I have a ton of Anacharis (Hydrocharitacea) in me aquariums, and i have noted that alot of the lower stalks of the plant the leaves are turning brown and dying, but the tops are very very healty bright green and grow like .5 inches a day if not more...

I know they propgate from cuttings, so cani go ahead and cut the bottoms off and replant the nice green parts? Note that when i got them they were a little less than desirable color. So i am chalking it p to bad treatment from the get go, but they are growing like mad now.

Will this be an ongoing thing with these plants? do they always die off from stem to help grow the tops?

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I don't know about always but it does seem to be common.

You can clip off the tops and replant. sometimes I get new green from the brown stems as well.

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Thee plants always grow from the top and die off at the bottom. Some will devlope roots if the bottom part fo the stem is place in the gravel. In nature these plants are always rooted and not floating.

Yes, it will always happen. Eventually, most people get it out of their tanks if they actually start to care how it looks. A great plant to help establish the cycle and it will help with high nutrients because it grows so fast, but there are many more out there that root well, look great, and will use up the nutrients just as well.

Any ideas for good replacments?

Currently i have two sets of micro swords, a bit of hornwart, some dwarf rush and a rapidly growing Hygrophila difformis (which is awesome cause you can see when i got it as the leaves have changed shape considerably on the new growths... I am thinking about using this as every trim back and replant has taken off like mad, but variety is good in my book.)

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When you pay that cash or swipe that card you are making a bond with that animal that you will treat it with love and respect, and its needs will be met, first and foremost (unless you have kids...) I don't care if you have to eat ramen noodles or nothing at all to feed your cat dog fish rat whatever. That's the bond you made! Life is precious!

This is happening to several of my plants, in my case i think it may be lack of light strength, but i'll know for sure once I get my new light on the tank next week

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin