Plant weights

Does anyone know what aquarium plant weights are made of? I was thinking of ordering some but they'll take a month to arrive, so I figured I'd make some. I have several types of metal I could cut to size

 

I read somewhere someone uses those washers that come with a bundle of balloons. Not sure the type of metal but thinking it must be a stainless Steel?

 

I would suggest using rocks. Metals can leak into the aquarium and harm any inhabitants including the plants.

 

They're lead usually

 

My lfs uses rocks. Nothing fancy

 

I agree rocks

 

Well, how can I use rocks to hold down hornwort

 

Well, how can I use rocks to hold down hornwort

Trap it against the substrate but Hornwort is a floating plant. floaters gonna float.

 

As stated weights are usually lead strips like below

This is what I used for a while.

Most people use rocks and/or fishing line. Another option is fish safe super glue. Seachem makes a glue. I actually have and use this as well

 

No need to use overpriced aquarium brand glue. Any plain cyanoacrylate super glue will do.

 

No need to use overpriced aquarium brand glue. Any plain cyanoacrylate super glue will do.

Yup that's right! I just bought it to try it out and it works great.

 

What kind of substrate are you using? I also had hornwort and they grew perfectly in my sand. I had the ends of the stems under the sand. In my 20 gallon high I created a hornwort jungle taking over 1/4 of my tank. That was till I had hair algae and had to throw away 90% of them.

 

What kind of substrate are you using? I also had hornwort and they grew perfectly in my sand. I had the ends of the stems under the sand. In my 20 gallon high I created a hornwort jungle taking over 1/4 of my tank. That was till I had hair algae and had to throw away 90% of them.

Pool filter sand, I use root tabs for my other plants tho

 

Here's a pic of when it was in a good shape;

 

Plants that have no root system, like hornwort, or plants that are slow to grow roots, like anacharis, need to be weighted down to keep them from floating. I know there are plant weights available but I've not found any at any of the LFSs within an hour drive of my house. Before I order them online, are there any metal things I can buy at a hardware store, like nuts or washers, that won't react chemically with the water?

 

Plants that have no root system, like hornwort, or plants that are slow to grow roots, like anacharis, need to be weighted down to keep them from floating. I know there are plant weights available but I've not found any at any of the LFSs within an hour drive of my house. Before I order them online, are there any metal things I can buy at a hardware store, like nuts or washers, that won't react chemically with the water?

You can use type driftwood and have plants attached to it or use rocks to hold plants down.. I would't recommend any type metal from hardware store

 

Anacharis and hornwort stays anchored for me in gravel and sand if I just shove it in (trim the bottom leaves first though). I've heard some mixed reviews about lead weights, so I'm not sure they're the best option.
One cheap method is to use rocks. I know PetSmart and Petco sell some rocks for $1-2 for a bag of three, and it's easy to position them so that they hold plants in place. I've used it on anacharis and dwarf sag.
Also, if you leave anacharis floating, it will grow roots so you could leave it floating for a while then plant the roots.

 

Many thanks for responding. I've got my hornwort anchored with a rock, but you know how fast the stuff grows and I'm soon going to need to trim it back and will probably use rocks to hold the clippings down in other tanks. I also spotted a video where you cut an X into a plastic lid, put the anacharis through the X, then bury the lid in the gravel. I'm trying that with a couple of stalks. I'll let everyone know how that goes in a few weeks.

 

I use aquatic plant lead weights (they aren't really lead). Each week I pull up my anacharis, trim it from the bottom, we position the weights and pop it back in the tank in position. I do this will all my stem plants make maintenance so much easier.

 

I recently purchased a tank with a few plants. One of them is a tall plant (I don't remember the name) that refuses to stay in the gravel. When I bought them, there were these weight things that the pet store worker told us to take off before just putting them in the gravel. I looked these weight things up and I think they are safe to put back in the tank even though they appear to be some type of metal. I just wanted to make sure I could so I can actually keep the plants down until they grow roots.

 

No pics are working on anyone’s posts for some reason but they are probably lead and I’ve heard people use them. My method of keeping stem plants in your substrate is taking a water bottle cap cut an X in it push your pinkie through it then put your stem through it and put your substrate on the cap. They hold well and still root good IME

 

No pics are working on anyone’s posts for some reason but they are probably lead and I’ve heard people use them. My method of keeping stem plants in your substrate is taking a water bottle cap cut an X in it push your pinkie through it then put your stem through it and put your substrate on the cap. They hold well and still root good IME

Ok I'll try that

No pics are working on anyone’s posts for some reason but they are probably lead and I’ve heard people use them. My method of keeping stem plants in your substrate is taking a water bottle cap cut an X in it push your pinkie through it then put your stem through it and put your substrate on the cap. They hold well and still root good IME

It worked really well. Thanks so much

 

Are the plant weights that come on plants from the LIF really lead? Because I was thinking about using them to anchor some plants until they root. If they're lead I definitely won't.

 

If the lfs used them they are ok. I had the same thought before I bought some. They are fine.

 

Thanks. Happy Easter!

 

Happy Easter to you too!

 

A lead weight wont leach into the water. Now, if it was small enough for your fish to ingest that would be a different story.