ID my plant, please

[gm72]

What is this? These were the best pics I could get, battery in the big camera is charging. The brown stuff on the leaves is just junk from when I rinsed out a sponge prefilter in the new tank to seed it. I wonder if I can uproot the plant and rinse it off?

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc294/gm72/IMG_1159.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc294/gm72/IMG_1158.jpg

[cocoa_pleco]

looks like some dying cabomba? lol, i dont know. is it one single plant?

heres thumbnails

[gm72]

Looks like a single plant, yes. It definitely isn't dying, it has grown since I got it. The picture is really highlighting the brown gunk stuck to the leaves. Do you think I could uproot the plant and rinse that gunk off safely?

Edit: Well I just uprooted it to rinse it off. Broke off several pieces by accident though. Oh well, if it doesn't make it I can always get something else.

HOW DO YOU DO THUMBNAILS? I am so dumb, I still don't get it.

[squirt_12]

to me it looks like hornwort. lol

[gm72]

I think it must be. The descriptions all fit.

Here's a question--hornwort doesn't need to root itself, so is it possible to take a stem and put it in a non-planted tank to just float at the top?

So sorry for all of the questions, this is an exciting new venture for me into the planted tank world!

[squirt_12]

yeah you can do that. I have a bunch planted and a bunch floating and the bunch floating is actually doing alot better than the bunch that is planted. Once you plant them then they will start to grow roots.

[gm72]

How large should the pieces I float be? Maybe just a few inches or so?

Thanks for the ongoing help, it truly is appreciated!

[squirt_12]

o well mine are all different sizes. It would just depend on how big of a piece that you would like to float. it could be 1 inch or 8 inches. depends on your likings.

[gm72]

So will it grow while floating or just stay the same size?

[squirt_12]

well that i am not sure of because i havn't had mine long enough to really notice. But i think that they will grow but i am not 100% sure.

[Incredulous_Ed]

The plant is hornwort, no doubt. It's a floating plant naturally, so you can float it at the top and it will grow. This plant grows like a weed! and in some places it is considered one. It really grows fast it good conditions, and even in bad ones.