assumption......... It's a killer.

 

[Dempsey]

Thanks Church. Not sure what I'm gonna do as of now... I will keep pulling it and see what happens before i trash everything. I will let the LFS know though.

 

[Dempsey]

It's not "hard" to keep under control. Just another chore to do, every day! lol

 

[Church]

Oh don't get me wrong, it's not the end of the world. When I got it I had a very high-light tank that I was already doing maintenance on about once every 3-4 days. Being that I was already dealing with too much labor at that point, the manual removal of bladderwort pushed me over the edge.

If you don't mind the constant maintenance, it really isn't all that big of a deal, and it certainly isn't "bad" for your tank. If anything, it's one more plant that is removing excess nutrients from your water. And for what it's worth, I believe people have similar problems with riccia, and certain types of aquatic moss... where, once they've had it in their tank once, they have it for life, so they're always picking it out. Just thought I'd let you know, because misery loves company and all...

But it can get unsightly if you leave it alone for too long, so don't let that happen.

 

[Dempsey]

Point taken. I was thinking about pulling the problem plants out and "combing" them. Not sure how much good that will do but I guess it's worth a try... My main issue is, I noticed it in my HC.... I just hope it doesn't spread through that. I finally have that starting to spread at a good pace. I was also looking to use this 29g as a "grow tank" for my 75g. No way do I want to deal with this stuff in a 75....... Kinda stuck here... Torn..