I think my plants are all dying.

bones14

4 inches of substrate should be fine.I refer back to my earlier comment on stem plants.I couldn't keep mine planted either.All of my root plants are fine and looking good.Like Kitten said you just have to find that balance.One thing I've learned from everyone here is to be patient.

kitten_penang

plastic glued to tank hmm.... new idea but how are you going to wash em?

redchigh

The only two step plants that don't have good root systems in my experiance are anarchis and Hornwort.
My anarchis stays put most of the time, but after my Hornwort dislodged a few times I just tied it to a rock.

Inga

So with the Java Fern that is popping off daughter plants every few days, how do you guys deal with the daughters? I would like to have sort of a thicker Java Fern area on the same piece of wood but I am not wanting 20 strings around it. I think that looks crappy. I wish there was some type of underwater adhesive that you could just put a tiny little drop and stick one of the roots into it and then on the wood where you want it.

LisaC144

Just stick some of the roots from the Java Fern under the driftwood. That's what I did and it is working just fine. I only put enough under the wood to hold it down. If you do want to tie it for a few weeks, use thread. You can get thread that matches your driftwood and you'll never even know it's there

Inga

So basically you do have to be pulling your driftwood or rocks out each few weeks to add on another daughter plant. I was just thinking as few changes to the environment as I could make, the better to minimize stess on the fish. They really start wigging out when I take their driftwood out of the tank.

LisaC144

No, just tuck a few roots under the wood, or tuck it around a piece of Java Fern that is already rooted. It will then root itself in a few weeks. I never take the driftwood out. I just tuck a small bit under the wood, but leave enough exposed to get the light that it needs.

Inga

Ok, thanks Lisa. Mine is shooting off baby plants like crazy lately and I really would like to plant all the babies and sort of fill out the area but I hate having to have all that string in the tank and to upset the fish with all the movement. I will try that.

I read somewhere that you could use super glue but I am hesitant to put any chemical in my tank.

LisaC144

I personally would NEVER use super glue. It is highly toxic, even to humans. I can't imagine what it might do to a community of fish.

Inga

That is kind of what I was thinking. Actually, I was thinking surgical glue used on humans but I never want to introduce any chemical to the tank that I don't know how it will interact with what is in there already. I was just a little surprised when I read it and thought... If it is alright, it would certainly be easier to do.