Even as a kid, with my first aquarium back in the 1960's, I was told by my father to not handle those lead strips too much because they might be dangerous...and he was no scientist. I have never used them longterm in my tanks.
I guess I am lucky to live in Canada, where we are blessed with the presence of unusual natural mineral formations known locally as "rocks". These can be found outdoors, often just lying around on the ground! In fact, I have in my back field a huge pile of these things, probably 60 feet long, 30 feet wide and 10 feet tall. They vary in size, shape and colour; local folklore insists that they were hand-collected by our pioneer forebears and artificially arranged in this odd manner for some arcane reason. Personally, I believe that this is a natural phenomenon, perhaps some sort of breeding colony.
These rocks are quite dense and heavy, and if a couple are placed on top of the substrate around the rooted stem of an aquatic plant, they serve to weight it down and protect it from digging fish. If left in the tank for long periods, the rocks have the ability to culture algae on their surfaces, which causes them to blend in with their surroundings and thus acts as a primitive form of camouflage.
For those who are cheapskates like me...or who simply prefer a natural approach over unnecessary complication ...rocks offer an extremely attractive alternative answer to a simple question.
