Simple Way to Anchor/Tie Plants

[BiGBlak]

Im turning my rainbowfish tank to a anubias only planted tank and i need help on anchoring my plants. Its such a pain to me on how to do it that i had to make a thread about it. So what are some ways you guys do it ? i plan on buying a buch of clay pot pieces or whatever i find to tie each individual piece to it and arrange it to my liking at the base of my tank. For my driftwood i have no idea on how to go about that???? Im just looking for simple methods that people use thats not much of a hassel or a pain to see in your tank. Ive tried rubber bands and the wood is too wide for ties.

[Goes to 11!]

Try fishing line, It's strong & almost invisible underwater. :22:

[mommy1]

I hear super glue works, but I have never personally used it. I don't know how well it would adhere to the wet driftwood, you may have to take it out of the tank and let it dry a bit first.

[bignellm]

For my larger plants, planting usually isn't an issue. Not sure on Anubias, but the exception to the rule I've had issues with is my Amazon Sword. No matter how long it's in the tank, it likes to float and everytime I try to bury roots, floats up and spoils my efforts.

One thing you could try is buy some lava rock and tie the plant to that with [fishing line or (cotton thread--untreated with chemicals to add color or enhance whiteness{will slowly bio-degrade})] in such a way, that the roots will eventually grow into the rock. Voila natural anchor.

With another plant, I've used a small portion of filter pad, cut, inserted plant, lightly ziptied plant, and planted the filter pad. This seems to have done the trick for holding down my Brazilian Pennywort.

[BiGBlak]

Im sorry for brining this thread back up but it just seems im the total plant noob and need like directions or pics or a vid on how to plant lol. My forty gal is loaded with anubias 24 Rhizomes just floating and i plan to make it an anubias paradise type of tank. I dnt have much substrate in that tank i would say about 1.5 inches all around maybe a little more so its difficult for the plant to stay dwn. At local fish stores i seen how some or the tanks have them but have no idea how to do it. it seems the roots are burried and the Rhizome sticks out but it looks neat how do i do that ? My substrat are pebble like rocks not dirt or sand so its hard .

Here is what a mess my tank looks like right now =(
ZVsYQ-VdLC8

[Lady Hobbs]

Tie it with thread or fishing line to all that wood. I use a stapler gun. (I keep the stables loose and don't hit the rhizome. I was thinking a hot glue gun may also work. With those plants floating, they are very close to the light and perhaps too much for them. I wish I had them!

[BiGBlak]

for the anubias nana im going to tie it to the wood with the twisty tie that you cut yourself which is like a few yards long. If thats doesnt work out for me im going to use the staple gun method you mentioned . i remeber you saying that before and was going to use it because i didnt know twisty ties came by the yard. and for the broad leaf and wrinkle leaf im trying to figure out what to anchor them dwn to the substrate was thinking paper clips but dont want them to rust and effect my tank. But yea LH i get them from this guy on AquaBid pretty cheap also considering all the LFS sell them for 4.99 ea. His name is Vuhal and he sells a variety of i think 5 or 6 different anubias and they are 6 for $28 or 12 for $36 and they are in great condition. I love this plant so far because i literally had my first bunch sitting in the tank like that for over 4 or 5 months and they grow had one or two leafs die off but that it they are still nice and green and growing new leaves. The reason for that is because i kinda got side tracked from the hobby for awhile but now im back lol. You should buy from him.

[BiGBlak]

oh yea and thats sunlight from the window i barely keep that tank light on now only for feeding until i get them anchored so they wont get sooo much light .

[BiGBlak]

heres the link to aquabid if your interested
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?liveplants&1313997130

[dbosman]

Gel type super glue works well, even on wet rock or drift wood.
Clay pot pieces will cost next to nothing. Good idea there.

[BiGBlak]

Gel type super glue works well, even on wet rock or drift wood.
Clay pot pieces will cost next to nothing. Good idea there.
where would i find pieces of clay pot ? do i have to buy a pot and break it ?

