Fish: Re: [tropical fish club] How to weight plants down?

The reason I was considering putting silicone on the the plastic base is
because I don't have the tools to drill holes into the tiles. So I thought
I would just take silicone and run a bead on each side of the long clear
plastic base that snaps on and off of the plants and then if I did ever
decide to take them off, I thought I could simply run a razor blade to
remove them from the tile and razor blade it off the plastic base.

Thanks for the suggestions!

On Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 4:43 PM, Dawn Moneyhan <
dawnshungryeyes4u2c@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>
> Plastic plants tend to have a long, usually clear, plastic base on them
> that snaps off. Remove this piece, push the plant through a hole in your
> small tiles and hten snap the plastic base back onto the plant.
>
> The egg crate idea could work the same way but might be a bit more
> difficult to keep weighted down once the fish begin to dig the crating up,
> unless the crate spanned a large enough area under the substrate.
>
> I would not use silicone to anchor them to a flat surface, however, once
> inserted through a hole in your tile, you could place a bead of silicone
> into the hole to help form a seal to the base of the plant structure, which
> would make it a little more secure. I would do this after reattaching the
> plastic base to the plant or while the silicone is still wet enough to bond
> the base. Fair warning, if you choose to use silicone, it will be very
> difficult if not impossible to remove the plant later. While trying to peel
> the silicone off of a plastic plant it tends to break the plastic plant in
> the process, at very least it does tend to cause damage and can be quite
> difficult. Personally, I don't see a need for silicone unless the plastic
> base of the plant is missing or damaged where it doesn't hold onto the plant
> any longer.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
>
> Dawn
>
> Dawn Moneyhan
> Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist
> To learn more about me go to
> http://www.helium.com/users/449334
>
>
> --- On Tue, 9/28/10, Brandi C <brandiable@gmail.com<brandiable%40gmail.com>>
> wrote:
>
> From: Brandi C <brandiable@gmail.com <brandiable%40gmail.com>>
> Subject: Re: [tropical fish club] How to weight plants down?
> To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com <tropicalfishclub%40yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2010, 3:02 PM
>
>
>
>
> They are plastic... We don't really have problems with our real ones
>
> because their root bases seem to keep them weighted down...
>
> Thanks!
>
> On Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 3:58 PM, Dawn Moneyhan <
>
> dawnshungryeyes4u2c@yahoo.com <dawnshungryeyes4u2c%40yahoo.com>> wrote:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Are these live plants or fake?
>
> >
>
> > Dawn
>
> >
>
> > Dawn Moneyhan
>
> > Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist
>
> > To learn more about me go to
>
> > http://www.helium.com/users/449334
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > --- On Tue, 9/28/10, Brandi C <brandiable@gmail.com<brandiable%40gmail.com>
> <brandiable%40gmail.com>>
>
> > wrote:
>
> >
>
> > From: Brandi C <brandiable@gmail.com <brandiable%40gmail.com><brandiable%
> 40gmail.com>>
>
>
> > Subject: [tropical fish club] How to weight plants down?
>
> > To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com<tropicalfishclub%40yahoogroups.com><tropicalfishclub%
> 40yahoogroups.com>
>
>
> > Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2010, 10:05 AM
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Hi--
>
> >
>
> > We have several African cichlid tanks that for substrate have ColorQuartz
>
> > in
>
> >
>
> > them which is slightly bigger than grains of sand. As with most cichlids,
>
> >
>
> > ours are professionals at rearranging their substrate to suit their needs
>
> >
>
> > and build new caves and hiding spots. I enjoy watching what they can do
>
> >
>
> > (other than when all the sand gets moved to the front of the tank)...
> But,
>
> >
>
> > what is making me crazy is the swirl of plants that I end up with
> floating
>
> >
>
> > nearly daily. Because our bigger tanks are 125 gallons, it means that I
>
> >
>
> > have to climb up on a step stool and do everything but get in to swim to
>
> >
>
> > reposition their plants again.
>
> >
>
> > I was wondering what I could do to weight the plants down? I know it
> won't
>
> >
>
> > be possible to keep them in place, but, I think if I can find something
> to
>
> >
>
> > keep them at least with their base at the bottom it would save me a lot
> of
>
> >
>
> > time with the work I do on the tanks... One thought I had was using
>
> >
>
> > aquarium safe silicone and placing them onto small 2 x 2 ceramic tiles in
>
> >
>
> > color that would match the substrate, would there be any issues with
> this?
>
> >
>
> > Any ideas would be appreciated!
>
> >
>
> > Thanks!!!!
>
> >
>
> > --
>
> >
>
> > -Brandi
>
> >
>
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> >
>
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> --
>
> -Brandi
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>

--
-Brandi

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]