Lead safe for B. Rams?

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nitro

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Is it ok to use lead weights for holding down one of my plants for a week or two in my tank which contains bolivian rams?
 
I wouldn't if I was you.
 
Really?!?!? I'm using a weight that came with my plant in a ten gallon tank housing only one betta...should I take it out? :unsure: or is it just specific to rams that you would not have it? Since I think they're not too god with plants anyways :unsure:
 
lead is a heavy metal and as such is poisonous to any animal, fish or otherwise. i would definitely avoid any long-term exposure.
 
The original question was could you use them for a week or two. While the safest idea is definitely to remove all lead weights before you plant, I don't know if a 7-14 days' exposure is enough to cause damage to your fish. As I understand it, lead (and other heavy metal) poisonings ususally occur from long-term exposure to the metal. However, best to be safe.

Since you are discussing lead weights, I assume you are referring to stem plants, which usually are held together with these weights. (If not, please disregard the rest of this message.) I take off the weights before planting because it's usually what's best for the plant, regardless of the fish.

When you remove a lead weight, you frequently find broken stems and rotting leaves. These problems do not help your plant to root and become healthy. In addition, most plants like to have water circulating through them, and a lead weight restricts water flow where you'd like it most -- namely, from the place where the plant should be rooting. If the stems of some plants are too close -- myrio is a good example of this -- then the plant will begin to rot at the base, whether the problem is caused by a lead weight or just by planting the stems too closely.

To get a good planting, try these steps:

1) make sure you have enough of a substrate to hold your plants down. I'm no expert on sand, so I don't know what depth of sand you'd need. For gravel, you probably want about 3-4" of gravel. This gives you the ability to plant relatively deeply and also gives your plant the opportunity to develop a good root system. (It also traps more "junk" which will become a natural fertilizer for the plants.) If you are working with 1" of gravel, consider adding more.

2) (with stem plants) remove the lead weight, rinse your plants well and pick off any snails you may find. If you'd like, you can give them a soak in potassium permanganate (Jungle's "Clear Water") for 10 minutes to kill bacteria, then re-rinse.

3) with a sharp knife (again, just with stem plants), cut the base of each stem off. If the stem looks healthy, cut about 1/4" from the bottom. If the base is crushed or if it looks like it's rotting, cut up from that.

4) carefully, with your fingers, strip the leaves from the bottom inch or so of the stem (measuring from the newly-cut section). You want to pull the leaves off as close to the stem as possible without damaging the stem itself.

5) plant the "stripped" part of the stem in the gravel, being careful to keep the foliage above the gravel. The deeper you can plant, the more difficult it will be for your fish to uproot the plant.

Cutting the base of the stem and stripping leaves will send a signal to the plant that will cause it to devote its energy to producing a new root system. The places where the leaves were stripped are the nodes of the plant; these are the same areas from which the roots will emerged. Leaving foliage in the water (and not under the gravel) will reduce the possibilities of the plant beginning to rot.

In essence, your best way to keep your plants from floating is not to keep the lead weights on, but to develop a strong and healthy root system as quickly as possible. If you have large or active fish, you may find yourself re-planting some stems over again, but in my tank stem plants tend to hold their own after about a week or so. So try to be patient with the fish if they bounce against them. If you do need to replant, you don't have to re-cut the stems, just push them back into the gravel.

Also, to keep water circulation good, try to plant only 2-3 stems in one spot. You can plant 3 stems together and another 3 stems 1/2" away, to create a fuller look, but try to avoid the temptation to grab ten stems and push them into the same "hole". You will probably end up with rotting plants later.

Hope this helped,
Pamela
 
I didn't ask the question but I appreciate the answer! I've been adding more and more plants to my tanks lately and do a lot of what you suggested. But anything I can do to help the plants I want to. Especially since I'm putting them in some pretty trying circumstances (in with Oscars).
 
Especially since I'm putting them in some pretty trying circumstances (in with Oscars).

I know what you mean. I have a growing pleco and a weather loach. Both are 4" or less, but growing quickly. They love to dart through the bases of the plants. Stem plants are my nemeses! But I've had pretty good luck with this method rooting quickly, assuming they aren't pulled out on a daily basis. And, of course, once they've rooted, you're golden.

-- Pamela
 
I have 5+” Oscars and 7 “ Pacus in a lightly planted tank. I built little ‘plant boxes’ out of slate (12”L x 3”W x 6”D). I use these to prevent the fish from digging them up. This way instead of them being pulled out daily they stay in the gravel until someone shoots through the stems… I doubt they will ever truly root as they come up about once a week. I have a new method I’m going to try in my pond.

New Method (critiques welcome) : take an 8” clay pot… I haven’t put them together yet so if you try this the order in which I list things may need adjusting… fill the pot about ¾ full with gravel or sand… insert a sponge filter… then run the root/stem of the plant into the hole on the bottom of the pot. Flip the whole thing over. This way the fish cannot access the roots. If you have fish that eat at your plants (my Pacus sometimes do) then even if they eat on it a lot they can only eat to the hole in the pot which will save an inch or two of plant that will hopefully survive. I have one plant that has not been uprooted and it withstands Oscar/Pacu abuse. It is the one that is planted directly above a sponge filter which is buried in gravel. All the plants were purchased and put in at the same time and at about the same size. Currently this plant is about 3 times the size of the others and is the only healthy looking plant in the tank. Regardless of tank inhabitants I would suggest using sponge filters to aid plant growth. Also it’s worth mentioning that I heavily vacuum my gravel every week (a must with big Oscars)
 
Interesting idea. I could see it working. The filter thing is odd -- wonder why that's working so well.. Hmm. Good luck with it, and let us know how it works. I could see adapting that to fit my needs later on when the pleco gets bigger. He generally leaves the plants alone, but once he's full size I don't think that even a sturdy root system would hold a plant in place. I just assumed that the bigger tank would have to be unplanted. (Actually, I was planning on Java Moss and African Water Fern attached to rocks and wood, but that was the extent of it.) But this may give me some more options.

Please post once you've tried it, whether or not it's working. The only downside I can see is that the small hole in the top of the pot won't allow for the plant to take full advantage of all of the natural fertilizers in the tank, but maybe having the filter in place will help that somehow.

Good luck,
Pamela
 

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