My tank is 24" deep and 18" front to back and there is no way on earth that this short lady is going to be able to plant all the vals, etc. along the back that should be arriving next week.

I do have some 10" or so tweezers that I use for my glasswork that I tried planting a parviflorus with, but it just wouldn't stay anchored in the eco-complete. That stuff is so light that it is becoming a HUGE challenge to get anything planted without using my fingers!

Soooo, does anyone know of some needlenose tweezers that are over a foot long? Or hemostats or something? My LFS has one of those plastic grabber things but I know if I had trouble with tweezers not letting the eco-complete fall back around the roots to hold the plant down, then the thick stubby "fingers" of that tool are not going to be of much help at all.

My tank is 24" deep and 18" wide too. When I set up the tank the substrate was mostly Schultz's Aquatic Soil which is also very light weight. I stand on a step stool and work in the tank when the water level is low during a water change usually.

I do have 12" forceps but use my 8" ones most of the time because they are better quality - I have to bend the 12" ones into shape so they can hold stuff every once in a while. Since I haven't given tweezers a good try I don't know if they are really not as easy to use or not but since you can use the full length seems to me 12" long forceps would be easier to handle in a deep tank than 12" tweezers you hold in the middle. Oh, I will pick up forceps when I need scissors and visa versa, not a good thing!

Suspect you need to work on technique too. At least that is why I think I am more successful planting these days. I pull the plants really deep into the substrate for one thing. Hold the roots or end of the stem>pull down>release the plants>pull tool out at an angle to the hopefully planted bit so substrate falls around it.

My 12" forceps came from evil bay and I have had the 8" ones so long I don't know where I got them! Not sure quality is as important as it is with scissors since I found I can just bend my 12 inchers back into shape to get the jaws to close well enough again. Make sure they are stainless steel anyway.

I have 24" stainless-steel tweezers. I used to use them a lot when my 90g was completely full but now it's a riparium so i don't use them as often. They're good for easily picking out snails/debris but i've never actually tried planting with them. Probably wouldn't work out too well.

I have 15 inch tweezers avilable

Yeah, I think the issue is that I need forceps rather than tweezers. I just found a pair at amazon for $12. By pair, I mean one straight and one curved! Hope they work because I don't much want to put on a mask and snorkel to plant my tank. BTDT with my pond!