Hey,
So I've had this tank for two to three years. When we set it up for my son, I set it up with a sand substrate. No soil, just play sand about a couple or three inches deep. I've had plants in it ever since, and they've done pretty well. No algae to speak of, and the plants get trimmed back probably every couple of months (Hygrophila corymbosa).
Anyway, so I had too much time on my hands and ended up watching some freshwater aquascape videos on youtube. Bad move on my part, lol. So now I've got some new plants, and am hoping that they'll do well. I got some dwarf baby tears (two pots), micro sword, Ludwigia repens, and some hygrophila difformis. Everything arrived safely and in good shape, and I went about getting everything planted.
Herein lies my problem. The dwarf baby tears won't stay on the bottom. When I initially planted them, I took them out of the pots and potting medium and planted each bunch as a single piece in the sand. the next morning one bunch was floating. So I did some more reading, and learned that in order for them to cover better, I should break apart the bunches and plant the smaller pieces separately so they could grow together. So I did that and pinned them down with toothpicks stuck in the sand at angles. The next morning several little pieces were out of the sand, some with toothpicks, some without.
How can I keep these plants on the bottom long enough to establish and anchor? I've got some MTS, and I wonder if they're pushing them and knocking them loose when they come out of the sand at night.
Thoughts? Recommendations? Ideas? Shoot, I'll settle for dumb looks if it'll help keep these little plants on the bottom where they belong.
Thanks!
dow
So I've had this tank for two to three years. When we set it up for my son, I set it up with a sand substrate. No soil, just play sand about a couple or three inches deep. I've had plants in it ever since, and they've done pretty well. No algae to speak of, and the plants get trimmed back probably every couple of months (Hygrophila corymbosa).
Anyway, so I had too much time on my hands and ended up watching some freshwater aquascape videos on youtube. Bad move on my part, lol. So now I've got some new plants, and am hoping that they'll do well. I got some dwarf baby tears (two pots), micro sword, Ludwigia repens, and some hygrophila difformis. Everything arrived safely and in good shape, and I went about getting everything planted.
Herein lies my problem. The dwarf baby tears won't stay on the bottom. When I initially planted them, I took them out of the pots and potting medium and planted each bunch as a single piece in the sand. the next morning one bunch was floating. So I did some more reading, and learned that in order for them to cover better, I should break apart the bunches and plant the smaller pieces separately so they could grow together. So I did that and pinned them down with toothpicks stuck in the sand at angles. The next morning several little pieces were out of the sand, some with toothpicks, some without.
How can I keep these plants on the bottom long enough to establish and anchor? I've got some MTS, and I wonder if they're pushing them and knocking them loose when they come out of the sand at night.
Thoughts? Recommendations? Ideas? Shoot, I'll settle for dumb looks if it'll help keep these little plants on the bottom where they belong.
Thanks!
dow