clueless newbie questions

[nisi]

I leaped before I looked. I planned to wait until I did some research and my tank was well established to add any live plants, I really really was, but I am weak. On impulse I brought a little anachris home last night. When I got home I realized I have no clue what to do with the thing, so I stuck it in the gravel and figured I'd hope for the best. That little metal band that holds the stems together... am I supposed to take that off or leave it on? (see, I told you I'm clueless)

Here's the setup for the tank:

5gal hexagon tank
10 watt 6500K compact florescent on a timer for ~10hrs/day
gravel substrate
fishless cycled and added 2 guppies yesterday
small air stone, but it's currently off because it seems to add too much current for the guppies


So, how bad did I mess this up? What are the chances it'll make it? I'm prepared to yank the plant out and wait if if that's really best, but since I already have it in there I'd kind of like to give it a go. Anything I can do to improve its chances?

Thanks!

 

[neilanh]

No need to wait. Remove the metal band, and give it a shot. Should work out okay I would think. That's not much light, but I think the anacharis can work at that level.

 

[wims590]

i would remove the band...i done the same thing before...i was like 'a metal band...that would hurt little fish' so i took it off and the plants are doing wonderfull...
then i got told the metal band was to help weigh down the plant and save the roots from getting nipped by fish so i left metal bands on on other plants and they all died pretty soon...so i would take the metal bits off...hope this helps

 

[nisi]

Thanks! I took the little band off. It looks & feels like lead.. is it? That can't be a good thing to have in the tank.

Anyway, it's only been a few days, but so far so good, anacharis is still green and healthy looking. Except I noticed last night that the tips are starting to bend/grow towards the front of the tank because that's where the light is and I planted it at the back. D'oh! Should I move it closer to the light, or would moving it be bad at this stage?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Well its a good thing not to move plants around too much. All plants are going to grow towards the light so it kinda depends on your light source and space.

I'd leave for now, and see if its doing OK, If not after a couple weeks then you could move it towards the middle or where the light is.

 

[Purrbox]

While the metal bands feel like lead, they are some sort of alloy that is safe in your aquarium. They just tend to get wrapped too tightly around the stems causing them to rot and die.