Quote:
Originally Posted by Wei
Does uprooting all the stem plants everytime you cut distrub the substrate thus encourages algae?
As with most things, take your time and be careful.
If you go yanking the stem out as quick as possible, you
may pull up some unwanted debris/additive from the substrate, but even if you do, it would be such a small amount in comparison to the overal tank that I doubt very much that it would ever cause problems.
I gently ease the stems out and never have any problems.
I've not really had any problems with planting in my 2-3mm course gravel as long as you plant the stem deep enough (i.e, not just under the surface gravel).
I find 2-3mm smooth gravel (in another tank) to be slightly harder due to it's round grains.
You can almost forget about planting stems in the larger 10mm gravel. I've tried it many times.

You
have to use weights to keep them rooted there.
Stems might still uproot if...
a) you have quite strong water current.
b) you have fish that "play" with your gravel.