Ancoring Plants

Will most house plants survive underwater? Can I just go to home depot pick up a little plant and drop it into my tank dirt, pot, and all? If I can't do the above then how should I go about installing live plants?

I would highly advise against that. HomeDepot uses a lot of fertilizers/pesticides (along with the numerous chemicals in the soil itself,) and this would cause adverse reactions within your vivarium. In addition, few houseplants will survive for more than a week submersed. If you want aquatic plants, go to a fish store, not a hardware store. Personally, I would stay away from most of your large chains (Petco, PetSmart, etc) even though I myself have worked in them because they all too often carry bog plants, rather than true aquatics. Instead, do a mapquest search of your local fish stores, as they often have a large inventory of specialty plants, and their staff are, generally, very helpful. Also, you can search eBay, aquaspotworld, or any of the other innumerous aquatic plant retailers that you can find on the internet, but I would advise that you start locally.

no, most houseplants will not survive in water. You need underwater plants. If you dropped a potted plant in your tank, the soil may have pesticides or fertilizers that may harm your animals, and it will also make your tank very muddy. Not to mention it will probably kill the plant too. You can go to the pet store or garden center and buy some eladoa or a peace lilly, those work nicely I find beginning with plants, or find some in the spring in ditches and ponds suitable for your aquarium.

ben, our posts downloaded at the same time...almost same info too

Lol, yeah, I noticed. Ninja'd, eh?

There are a FEW houseplants that can be rooted in an aquarium, and they live just above the surface of the water. For these varieties, you take a cutting and put it in water and it grows. I agree with the others who say you shouldn't use the dirt that the plants come with, not even in a terrarium. I have photos of some semi-aquatic-living houseplants here:
http://www.caudata.org/people/JM/plants.html

The majority of aquatic plants found in pet stores are suited to tropical fish tanks and don’t fair well in cold water newt tanks. They are also quite expensive which adds to the depression as the leaves turn brown and fall off . If you’re lucky you’ll find a bunch of elodea which is suited to cool water.

I’ve always found the best option is to head for a garden centre with a good selection of pond plants. You can sometimes pick up floating plants such as elodea or hornwort for a fraction of the price which means you can buy more and be safe in the knowledge it won’t die in chilly water. Hornwort is my favourite and does well even in low light. A number of marginals such as creeping jenny will also do well.

I'm not sure which plants are available in the US but I bet there will be equivalents.