How to Maintain Hornwort
A lot of beginners worry that adding plants will make their tank too crowded and push the fish to interact more. However, the opposite is probably going to happen if you overstock your tank with plants. Although hornwort is a tough aquarium plant that can survive in a wide range of conditions, there are a few things you must do to ensure its success.
Fortunately, hornwort maintenance is not too difficult. It's also a fantastic source of cover and shade, which will enrich your fish's environment and enable them to give one another the room they need to live stress-free lives. Let's look at the issues you should be aware of.
Tank Volume
You don't need to worry about this for very long because the hornwort tank size recommendation is quite adaptable. In the wild, it can reach a height of up to ten feet, as we previously said.
This implies that it will grow to fit your enormous tank perfectly. To prevent your hornwort from outgrowing its aquarium, you can simply clip and trim it if it is in a smaller one.
The standard recommendation for minimum tank capacities is 15 gallons. This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, and we know folks who successfully maintain hornwort in 10-gallon tanks. The problem is that they regularly prune it (hornwort is a very fast grower).
So, the 15-gallon rule is usually good to follow if you want to use it in a small tank without having to trim it often.
Water Quality
Hornwort is resilient and adaptable, so you can subject it to a variety of water conditions without worrying. In that sense, it resembles dwarf hairgrass a lot. Having said that, there is a sweet spot (a big one) where it can prosper without difficulty:
pH range: 6-7.5
Water temperature: 15 °C to 30 °C (59 °F to 86 °F).
Hardness of water: 5–15 dG/H
These permissible ranges are quite broad, as you can see. Hornwort is becoming a simple addition for more aquarium owners. We advise adding fertilizer on a regular basis (often once per week) to ensure that it has the required quantity of nutrients as well.
Naturally, you'll still need to use a filter to keep the levels of nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia in check, but you'd be doing that for your fish anyhow.
Perfect Lighting
Being a plant, it must have sunlight to survive. Make sure your water is pure and your light is strong enough to provide your plant with the right number of rays.
Fortunately, it can survive with very little light intensity. There's no need to go out and buy a huge lamp, but you might need to replace your kit lighting.
Even if your tank's water isn't perfectly clear, if you're floating your hornwort (more on this below), it won't have any trouble obtaining enough light. The importance of the water's clarity increases if you've planted it, though.
No matter what, be sure your water is pure!
Would You Like to Float?
As we've already mentioned, hornwort is a plant that can be planted or allowed to float. It's adaptable in that way!
However, this creates a typical conundrum for potential hornwort buyers. Because of this, so many novice aquarists inquire as to whether one option is noticeably superior to the others.
But in the end, it truly depends on a combination of personal taste and the species of fish you have.
Floating your hornwort might be the best solution if you have fish that live on the surface. They will have a place to hide and something to play with thanks to this.
Planting your hornwort is usually a better idea if your tank has fish that hang out at the bottom or middle.
The life in your tank always comes first, but it's important to take into account the look and feel you want it to have as well.
If you choose to let it float, just place it in your aquarium and watch what happens.
When doing this, you should be aware of the plant's capacity for quick development. If you don't do this, a fair amount of shade can quickly transform into almost no light.