Some Plant Q's...

[darkdep]

Q1: Pennywort...mine is starting to grow, I just have it floating now.  Each little "knuckle" on the stems (for lack of a better word) seems to be sprouting what look to me to be roots.  Is it possible to plant pennywort in the substrate?

Q2: Hornwort...can you plant this in the substrate?

Q3: Looks like my plant tank picked up some hitchhikers...last night noticed a snail and a bunch of babies.  Wondering...how destructive is your average snail to plants?  I don't mind them, they add personality to the tank, but as the point of this tank is "plants first", I want to know if I should start control methods.

[BigDaddy]

Q1:  Yes you can plant pennywort.  However, it will just grow straigh up to the surface again and then cover the top.  Two options, regular pruning, or just let it float

Q2:  Hornwort doesn't grow roots.  You can anchor it to the substrate, but essentially its a floater.

Q3:  Likely you have inherited common pond snails.  Their preferred source of food is not healthy plant matter, but rather the softest vegetable matter in the tank (algae, decaying plant matter, etc).  It is safe to ignore them.

[darkdep]

Thanks BD!  I'm not so concerned about the plants floating, just want a way to keep it in roughly one spot.  Right now the Pennywort and Hornwort tend to float together and get all intertwined.  If I could anchor them down, it'll help.

[motoman]

I've got my hornwort shoved into the sand in my tank and it's growing like mad now. Actually it's the first time in my life that my hornwort hasn't decintegrated after a week or two. Seems to me that the hw is growing some roots off it but I'll look tonight to see if it's from another plant. I've done the same with my pennywort before too. You're right they tend to get all tangled. My fish seem to like it though.

[NjOyRiD]

my pennywort and my hornwort are both planted in the substrate

[kennyman]

An awsome  site I came accross the other day where you can learn a whole bunch about your new pet snails.

http://www.weichtiere.at/Mollusks/

And btw check out the cursor trail over the clam picture. Its really cool  

[PaleoFishGirl]

The best part about your new 'pet' pond snails is that they make a wonderful alternate food source for your fishes! Just squash them against the glass with your finger and watch them get gobbled up (best form of snail 'control' I have found).

[darkdep]

Hey thanks for the link Ken!  I'll check it out.  I'm definetly new to the little buggers.  

BTW, I should emphasize the trailing s in buggerS.  It's like, 2 days after I noticed the first one, and there must be almost 20 babies all over the place now.  Wow.  I had no idea they really did proliferate that fast!  Good thing I WANTED alternate life in this tank.

Paleo: I take it their shells aren't that tough?  I'm planning to put some Khuli loaches in there, with some existing danios, will they eat the snails?

[darkdep]

I think my snail population has doubled since my last post.

[luvfishies]

I think my snail population has doubled since my last post.

Not to worry, as they don't eat live plants.

They're probably Physa acuta (long "feelers) or a limnaea (shorter feelers, look kinda like pointy "ears") species. I have both here and they don't bother plants at all.

[PaleoFishGirl]

Their shells aren't soft, per se, but they are easy enough to squash against the glass.  Your loaches might eat them shells and all, but most fishes 'prefer' to have them squashed first.