To help protect your plants, especially floating plants like moss and elodea, you can use a plastic shower caddy/suction cup container, whatever it's called at the surface. Just stick on, put the plants in and ta-daa, safe place for certain plants. I've got one with water lettuce popping out of it going on right now. Water lettuce is a voracious consumer of nitrates. I've got it in...yep all my tanks at the moment.