Re: Plant "anchors"

["don" <don at calimages_com>]

One of my favorite cheap tricks is using "green weenie" scrubber pads. 
They're usually at the 99c store, or any grocery store, and work awesome.

Soak them in bleach for a coupla days (in case there's anything in there you 
don't want in the tank... Hopefully even oxidize any chemicals too.. but 
I've never had a problem), cut them to the shape of a stand of whatever 
plant you're trying to, well, plant. Stem plants, small vals, etc, work well 
with this. Cut little slits for each plant, gently place the roots (or stem) 
in the slit, and put the pad with plants in the tank, covered with enough 
gravel to cover. You can bury it deeper for stem plants or plants with 
longer roots and still keep the crown above the gravel. 

The pads are porous so don't block oxygen, don't rust, and since they're 
green (or white), generally don't look ugly if a bit peeks out from under 
the gravel. 

DonT