# Planting Depth Question



## CmdrSlack (Oct 12, 2010)

I've been noticing that some of my plants are coming loose from the substrate, mainly the anacharis. One of my larger potted plants has thrown up a bunch of white roots, some across the top of the substrate, and some up the glass.

I also have an anubias throwing out two little green root tendrils a small distance from the base of the plant. 

Do I need to re-do these? I assume that some of the anacharis uprootings are due to my mollies and not poor planting.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

How deep is your substrate and what type? Difficult to anchor Anacharis even in regular gravel. The rhizome of the Anubias should be on top of your substrate or whatever you want to anchor it to. You can bury them, just do so shallow. Runners are normal.


----------



## CmdrSlack (Oct 12, 2010)

Oh, I have a bealsbob-esque substrate -- 1" peat moss, 1" play sand, 1" gravel.

I thought I'd read in one of bealsbob's posts that the vast majority of the plants didn't need to be planted super-deep. 

I have a distinct feeling that my mollies are disturbing the anacharis -- they're planted all along the back of the tank and I see them over there quite a bit.


----------



## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

CmdrSlack said:


> Oh, I have a bealsbob-esque substrate -- 1" peat moss, 1" play sand, 1" gravel.
> 
> I thought I'd read in one of bealsbob's posts that the vast majority of the plants didn't need to be planted super-deep.
> 
> I have a distinct feeling that my mollies are disturbing the anacharis -- they're planted all along the back of the tank and I see them over there quite a bit.


Anacharis can tend to be pulled out and you find some floating in the morning.


For anacharis I push the base of the plant all the way through all levels of the substrate. I think also the 1 week fishless helps then send out roots and stay anchored in the substrate.

Other then this how is the tank doing?

my .02


----------



## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

Anacharis are fine in my tank. Try putting them a little deeper. They seem to grow good roots after some time.


----------



## peteyboyny (Oct 18, 2010)

Anacharis will not only root from the bottom, it will also grow roots from the top and sides.


----------



## CmdrSlack (Oct 12, 2010)

The tank is ok overall, to answer b'bob's question. 

I am a bit angsty over the water tests from today, however. I am showing slightly above 0ppm on ammonia, nitrIte looks to be at about 2 ppm, and nitrate around 10 ppm. 

I don't want to do a water change (in keeping with the spirit of the build), but short of just squeezing the liquid from the filter media from the cycled 10 gal tank into this tank, I'm not sure how else to try and promote the development of the biological filter.


----------



## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

CmdrSlack said:


> The tank is ok overall, to answer b'bob's question.
> 
> I am a bit angsty over the water tests from today, however. I am showing slightly above 0ppm on ammonia, nitrIte looks to be at about 2 ppm, and nitrate around 10 ppm.
> 
> I don't want to do a water change (in keeping with the spirit of the build), but short of just squeezing the liquid from the filter media from the cycled 10 gal tank into this tank, I'm not sure how else to try and promote the development of the biological filter.


don't add any food. ammonia should drop to 0 the next day and nitrItes in a couple of days. after several days start feeding very lightly. Like only a flake or two each day.

The biological filter will come on its own. Now you have to keep the bioload below what the plants can handle. After a few weeks of 0 ammonia/nitrItes you should notice nitrates dropping down. that signals the last stage of the planted cycle along with a pH rise along the way.


my .02


----------



## Kirby1 (Nov 17, 2010)

You can tie some string around the botton of the plant to help it stay anchored. Eventually the string will wear away but by then the plant should have some roots.


----------



## CmdrSlack (Oct 12, 2010)

beaslbob said:


> don't add any food. ammonia should drop to 0 the next day and nitrItes in a couple of days. after several days start feeding very lightly. Like only a flake or two each day.
> 
> The biological filter will come on its own. Now you have to keep the bioload below what the plants can handle. After a few weeks of 0 ammonia/nitrItes you should notice nitrates dropping down. that signals the last stage of the planted cycle along with a pH rise along the way.
> 
> ...


I was doing my two flakes every other day feeding up to now. I'll try the "no food until morale improves" route.


----------

