Keeping Floating Plants Where I want them!

[Wycco]

My aquarium has three zones...

The left third is the cave zone. Lots of slate caves- lightly planted.

The right third is the plant zone. Lots of plants (and one cave).

The middle third is the open zone. The back wall has a few java ferns and a flowerpot cave- but for the most part is open-play area... there will be some driftwood on the floor here eventually.


I want to provide shade to the middle third... I have some floating plants en-route to me to go here. The cave zone has a HOB filter and the plant zone has an air-pump powered sponge filter.

I'm hoping the disturbance to the water surface from both these filters will cause floating plants to stay in the middle. I'm not convinced this will really happen though!




So- how can I keep my floaters in place? Thin plexi glass stips going across the surface of the aquarium? Two suction cups on either side of the aquarium and a thick piece of twine taut across the surface?

There is about an inch black plastic lip around the surface- so I don't expect any aesthetic fallout from this.

Just curious if anyone else has tried keeping their floaters in one spot.


Or... do I just need to keep scooping it out and only have small portions in the aquarium at the time so that it doesn't block the light too much?

 

[Hebily]

they will find a happy place. It usually won't be where you want them.

 

[Wycco]

Well if they find one place and stay there that would be OK I can accomadate my plantings accordingly and not have to restrain them... unless they decide to make residence above my densely planted zone and then I'll scream!

 

[Sounguru]

I have used a ring of airline tubing tacked to the rim before but I just let them go where they wish now.

 

[Hebily]

they usu. just find the lowest current spot. They might actually go where you want them, this time.

 

[Wycco]

I have used a ring of airline tubing tacked to the rim before but I just let them go where they wish now.

Thank You!

That is a fantastic idea... I'll see where they go naturally first- as stated above- the middle zone is the zone with least water disturbance... I was hoping this would lead to them heading there.

If they stray too much I already have the materials needed for your idea. Did you have a lot of success or did you have to track down escapees frequently?

 

[deeleywoman]

i've been using a ring of airline tubing held to the glass with a suction cup- it works AWESOME. letting the ring float freely works ok, but it tends to get sucked right to where the water returns to the tank, and as a result a few pieces get knocked loose frequently. they either drift away to a quieter spot, or get stuck in the waterfall. the only issue i have with using a suction cup is that when the water evaporates enough, the free end of the ring dips lower with the water level while the suction cuped-end stays high on the glass, allowing the opportunity for escape. i just lower the suction cup to solve this.

 

[Wycco]

Surprisingly, considering 80F temperatures I'm not getting much evaporation. I don't think that will be a major problem.

Cycling a tank- into week three and I did have to do one water change (against the plan) - but even with just the one water change I haven't had to "add" water due to evaporation. I don't expect to have noticable evaporation between water changes.


Still... I guess that raises a very valid point- the plants are all going to escape any confinement during water changes... I'll have to round them up each time.

 

[Sounguru]

Thank You!

That is a fantastic idea... I'll see where they go naturally first- as stated above- the middle zone is the zone with least water disturbance... I was hoping this would lead to them heading there.

If they stray too much I already have the materials needed for your idea. Did you have a lot of success or did you have to track down escapees frequently?

Worked real well actually it is thick enough I had very little overgrowth.

 

[bazil323]

I had the same problem, except that the current prevented them from finding a spot to stay in place. They kept getting pushed all around, and even pushed under water by the output.

Here's a link to my thread with my solution. Basically, I used plastic canvas (a plastic mesh found in the crafts section, usually near yarn), suction cups with the hooks taken off, and fishing line to tie the cups to the mesh. The mesh goes about 2 inches down (you can use less if you don't have trouble with evaporation) under the water line, and runs from the front of the tank to the back. If you want it in the middle section, just use 2 "walls."

It works awesome! I wish I had time to edit the movie I made so that you could see how well it works. I have my tank split in half so that I have a LOT of movement on one side and the floaters on the other. The floaters are not disturbed at all, and they are thriving! I tied Java moss to the mesh so that it will grow in and be less ugly.