Weighing that plant down

[redgypsy]

Hi all. I have a tank that's always had plastic plants in it that I'm transitioning over to live plants. I have one plastic mat of low grass that I'm using to hide my bubble wand, but it keeps pulling free of the substrate (sand) and floating.

I've read to use lead fishing weights, but won't they leach lead into the water? What can I use to keep this baby anchored? Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

You can buy plant anchors that are thin strips of lead or just fishing sinkers. The lead oxidises in water pretty quickly and becomes harmless unless you scrape the oxide off it. If you have fishing sinkers and they are a dull grey, they are oxidised. If they are shiny silver they should be soaked in water for a few days then exposed to air until they go dull grey.

 

[Ch4rlie]

You can use things like plant weight or ceramic rings that sometimes comes with plants.

Failing that, simply use a nice piece of wood or rock to weigh down th line at a strategic place and even get the bubbles to come up behind the wood / rock to add a feature if you like.

Have not used fishing lead weight before and unsure if would be all that safe to add to aquarium but probably ok though I’d research or find out first to be 100% certain before using fishing weight.

 

[redgypsy]

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually found two rocks in my house that had holes in them! I used a plastic telephone tie to hold them together. I hope that type of plastic doesn't leach. I didn't think about that til just now.

 

[Ch4rlie]

If you mean like a cable tie sort of thing, should be ok to use as I have used that in the past for holding down plants.

And having rocks with holes is handy for threading the airline through to keep that down

 

[redgypsy]

[QUOTE="
And having rocks with holes is handy for threading the airline through to keep that down [/QUOTE]

Ooooh. I wish I'd though of THAT! Huh, there's always next week.

 

[Colin_T]

go to the beach and get some limestone, then drill a small hole thru them with a drill bit.

 

[NickAu]

go to the beach and get some limestone,

Rocks such as limestone can and will affect the water chemistry.

Seriously Colin that sort of advice is plain dangerous without knowing what type of fish or inverts the OP has.

If the OP keeps Bee shrimp for example that need low PH slightly acidic water, you just killed them.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Well, there is some concerns about what rocks to use in aquaria and limestone is one of those which may be of concern.

This actually kind of depends on your tank set up and livestock.

If you have hard water fish such as Rift Lake chichlids then would be of little concern, in fact limestones and corals are more of a benefit in this case.

In cases of very soft water (anything below 6.0ph) then limestone is a definite no as this will surely have an effect on most soft water livestock.

Limestone is a soft stone like most calcareous stones, such as Texas Holey rocks, sandstone and corals. These can crumble in water over time and can increase the ph of aquarium water.

There is a basic simple test that you can do to see if your stones or rocks may be suitable, one is to do a vinegar test, a couple of drops of this on clean, dry stone or rock and if there is a effect such as fizzing or bubbling then this would not be suitable.

But vinegar is a soft acid really. To be undoubtedly sure, you can use muratic acid, much more powerful and will certainly be a better test the stones or rocks for suitability. Again just a drop or two on clean, dry rock / stone surface and if any affects, don’t use it.

You must note that muratic acid is very strong and protective gloves must be worn when carrying out this kind of test and ensure to rinse everything off thoroughly afterwards.

 

[redgypsy]

Wow. Thanks for all that info, everyone. I know not to use limestone. One rock was volcanic lava, the other was questionable, so I'll dig it up and test it, but it was a very hard rock, so I think it will be okay.

 

[FroFro]

Wow. Thanks for all that info, everyone. I know not to use limestone. One rock was volcanic lava, the other was questionable, so I'll dig it up and test it, but it was a very hard rock, so I think it will be okay.

You can also buy decorative rocks online that are certified safe for the aquarium. I'm unsure if you want to pay real money for a rock, but its a safer alternative if you don't want to risk using muriatic acid to test rocks that you find. We had to be very careful handling that stuff at home depot. You wouldn't believe the fuss that was made if some leaked/a container became damaged. Dangerous stuff!