A few questions about plants and moving them around (IDs)

[Meredith]

So I finally have my lights YEA! This gives me nearly 2 and a half (?) watts per gallon. So far I have moved over my java fern, some swords and this other plant which I never got a positive id on (anyone care to take a look now that they are older?) I must say I am very happy with the flourite. Before I even had my lights, the tall plants in the back started out being only as high as mid tank and now some of them are out of the water. (as a side note, I will be adding sand on top of the flourite) I guess my main question is, how damaging is it to the plants to up root them to move them around? I have a very hard time visualizing how I want the tank to be, so I know I will have to move stuff around a few times before I am happy. I know I had a bunch more questions, but I can't seem to remember what they were :?
Thanks
Sorry about the cloudiness of the water, its the flourite

 

[Toirtis]

Most plant species suffer very little from being moved, and recover very quickly....go right ahead.

 

[mattrox]

I can't ID your plant but your Sword ylooks really good. Mine (have have 2 of those) used to look like that, but now they need some TLC. Seeing things in other people's tanks really inspires me.

I love to move things around to, you never know how things will look until you do it. Usually when I move plants (crypts and Swords particularly) I trim the roots using my fingernails. It makes them easier to re-plent. They seem not to mind too much.

 

[gheitman]

IME many plants can be transplanted successfully to another spot in the tank, or another tank for that matter, without suffering any permanent damage. I just moved a lot of plants as well as added some new ones to my 30 gallon tank. Cryptocorynes can be sensitive to change and may suffer "Cryptocoryne rot" if you move them or if the water conditions aren't just right. When this happens the leaves will just start to dissolve until you are left with nothing but the root structure. If this happens to you just leave the plant alone and it will eventually grow back.