plant anchors?

[Apache]

Hi All,
The wool around my pygmy chain sword has come off, and now the plant won't stay down, it keeps floating to the surface not matter how hard I try to get it deep enough in the gravel.
I still have one of those metal-like things that came wrapped around the chain sword when I first bought it, can I use that to anchor the plant or will it hurt my fish?! I'm particularly curious since I have several corys... Any advice or thoughts? Thanks.

 

[wer34]

i think u should be fine to put the metal thing back on it, i have the metal still on my hornwort and hygro and they have been in my tank for months now and i havnt had a problem

Nick

 

[DarkSide]

I thought you weren't supposed to put in metal?

 

[fufanu360]

well aslong as its not steel, it will rust... cant have that, i would thinkg it would have impurities, i woulnt do it

 

[BobK]

It depends what the weight is made out of. Lead will leach in the water and I guess if it's bad for people it's bad for fish. Now everybody calls the weights on the plants "lead". However, after doing some research, I've found that at least some of the "lead" weights are made of zinc and are non-toxic to fish. I don't know of any way of telling what these weighs are made of. Maybe there are some chemists in the forum that could answer that question.

I put a similar question in another forum, I think it was the one with planted aquariums. My question was could I use fishing sinkers to anchor my plants since I can't seem to find an lfs that sells the weights. Most people said no and their reasoning was sound. However, these weights come with most plants so I suspect the ones used in the fishkeeping hobby aren't made of real lead. I wish I could get a straight answer though.

My advice is if they came with the plant then they are probably safe.

 

[Mr Aquarium]

Plants weights won;t hurt your fish, I just went through my gravle the last time my tank was down ans hand picked it all and dug out 12 plant weights that have been hiding in it for about 10-12 years now....
If you really need them, ask your LFS to order them for you if they don;t carry them.
The only thing you need to know about using them, is never put them on tight, if you do the it will cut the circulation of the plants and the part of the plant below the weight will die more then likely..
As far as the fishing sinkers go, I have heard several people tell me how to make plant weights from them so it apparently don't kill the fish...

 

[Apache]

Thanks all. That was my assumption, too, that if they came with the plant, they'd be OK. The only other anchors I've seen at another LFS was metal too.

I don't think the thing that came with the plant is lead, it's quite bendable, but doesn't look like it'll break or rust. I'll see how it goes...

 

[BobK]

How can you make weights out of fishing sinkers? I was thinking of either putting them on fishing line and then wrapping the line around the plant but I'm afraid of cutting the plant with the line. I could also put the sinkers on a rubber band.

 

[fufanu360]

if the metal is very soft and bendable it is lead... try and sink your teeth into it, if u see teeth marks, its lead (dont worry it wont hurt ya)

 

[Coral platy]

It is called lead not steel.
My corys are fine with lead weights.

 

[wer34]

its actually called pewter, its a type of metal like lead (very soft and bendable) but tis not bad for your fish like lead is, so dont worry it will be fine, go ahead and use it.

Nick

 

[Mr Aquarium]

When i find the site or person who told me about making weights from fishing sinkers i'll come back and post it......
It was pretty simple, Just don;t remember how it was done, lol