Best way to weigh small aquarium plants down...

A fellow fish breeder friend recently advised me to weigh
small plants down with a couple of one pence pieces.

What are your thoughts on this and could the metal in the coin influence the fish in any way.

I usually tie a couple of pebbles to the top of the plant pot, but what do you guys and girls usually use to ensure the plants do not end up floating up to the surface.

And is there any way you can get oxygenating plant to establish quickly in a set up?

regards

LJ

GOOD GOD! Don't use coins! found that out the hard way! Thought it would look cool to have afew coins in my tank...Whoops, FAIL! That said i was 8 at the time and thought 50 cents was a fair amount of money so having $2 in my tank was like a celebrity using diamonds for substrate.

I just smash them down into the gravel, try and spread the roots around an bit then mound the gravel up on top. If it keeps getting ripped up by a pesky fish (Felix the catfish is normally the culprit) I use a skillfully placed fork prong to keep it in place for a few weeks while it roots in.

In order to give them the best chance i really get the ferts going and of course i have CO2 on my tank to help out. more food they have, the faster they will root up and the more O2 they will make. Gotta love it when you see bubbles of O2 rising up off your plants

I wouldn't use coins- especially pennies because of the copper content. I use ceramic filter media- the noodle shaped ones. I feed the stem through the hole in the middle and then just let the plant sink in the aquarium and push the ceramic noodle into the gravel

I am glad you both said this, a friend who breeds fish advised me to do this and was reluctant,
so just dropped one coin in only...... he said as UK coins were low in metal it should be ok...

think I will repot the plant as I was going to do on the next water change tomorrow....

I don't like the idea of those that use the old lead weight to sink the plants down too....
Think I will go for the filter media ption as thinking of buying some of that to try in the bottom of a juwel filter when I move home..

Can any of you guys recommend how to substitute the filter foam media in a juwel filter for the new media ceramic beads
or spirals they are now selling and how you keep them together..

many thanks

LJ

i just use a stone