Plants not staying put!

seo

Hello everyone! I'm new here (and to the hobby really!) and have a question. We just upgraded a few months back to a 29 gallon freshwater tank. In our 10 gallon we had several plans we'd grown from bulbs that were fine, but in the new tank we purchased several plants already established. My problem is the plants aren't rooting and keep floating up in the tank! What on earth can I do about this? They aren't turning brown or looking unhealthy, but it's quite a bother having to bury them back down every couple of days. Plus, the fish don't like it either- can't say I blame them! Any suggestions?

Thanks!

saint

you could always use plant weights.....

seo

Claiming stupid here... what's a plan weight? Just what it sounds like? Can I get those at the petstore?

Thanks!

Falina

im really new to live plants so this is just a guess: i have heard a lot of people with planted tanks using small pots to make the plants easier to move about and to make gravel vaccing easier - this would also probbaly keep them on the tank floor rather than the tank surface

squiggles1

some plants prefer not to be buried, we have a Java Fern that prefers it that way. u can try to tie those kinds of plants onto other things like wood or rocks or decor. u just got to find out if yours likes to be buried or not.

usmc121581

Never use plant weights. It constricts flow to the rest of the plant so it ends up dying. What my wife does with her planted system. Is when the plants comes lose just let it float around on top of the water till roots start to appear or get longer then buries them.

jones57742

Instead of getting into a long discourse
can you provide
1) what type of plants they are and/or
2) how they came bundled (obviously not with plant weights)?

Either but preferably both of the above will help.

TR

seo

I know one is a Java Fern, but I don't recall the rest. I'm sorry! They did come bundled, but not with weights. One is a very fluffy fern and I'm not sure about the other.

jones57742

OK then:

each group probably had a rubber band around the bottom and most likely had individual stems with minimal or no roots.

If you have a gravel only bottom aquarium then this will be difficult and the small pot method is probably the best way to go at this time until they root.

The Java Fern will most likely do better attached to wood or rock and may not live if planted in a gravel only bottom.

TR

leifthebunny

My LFS bundles certain non-rooting plants (like Hornwort) with weighted twist ties. Those can help a bit. I think there is a little bit of lead in them or something coated with plastic.

How much substrate does your tank have? If you have under 2" of gravel, you might not have enough to help hold the plants down.