Fluorite woes

I'm awfully glad I tried Fluorite in my 2 gallon tank before setting up
the 15 gal. I like to plant my stem plants Amano style, in single stems
with tweezers. This works fine in the 2-3 mm gravel that I've always
used. In Fluorite, the medium is so light that it doesn't hold the
stems down. The slightest disturbance, like my betta wriggling through
the plants in hot pursuit of a shrimp and the darned things are
floating. I was able to plant my new Telantheria in my 5 gallon tank
with gravel substrate, and I had to weight it down in the Fluorite.

Even worse, the roughness of the clay damages roots as I plant so it's
harder to get new plants to stay down the second, third, or umpteenth
time I replant. This is going to be an ongoing problem as I propagate
and/or refresh the stem pants by cutting off and replanting the tops. I
could use plant plugs but that pretty much defeats the purpose of the
Fluorite.

Is Eco-complete or Onyx any better? Are they smooth and heavier like
gravel? If not I'm going back to gravel and laterite because seeing my
stem plants floating around the tank (yet again) is not any fun at all.

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__ Elaine T __
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