[Lady Hobbs]

Thanks for the link. Have it in my favorites.

Ya but there's cheap. The small ones are about 50 cents each. But look for some chipped ones and they will give you a good deal. Slate would also work. Seems to me that clay pots may be too smooth for the roots to grab hold of, tho. You want something kinda rough.

[BiGBlak]

How would Map tacks work for me to attacht to my wood ? i think i may go that route because it seems easy simple and effective. Here is how i wouold go about it . Use 4 tacks per Rhizomes by penetrating the wood paralell on either side with the rhizome in the middle until its nice and snug and 2 on either side for the bottom part of the rhizome this way the rhizome wont be suffocated and yea ? i was thinking of regular thumb tacks but the head on map tacks seem they would work better . Leave them in for a month then unplugg them ?

[Lady Hobbs]

I used those too. Stick them in the roots and not in the rhizome. But what is wrong with simple black thread? That's about as easy as you can get and stays where it's supposed to.

[BiGBlak]

I used those too. Stick them in the roots and not in the rhizome. But what is wrong with simple black thread? That's about as easy as you can get and stays where it's supposed to.
i bought T-pins instead since its shaped like a T it will be way easier to hold. BUt thread and anything tying i dont have the skill to do that LH thats why. I tried before and its like you need 3 hands you have to keep it in place then tie it down and when i do that it always seems to be to loose and its frustrating to me especially with that big piece of wood i got and its wet also. Just bad experiences with tying now if it was small drifwood or little chunks then no problem but trying to tie 12 or how ever many Rhizomes of anubias to one big log will be a big hassel.

[BiGBlak]

T-Pins Fail! cant penetrate the wood =( Im going to keep it simple with the twisty tie every where.

[mommy1]

Why are you making this so difficult! Use super glue.

[BiGBlak]

Have no idea kind of scared with the glue but i just might go that route .

[mommy1]

I hear super glue works, but I have never personally used it. I don't know how well it would adhere to the wet driftwood, you may have to take it out of the tank and let it dry a bit first.

Gel type super glue works well, even on wet rock or drift wood.
Clay pot pieces will cost next to nothing. Good idea there.

Just make sure you have the plants where you want them before you apply the glue. Put a small dot of glue on the surface of driftwood or clay pot and put the plant on it.

[BiGBlak]

Just make sure you have the plants where you want them before you apply the glue. Put a small dot of glue on the surface of driftwood or clay pot and put the plant on it.
Can you name some brands ? i went into a hardware store and second guessed because the guy said the only aquarium safe stuff he had was adhesive silicone. so i didnt know and yea what kind of glue should i be looking for ?

[mommy1]

23498

23499

23500

[BiGBlak]

the blue one i seen and was the first one i picked up and was about to get then i asked for help and the guy picked something else and said that he wasnt sure if they were safe or not . now i know and will be picking a tube or 2 of the blue one. thnx.

[cardiocentric]

thread around the middle part of the rhizome and around the driftwood several times always works for me... unfortunately sometimes the thread is hard to maneuver if your hands get wet, so have a towel nearby. also, thread dissolves after a period of time in water, so once your anubia has attached, voila, it's gone.

[Countrylovin4evr]

Penn Plax makes lead weights (the lead doesn't hurt the fish) and are cheap at Big Al's

[Lady Hobbs]

Fishing line for me too. Fishing line outlasts thread and you need something long lasting because it takes a while for roots to attached to the wood.

[Suda Nim]

I cut the bottom off a plastic soda bottle (16-oz size), poked two holes in it, then smeared aquarium cement to glue gravel around the rim, inside & out.

When it's dry (2 days), rinse well & tie a piece of wood to it with fishing line, threading it through the holes. Use more fishing line to tie the plant to the wood.

Place in tank, then sprinkle gravel to cover the rest of the plastic.

[Lady Hobbs]

It's been so long since this thread started.......Aug of last year......that I am the proud owner of these anubias and I have them now tied to my driftwood.

:)