Tips to stop plant uprootings

[hamfist]

I have 2 or 3 quite large (5-6"), boisterous fish in my 500 litre tank and am experiencing regular uprootings of plants as I am in the process of converting it to a planted setup. I came downstairs this morning to again one of my swords floating around the tank. Using plant weights doesn't seem to help too much, especially because some of the plants don't have particularly established root systems yet and there's not too much to get the plant weight around. I'm going to have a go this morning to try and protect all vulnerable plants with rocks/stones around them but, to be honest, that isn't really the look I'm going for. Although its something I am happy doing temporarily whilst they established themselves.
The substrate is a 2mm grain gravel, from about 2" depth at the front to about 3-3.5" at the back. Or am I simply on a losing wicket trying to make this work with such a marginal depth substrate ? I seriously don't want to uproot and rescape the whole tank with a layer of some sort of nutrient soil underneath the gravel but I would consider doing so if its really going to transorm things. It is a low tech set up so I am expecting slow growth anyway and I do intend to fertilise the water column regularly and well.

I also wonder if I could plant my Crypts and Echinodorus a bit deeper. I haven't really yet got a feel for how much of the crown actually needs to be exposed, as internet care instructions recommend. If I plant them exposing the crown, then by the next morning, there will be a cm of roots exposed too. I've attached a few pics of what things look like currently. I've a feeling I've got the Crypts about right, but I suspect I can bury the Echinodorus probably an inch further in.
Good people of UKAPS, please can you point me on the path of enlightenment in this matter ..........

 

[tam]

Once they root, they root really well - their roots will cover the tank base so it is a case of keeping them in place long enough to do that. Temporary rocks is a good idea. The first two look too shallow to me - you see where it transitions from white to green? That's the joint between under/out of the gravel. With 2mm gravel, rather than sand there is less issue anyway. The be honest I don't worry too much about exactly where they are - as long as you aren't putting them inches too deep they'll sort themselves out and 2mm gravel is lose compare to sand anyway.

 

[tiger15]

Not sure what boisterous fish you have. Most say that large boisterous cichlid are incompatible with plants. I took the challenge and have been keeping small to large cichlid ranging from 3 to 10 inch in planted 75 and 125 gal tank. My strategy is to keep mostly tough epiphytes Anubias, Java fern and bolbitus attached to rock and mixed in with a few potted stem and rosette plants. Cichlid are digger, so no plants in the substrate which I laid thin barely enough to cover the reflection. Instead, I root stems and rosettes in net pots filled with gravel and hide the pots behind rock and other plants. The rosettes I have are sword and crypts which root strongly and never need repotting. Stems root weakly and with fast growth and natural bottom break off, I have to prune and repot the tops often, and this is why I keep stems to the minimum to minimize maintenance.

 

[hamfist]

Not sure what boisterous fish you have. Most say that large boisterous cichlid are incompatible with plants. I took the challenge and have been keeping small to large cichlid ranging from 3 to 10 inch in planted 75 and 125 gal tank. My strategy is to keep mostly tough epiphytes Anubias, Java fern and bolbitus attached to rock and mixed in with a few potted stem and rosette plants. Cichlid are digger, so no plants in the substrate which I laid thin barely enough to cover the reflection. Instead, I root stems and rosettes in net pots filled with gravel and hide the pots behind rock and other plants. The rosettes I have are sword and crypts which root strongly and never need repotting. Stems root weakly and with fast growth and natural bottom break off, I have to prune and repot the tops often, and this is why I keep stems to the minimum to minimize maintenance.

What you are doing is clearly working really well for you ! Is there any CO2 involved, or completely low tech ?
The fish I am talking about are a large Blue Acara and a Strawberry leporinus. Neither are diggers, thankfully, but just quite big, and sometimes move fast, suddenly around the bottom of the tank, and that is whats causing the issues. Oh, apart from Valisneria, which the Acara decided to dig up and destroy the moment I planted it - very strange. It takes no real interest in any of the other plants.
I am really hopeful to get my rooted plants into the substrate, as that is very much my preference, so I think I will persevere with trying to protect them whilst they establish. I guess potting them will be plan B if I simply can't get there that way.

I made a good number of small-medium pieces of slate which I have put around "vulnerable" plants today. One Echinodorus has already been uprooted form that - but it has (and came with) such a feeble root system it doesn't have too much to hold it in. I have replanted it quite deeply, and we'll see what tomorrow brings !

 

[jamiep]

Try making a few wabi kusa with you plants and sitting them on the substrate

 

[tiger15]

What you are doing is clearly working really well for you ! Is there any CO2 involved, or completely low tech ?
The fish I am talking about are a large Blue Acara and a Strawberry leporinus. Neither are diggers, thankfully, but just quite big, and sometimes move fast, suddenly around the bottom of the tank, and that is whats causing the issues. Oh, apart from Valisneria, which the Acara decided to dig up and destroy the moment I planted it - very strange. It takes no real interest in any of the other plants.
I am really hopeful to get my rooted plants into the substrate, as that is very much my preference, so I think I will persevere with trying to protect them whilst they establish. I guess potting them will be plan B if I simply can't get there that way.

I made a good number of small-medium pieces of slate which I have put around "vulnerable" plants today. One Echinodorus has already been uprooted form that - but it has (and came with) such a feeble root system it doesn't have too much to hold it in. I have replanted it quite deeply, and we'll see what tomorrow brings !

Both my 75g and 125g run on CO2. A single blue acara should be ok with plants. I currently have a 7 inch male blue acara and a 9 inch male green terror acara in my planted 125g. In my planted 75g, I have two 5 inch female blue acara. I have to segregate the sex of the acara as pairing large cichlid will dig and destroy plants. I only allow dwarf cichlid (Kribensis, julidochromis, Lamprologus) to pair up as they are too weak to harm plants. Interestingly, these cave dwelling cichlid love to hide and make babies inside the plant caves. I have never had Strawberry leporinus, and not sure if it is a plant eater. If not, it should be OK as I keep similarly large characin,10 inch pink tail chalceus, in my 125g. If you like to root plants in substrate, you can still pot your sword in net pot, stuff with heavy gravel, and then bury into the substrate. The roots will grow out of the net pot further securing the plants.

 

[hamfist]

Both my 75g and 125g run on CO2. A single blue acara should be ok with plants. I currently have a 7 inch male blue acara and a 9 inch male green terror acara in my planted 125g. In my planted 75g, I have two 5 inch female blue acara. I have to segregate the sex of the acara as pairing large cichlid will dig and destroy plants. I only allow dwarf cichlid (Kribensis, julidochromis, Lamprologus) to pair up as they are too weak to harm plants. Interestingly, these cave dwelling cichlid love to hide and make babies inside the plant caves. I have never had Strawberry leporinus, and not sure if it is a plant eater. If not, it should be OK as I keep similarly large characin,10 inch pink tail chalceus, in my 125g. If you like to root plants in substrate, you can still pot your sword in net pot, stuff with heavy gravel, and then bury into the substrate. The roots will grow out of the net pot further securing the plants.

Yes, I think these"net pots" are something I need to investigate. Thanks for your thoughts.