the flourite I use is a form of an Iron rich clay that has been turned into hard rocks it's like it's been puffed up like puffed rice, the iron won't leech into the water but as the roots grow through it they will take what they need out of it, you can use it by it's self you can mix it I like to layer it so I have nice looking gravel on top but the roots are actually planted in the flourite either way doesn't matter also to note unlike normal clay this stuff won't clump up and turn into a slimy mass in the tank, if your plants have brown, slimy dead parts trim that crap off and get it out of the tank, if you can see it then you don't have snails or fish that eat dead plant matter and you don't want it in there it will bring down your water parameters and just like any other plant leaving dead parts on it will lowwer it's over all health, when you plant the plants make sure you hold it so the roots extend from your palm down the bottom of your index finger when you push it into the substrate start with your finger horizantal to the gravel useing your finger to guide the plant and protect the roots, once in give a light tug on the plant you want to straighten the roots out you don't need more then an 1/8 inch pull back up, also read up on your plant, most plants have a small ball between the green plant and the roots (most anubias and bananna plants) you want the top of this ball above the gravel so it can get direct light for optimal plant health, this part of the plant will grow horizantal and start to produce root runners the same way the grass in your yard does 2 blades of grass 20 feet apart are really the same plant connected by roots. make sure to space your plants so they have room to grow so they aren't crowded, and most important do you know what you have for lighting? plants like either natural sun bulbs in the 5500k-7500k range or bulbs with big peaks in the reds and blues, if you go with a red/blue peak bulb it will make the fish color stand out but make the tank look kinda dull in apearance over all, if you go with a sun simulation bulb tank looks brighter and more vibrant while fish colors fade away, thats why most of use use differant bulbs at the same time, you could try a very low dose of plant ferts everyday or every other day to try and save them, make sure it's an aquarium fert. seachem's flourish is very good and fish safe if dosed as the bottle says over dosing on ferts can hurt fish since ferts have trace metals like iron and copper and other stuff, also as an after thought how much surface movement do you have? most ppl don't realize the best way to get both oxygen and co2 into the water is surface movment (the ocean doesn't have co2 injectors or bubble walls) simple agitation of the surface is great for gas transfer, a HOB is good if you manage the water lvl so that the waterfall doesn't splash or make noise but is enough of a drop to make small ripples also big air bubbles like the ones from an air powered sponge filter really ripple the surface, on larger tanks 50g or bigger you really do need the co2 but most ppl neglect simply putting a water jet/current maker near the surface of the tank, if you think you need co2 but want an easy way to do it seachem excel has a soluble form of carbon for the plants, remember plants need co2 during the day and oxygen at night
