# Anchoring live plants



## zebo (Feb 10, 2008)

Hi,

I try to anchor live plants into the gravel but they keep floating up.
My tank height is high and its difficult for me to reach to the bottom of the gravel.
The tongs they sell at Aquarium shops are expensive.

What can I use to anchor the plants without hurting them?

Also, I want to leave Tropical Hornwart floating on the surface of the tank.
But they float all over the place and its makes the aquarium untidy.
I hope to keep them on the surface but at a specific place without them "flying" all over.

I was thinking of tying them up in a bunch and then tie them to the top bit of my aquarium.
Will this kill the plant?


Thank You.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

These are pretty cheap. I got this set and all of them are very handy. Perhaps you could save up...

http://cgi.ebay.com/5pc-Aquarium-Tool-Kit-For-Planted-Aquariums-Cleaning_W0QQitemZ180219166618QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3212QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Hornwort is going to float along with the water currents in your tank. There is no way I am aware of to stop this. You could try weighing down several stems and just place them in various places in your tank.



> ...My tank height is high and its difficult for me to reach to the bottom of the gravel...


Have you tried standing on a stepstool?


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Since hornwort grows so fast I've hooked a long strand around the intake tube of my filter and let the rest of the strand float with the current. The part that is hooked will degrade, but it's usually grown so long that I just cut off the bad section and anchor a new part. I've also considered using a suction cup with a hook and loosely tying the hornwort to it then sticking the suction cup wherever it looks good. The same problem of the tied part degrading and eventually breaking will occur - but it does grow so darn fast there's no problem finding good pieces to anchor.

For planting things I've found a long-handled tweezers to be immensely helpful. I bought one for less than $10, while it wouldn't be good for fine groundcovers like HC it's great for stem plants and larger groundcovers. If I have a plant that doesn't have enough roots to keep it down I will carefully anchor it with a plant weight. I usually try to anchor it in such a way that I can remove the weight in a couple weeks without disturbing the plant.


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## zebo (Feb 10, 2008)

Hi cs_gardener, Bert H, & Tex Gal,

Thank you for all your replies.

Height of Tank: 75cm
Height of Tank Stand = 75 cm

I used a ladder and its still difficult for me to reach the gravel.
I would love to buy the Aquarium Tongs but its so expensive here.
I am still looking for a bargain buy.

I have anchored the plants to pebbles with tiny plastic cable ties. Then I dug a ditch in the gravel and drop the plant in there. And I used a long piece of driftwood to sweep gravel over the ditch. 

With the floating plants, I used 2 pieces of driftwood to create a corner (L shape) and tie the driftwoods to the top of my tank with longer plastic cable ties. The floating plants stay within that area even with strong water movement.

Thank You so much for helping me out. Really appreciate it.


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