Removing plants from substrate with an UGF

[E. Mito]

I am running a 10 gallon tank with an UGF and have an apongeton whose roots
seem pretty firmly attached to the filter plate. There is also an Amazon sword
whose roots I think have become pretty snugly entangled in the plate as well.

Any suggestions on how to safely remove the roots from the plate? I want to
take the UGF out but I don't want to damage my plants.
Erica
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/mitoem/mitoem/index.htm

[Anthony Ragan]

(E. Mito) screamed into the Void:

>Any suggestions on how to safely remove the roots from the plate? I want to
>take the UGF out but I don't want to damage my plants.

I did this years ago and basically just trimmed the roots with
scissors as close to the plate as possible -- unless you're removing
the UFG, in which case I'd trim from the underside. The plants did
fine, though I may just have been lucky. To help ease them through the
shock, you might want to give them a dose of aquatic plant fertilizer
after replanting.
*****
--Anthony Ragan
Snotling in Chief, Staadtholder van Marienburg
(primary) & (secondary)
The 21st Century and the Third Millennium begin on January 1st,
2001. (And not a moment sooner!)