Keeping stem plants planted

blacklabel3

I can't keep my stem type plants planted for anything. I have elodea canadensis, and another similar plant that I'm unsure of the name. The fish don't seem to be uprooting them, but they just seem to work their way out of the substrate on there own, no matter how well I plant them. I've even tried covering there bases with rocks or other decorations, doesn't help. One tank I have has a sand substrate, and the other has a rock substrate. Both tanks refuse to stay planted.
Suggestions?

dorabaker

i know this problem all too well
have you tried tying the bases of the plants to small rocks with fishing line or rubber bands? problem is that if you do this or bury the ends, because that's not how these plants grow, that part of the plant will rot. elodea sends out trailing roots that anchor it to the substrate and i assume the other plant does something similar. i have floating elodea and if you leave it for long enough, it sends out roots from the stem that anchor it into the substrate. i don't like tying elodea down - it just rots at the base. it looks kind of disorderly drifting about, although that is a look i rather like personally.

blacklabel3

I see, this makes sense. This is probably why I've been having the trouble. I'll probably just let it float from now on and see how it works out. I'll look into getting another type of plant to bury in the bottoms of my tanks.

dorabaker

if u want something tall what about vallis? i think thats a rooted plant...they need bright light though.

blacklabel3

I just googled that plant, and i like it. However, my big tank is way under-lit. I doubt that plants that require high lighting would grow. I'd have to get a better canopy for the tank. Thanks for the suggestion though. I need something that will grow tall/big, can be planted in the bottom easily, and doesn't require high light.

dorabaker

any chance you could attach a Java Fern to a piece of wood or a rock? they grow huge and i love mine, but you can't bury the rhyzome thingys or else it'll die.

thefishboy

The vallis is a realy nice plant but as dora said you need bright light! But it really adds a nice touch to and aquarium!

Inga

oh goodness I hear you. I am having a heck of a time keeping my stem plants planted. It is practically a daily stuggle to re-do the aquarium. I am tempted to just fill it up with Sword plants and other root plants. They stay where you put them. ha ha

redchigh

Okay... 1, Vallis don't need high light. Medium light is fine.
If you have low light, you could try Echinodorus Augustifolia var. Vesuvius
(Everywhere I read says it needs high light, but from my experiance all of the echinodorus can do well in low light.)
Of course, low light is about .75 to 1 watt per gallon...



2. I love stem plants, but Hornwort and anarchis are the worst. I just tie them to a rock. I've nver had the stem rot where it's tied though... Maybe you tied it too tight and crushed it?

blacklabel3

Thanks for the ideas. I think I'll try out Java Fern in both my tanks, Vallis in my small tank, and Echinodorus in my big tank.