My First Plants

Phenz

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Oct 20, 2006
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Glasgow, Scotland
i just got my first plants and neon tetras from the lfs.

they get some of their plants from Tropica so i know i got the ones i wanted :D

i got 2 amazon swords. their roots were wrapped in a strip of foam with a metal coil around it. i took the foam and metal off and then just sunk the roots into the gravel. is this the right way to do it?

i also got a fairly developed Heteranthera zosterifolia and a small alternanthera reineckii which both came in tubs with their root system in some kind of greyish foamy stuff. i took them out of the tubs and kinda dug a hole in the gravel, placed them in and bought the gravel level with them. the only problem is, the pots they came in are about 2inches deep and my gravel is only about an inch and a half at the back, their roots aren't fully submerged in gravel - should this be a problem. will gravel be okay for their roots?
 
Your tank should have about 3-5 inches of gravel in depth. The foam and lead weight is there for a reason, generally i leave it on the plants helps stop them from being knocked out of the ground by fish and floating to the surface. The potted plants i generally remove from the pot and remove the wool and wrap in foam with a lead weight.
 
i figured the foam and weight was just a form of packaging. i'll put the foam and the lead back on, i was worried that it might inhibit the root growth. The gravel is a little uneven at the moment but i'll slope it enough so that there is more gravel at the back to base the plants in.

thanks for the quick reply.
 
I always take the wool and metal off. I dont want to have bits of wool floating around in my tank as it starts to decay. The wool is there to make sure the roots stay moist in the shipping process incase the water drains for whatever reason. You shouldnt have any problems with only 1.5" of gravel at the back. When you take the wool off that one plant it will fit fine in that depth. Just make sure to spread the roots out a bit as you plant them, and make sure they are all covered by the gravel.
 

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