Replanting plants

[Kyogadude]

I have a 29 tall tank with coop plants in it and I just acquired a 36 bowfront. I want to move my plants to the new tank. The 29 was planted in March 2020 so i have good growth on all the plants just wondering if their are any tips you could give on making the transfer.  I have Jungle Val, Pogo Octopus, A dwarf lily, and a amazon sword plant.  I am also thinking about changing substrate, i currently have basic PetSmart black stones, should I try a planted tank substrate this time?   

Thank you,

Travis

[Brandy]

If at all possible, plant established plants in a drained tank. You want to gently get all those roots settled in their new home without breaking them and nothing is more frustrating than digging up the root you just painstakingly buried and having the last plant float up while you are trying to plant the next one. You may have to spray them with water while they are getting planted to keep them wet, but it is sooo much easier when you have gravity on your side!

That said I am not as big of a fan of planted tank substrates as I thought I would be, but my vals and lilies do seem to LOVE eco complete. Planting small things in it makes me crazy. Big things appreciate the extra minerals it offers and tend to stay planted better. 

[Lizzie Block]

Planted tank substrates are great! They are packed with minerals and nutrients that plants need and your plants all sound like heavy feeders. Eco complete, Seachem fluorite and Fluval stratum are what I've used and liked. 

If possible, keeping water parameters as close to the old tank as possible might work out in your favor. You still may see some melting of leaves as the plants adjust to their new home. But stable parameters mean they'll have an easier time. Changing the substrate could affect your parameters, for example. 

So fun, I love recycling plants. Sometimes you get to see an individual plant take on a new form in a different tank. I've done this with many Crypts. 

[Fonske]

When I had many rooted plants and moved them around (a lot), I usually did not pull the roots out of the substrate.  Instead,  I kinda scooped a chunk of the substrate around the plant, roots and all, and moved the entire thing to the new place, trying to disturb the root system as little as possible.  Not always easy to do if the plant was big, like a dwarf lily with its roots spread all over the tank, but in many cases the roots themselves held a substantial amount of the substrate together. This method worked pretty well for me, e.g. I moved my crinum three times and it did not seem to mind it at all. When I moved my lily to another tank and wanted a different substrate, I just covered the transplanted area with the new substrate, leaving the old gravel underneath it.