Silk Plants?

[shadowpony]

So I picked some silk leaves up at a yard sale. The kind where you make fake flower arrangments. I want to use them in my tanks. I will use hot water and bleach/vinegar to clean them. My main question is how do I prevent them from floating? I was thinking of finding a chunk of plastic and using my heat gun to melt the stems into it. Would that work?

[lelei]

I don't know about that, you wouldn't do put anything in the tank that is not meant for fishtanks, for the safety of ur fishy's..I would say not a good idea, if the glue comes apart in the water, fishy could get sick, I saw silk plants (nice ones) in Petco, and Petsmart, a lil pricey, but they are Aquarium safe..

[shadowpony]

I wouldn't use glue. Just really, really hot air. It should melt the plastic.

[lelei]

oh boy..idk.. I just wouldnt trust it, if you do, put it in a fishless tank, to check to see if it comes apart..as a test.

[Cattitude]

Just make sure the leaves don't contain any wires (like in the stems) since they can rust in the water.

I'd do a test, keep them in a bowl of water weighed down with something, for a few days. I doubt there'd be any problems, but I've seen some silk flowers and leaves that are painted. I'd worry about the paint flaking off or the dye running.

Also test by running a piece of pantyhose along the edges of the leaves. If they snag, chances are they could snag your fish's fins.

[MollyJean]

I've always used plants from dollar stores, walmart, whatever. I used them with angels when I bred, and use them with my bettas. There are a few things you have to keep in mind, but for the most part, they can be totally safe.

Clean clean clean. No bleach, but vinegar is fine. And you want to stay away from scented fake flowers. Boil anything you plan on putting in your tank and check for bleeding. And remove anything that might flake off into the water. Get a good exacto knife and go over each plant, cut off and smooth out any barbs, remove points and stocking test. Some plants you might want to stand, and you can leave the wire in if the sheath around it is in tact and you put sealant at the end where the metal is showing.

You have to be 10 times more careful picking flowers, cleaning them and making sure they're safe, but cost to material, it's worth it for some people (like me)

If you're going to glue anything, use aquarium grade sealant and follow the directions to the letter.

[shadowpony]

Ok. I put them in under boiling water and twisted them onto a bridge. Im going to put them in water to test for flaking, rust, etc.