Lead? Or What?

[DarkSeraph]

What metal do most plant places use to weigh down their plants? I would think untreated lead would poison the water, but I don't know any other metals that are so soft yet heavy.

Also, where can I buy some?

 

[Themuleous]

I think the stuff they use now is some sort of zinc compound, well thats what Zig said a while back I think. You should be able to get it in most LFS

 

[craynerd]

I have never had a need to use to ties since my plants are always anchored by the substrate and especially when the root system begins to grow!
I also noticed poor growth of my cabomba when i first started tieing them together with lead weights compared to when i removed and separated the plantlets and burried in the substrate.

with regards to toxicity of the lead weights on the water, you will actually find that most of the weights we buy are a mixture of zinc and magnesium or be coated in such a way to stop any release. This was one of the first questions i asked when i started planting my aquarium!


Good luck
Chris

 

[oldwhitewood]

Also if you are having problems planting stem plants you can stick them in with forceps or tweezers at a slight angle. They should stay in ok.

 

[zig]

Yes its a zinc alloy (or should be) the use of lead was outlawed some years ago for fishing tackle shotgun pellets and lead weights for plants etc.

 

[andywg]

Strange really, since Zinc is a heavy metal which is almost as bad as lead and can still cause heavy metal poisoning in humans.

In fact, Zinc is so bad the EU is trying to prevent any unpainted galvanised metal from being allowed to sit in a yard less the zinc in any rain makes its way into the water table.