? I found some lead but i was told its solder can i use this for my tank? i used a bit where I had too

the fish seem ok, also where can I get some proper lead the one at the pet shop is like 5 bucks for a few strips in a pack

what do u use

Ps I shifted tanks all moved wasnt as hard as I though !

id be worried that "lead solder" isnt just lead, it is solder(a type of amalgum of things) that is high in lead.

also there is flux in solder that helps keep it flexible, and helps it melt the first time. (if youve ever noticed a brown/yellow oily residue when soldering, thats the flux) anyone who has tried re-soldering something will have realised that stuff thats been melted and cooled is alot harder to melt than fresh out-of-the-tube solder.

i just always keep my little lead weight thingies when i buy plants, usefull if you get enough of them!

the problem with buying lead these days is that the price of transport has skyrocketted with the price of deisel, this has affected many industries, including one close to me, diving. lead dive weights used to be between 5-7 bux, now expect 10-14!! doubled in price!

a option for you may be to go for a snorkell around some fishing rocks and grab all the weights you can find, and there will be! melt them down in an old pot and have a flat surface (that you know is flat!!) ready (baking tin etc might work well) pour out your lead and shift the pan around to get it flat, then turn out once cool and take to it with tin snips... if you measure out how much lead you have you should be able to guage how thick you want to get it.

or you could just fork out the dosh for some shiny new leads at teh pet shop... :lol:

As cricketman said, lead solder certainly isn't just lead. It will most likely be 63% tin, 37% lead or something pretty close to that. Also, as cricketman said, it may or may not contain flux. Flux is an acid that is actually used to clean the surfaces, not to help melting. That's a common misconception.

You will need a whole lot of solder to weigh down those plants. Probably more than $5 worth for the equivalent from a pet store for lead strips. I personally wouldn't be putting solder in my tank.

oooooo....

ok, mean, thanks for that mate! i was always told it was to help melt is and keep it flexible, but you learn something every day!

What do you need to use the lead for?

If you don't have a good substrate for the plants to root into then you may need to use lead to hold the plants down. Personally I use a thick layer of gravel and let them establish themselves.

propagating mix, bought 2 big bags for 8 bux each... plus funny looks when i told them i was growing hydroponic plants for a laugh.... not that they found it funny... took my name and number... :lol:

makes for the best substrate ive used in years! plants anchor to it in days

I will take it out today

I only use lead when I have to as I have about 80 plants in my 90 litre lol

I will get a few more bags of fine black gravel I obviously need some more !!!!!!!!

When I had this problem I used those clip pegs for the clothes line.

The stem fits in the smallest hole, but the nodes on the stem stop it from sliding out.

Them bury the peg with gravel.

Remove after a month or so once roots have grown.

I found that by using JBL 7+ fert balls the roots grew much faster.

I will try that with the bigger ones i think the cat fish jump on them too and let them loose

OMG if i got fertilizer my plants would take over my tank and prob grow out ! hahaha

I just asked my LFS if they had any and got heaps out of the bottow of their plant tank.

Have a look next time you are there and they might give you the bits that have fallen off their plants

I will try that with the bigger ones i think the cat fish jump on them too and let them loose

OMG if i got fertilizer my plants would take over my tank and prob grow out ! hahaha

I use the JBL fert balls, I just kinda push them in randomly around the bottom and I'm not sure the plants grow any faster, but their roots all grow big and they stay planted, and I think they are nicer colours too.

I just asked my LFS if they had any and got heaps out of the bottow of their plant tank.

Have a look next time you are there and they might give you the bits that have fallen off their plants

I asked my LFS for some (a while ago now) and they pointed me to the display stand where they were selling bags of them. Unfortunately the ones in the bags were little skinny things - not heavy enough to hold the plants down and really sharp and spiky so I was scared they would hurt the fish!

I use them because my fish seem to love uprooting plants. There is no way they would leave them alone if I just poked them into the substrate! My clown loaches even manage to uproot some quite large plants even when they are heavily weighed down. The barbs just love pecking at the plants and once they get them out of the substrate they eat the roots. :roll: Cheeky little blighters (but I love them).

try having a 30cm+ leopard sailfin pleco who purposefully rams plants... :roll:

having said that he hasnt done it for awhile, i used to aquascape my tank every couple days!

I asked my LFS for some (a while ago now) and they pointed me to the display stand where they were selling bags of them. Unfortunately the ones in the bags were little skinny things - not heavy enough to hold the plants down and really sharp and spiky so I was scared they would hurt the fish!

That is why I drive for over an hour to get to what I call my LFS. It is a bit of a drive but it is worth it to deal nice helpful people that are more concerned with service than sales (And I get to play with birds and rats when I go there )

That is why I drive for over an hour to get to what I call my LFS. It is a bit of a drive but it is worth it to deal nice helpful people that are more concerned with service than sales (And I get to play with birds and rats when I go there )

Where do you go??

Palmy or if i dont want to drive I see the girls at Johnsonville thay are good too

They did give me a big strip of it once and i used that where I had too