# These plants won't stay down



## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

I have moneywort, which is doing fine, and I have two other plants. I'm not sure of name. On of them is red and green with skinny stem









It's stem breaks when I try to replant it into the gravel. Do they require anything special?
The other plant has dense roots, they sink a little but I keep covering it with gravel and it keeps getting out. My fish and frogs aren't big so they don't move it.










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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Also, would it be better if I changed the gravel to sand?


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## DarwinAhoy (Mar 13, 2013)

Sand isn't necessarily better than gravel, though a plant substrate would help with growth. The second plant is "mondo grass" and is not aquatic. It'll survive for a while, but will eventually rot.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

First plant is some type of ludwigia, too hard to tell from the pic.
And as Darwin said, second plant is Mondo grass, not a true aquatic and will eventually melt.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

But I bought it from petco and they said it should be fine.... What should I do with it then?


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## yannis2307 (Apr 23, 2012)

petcos and generally chain petstores are notorious about giving non aquatic plants as aquatic...there have been many threads explaining it in this forum, catalogues telling which popular aquarium plants that the chains sell are not really aquatic, etc etc... just throw it away once you see any sign of ammonia or the leaves start to rot


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Do not listen to chain stores. They will sell you a plant, and say its aquatic. When really, it's not. The plant will live a few months, and then melt and rot away....You, thinking it was you who did something wrong, will go buy another one.

Thats how they make their money...always RESEARCH before getting into anything you have to ask questions for.


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## DarwinAhoy (Mar 13, 2013)

ZebraDanio12 said:


> Do not listen to chain stores. They will sell you a plant, and say its aquatic. When really, it's not. The plant will live a few months, and then melt and rot away....You, thinking it was you who did something wrong, will go buy another one.
> 
> Thats how they make their money...always RESEARCH before getting into anything you have to ask questions for.


Well, that's not quite fair. I work for one of those chain stores, you know! Haha.

I do actually go through the trouble of separating the non-aquatic stuff. I usually throw them in with the Metynnis for a snack, or sell them for marginal/riparium setups.

For what it's worth, there's been a big shift in the percentage of non-aquatic plants in the last couple of years. 90-95% of what comes in is aquatic, which is a huge improvement.

I've also seen the same non-aquatic plants for sale at pretty much every private shop around here. Moral of the story - know what you're buying ahead of time. This is as true for plants as it is for fish!


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Darwin, of course there are those lucky chain stores who get a few fish geeks who know what they are doing. 

But, they ones where I live are terrible... I might need to get a job there to fix their tanks :/


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Okay well all that aside I do know a trick to get stems to stay planted. When planting the stems use tweezers, not those plastic planting tools that are purchased at the chains. Tweezers give you much more controle and dont make such a large divit when inserting the stems into the substrate. This divit is one of the reasons why the stems usually float back up. Also, when grasping the stems with the tweezers it is best to grab the stem at a 45 degree angle. Then place the tweezers into the substrate and push down. The stem will straten out as it goes into the substrate and will remain there. Try it out.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

grogan said:


> Okay well all that aside I do know a trick to get stems to stay planted. When planting the stems use tweezers, not those plastic planting tools that are purchased at the chains. Tweezers give you much more controle and dont make such a large divit when inserting the stems into the substrate. This divit is one of the reasons why the stems usually float back up. Also, when grasping the stems with the tweezers it is best to grab the stem at a 45 degree angle. Then place the tweezers into the substrate and push down. The stem will straten out as it goes into the substrate and will remain there. Try it out.


I will. But I don't know what you're talking about with what the chains sell, never seen or used what they well for planting..l


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Ok I know now that it's actually Kyoto grass. Ya, it's not really aquatic either.... It's now planted I. A pot 


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i work for petco and they sell a number of plants that are not aquatic...including bamboo plants....i will direct my customers away from buying any plants that are not true aquatics..
of course , if corporate ever found out i would be fired...


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