Weighing down plants and food

[Chris.d514]

I have heard this talked about buy wanted to see if i could get more info on this. Is there a specific type of weight to use? How long to leave the weights on plants? How long to leave a weighted piece of food in the tank?

[armthehomeless]

Re: Weighing down plants and food

No.

I don't keep them on at all. I plant each stem separately... or just a couple together. Keep it on until a root structure develops if you have fish that unplant things.

24hrs.

[Chris.d514]

Weighing down plants and food

So I can use my 2 oz fishing weight to sink food like zucchini or cucumber?

[TexSun]

Re: Weighing down plants and food

I made some custom food weights out of a pair of unusable SS tweezers. I split the tweezer in two pieces, to create to food spears.

[mnemenoi]

They do sell plant weights at most stores, they look like bread ties made of bendable zinc. Many stem plants come with them and you actually do end up with a ton over time, especially in your substrate of older tanks, lol. You can use cotton thread and tie them to rocks and simply bury the rock. The cotton thread will disinegrate in time and the plant will have rooted by then. Moss/Anubias/Java Fern can be attached to driftwood/rock with the same method.

[Chris.d514]

Would braided fishing line be good for that as well? I have a friend that gives me a few rolls a year when he gets extras from his sponsors (he competes in all of the major tournaments in Texas and gets tons of stuff).

[Totenkampf]

So I can use my 2 oz fishing weight to sink food like zucchini or cucumber?

i wouldnt use lead weights although i am sure some of the plant weights i used to use were lead. i think some of the ones i have now are made of some other malable metal like pewter (though that would be expensive so its maybe not that). i have been using binder clips, the eventually rust a bit but i dont think that hurts anything.

[ScorpiosWife]

I weigh things down with marbles. If you have kids, you probably already have them!

[Totenkampf]

They do sell plant weights at most stores

do you know of one that sells them recently? they are off the shelves in all petco/petsmart that i have been to recently and aquarium world tells me they have been asked to pull them too for safety reasons. i didnt realize they were zinc so thats weird that they would be pulled. i bought my last batch online where they are still plentiful. i still find them useful for temp. planting or for fast gowing bunches that i swap out often.

[mnemenoi]

I see them occasionally at a few of the older stores. I think they were originally made out of a lead/zinc alloy, but they banned its use and they switched to some other alloy that I believe is Zinc based. I happen to know as I was a huge gamer miniature nerd and it affected them in the same manner....

[Totenkampf]

lol yeah i still have a box full of lead based fantasy critters and space marines myself somewhere