Aquarium Plants
Live aquarium plants
Live aquarium plants can add to the beauty of the underwater life and provide natural ambience too to the inhabitants of the aquarium. But one must be careful in deciding the right types of aquarium plants that would suit the water inside and also the fishes and other invertebrates present in the aquarium. These aquarium plants keep the fish happy by providing a natural habitat. Plants also add to the oxygen content of the water inside.
There are a few precautions that one must take before introducing live plants in the aquarium. Although some plants do not need lot of light, you must ensure that there is a light source available near your aquarium as most natural plants get their food through photosynthesis for which they need light. Keeping the aquarium clean and free of toxins is important for the health of the plants inside the aquarium along with the fishes and other inhabitants. The biological filtration systems provided through live rock and live sands could be valuable here because they help to clean the water free of all toxins. Adding aquatic plan fertilizers rich in iron and potassium could be added in the form of pellets to the aquarium. Changing the water once in a while and monitoring the health of the aquatic plants from time to time is extremely important too.
Tropical aquarium plants
Tropical aquarium plants like java fern, moss and dwarf anubias are very good for the aquariums. These not only look beautiful, but also are more natural compared to artificial plastic plants placed in an aquarium. These plants should be cleaned well of all harmful organisms like worms and snails that can reproduce and spoil the environment inside the aquarium. Instead of leaving them to float, tying these aquatic plants to a stone or planting them in gravel at the base is usually a better idea. Using fluorescent light instead of incandescent light suits the tropical aquarium plants especially for their photosynthesis.
Freshwater aquarium plants
A variety of other ferns and moss plants are floating aquarium plants and add to the overall ambience with their distinct charm. Floating plants help the shy fish looking for protection in an aquarium by being around instead of being deposited right at the bottom of the aquarium. If there is excess lighting in a room, these plants provide the extra advantage of sheltering the fishes by giving them low light areas to hide and cutting off some of the light. Salvinia natans is another floating fern that can grow very quickly if one provides the right kind of nutrition to it.
Other varieties of aquarium plants include bulbs which are beautiful with their flowering ability. Water lily and aponogeton are good examples of this variety but because of their large size they are seldom seen in indoor aquariums. One can buy cheap aquarium plants amongst which ferns are the most common variety or the rhizomes which have thicker stems from which leaves and roots sprout out at the top and bottom respectively. Rosettes are another variety of marine aquarium plants and Saggitaria is a common variety with its crown of roots and leaves growing above. These rosettes are capable of flowering as well.
Aquatic pond plants
Aquatic pond plants that generally grow in freshwater ponds are also good to be used in the aquariums. Lilies, lotuses, floating and submerged pond plants, bog plants and algae eaters are the common varieties that one can find. Anacharis, Red Ludwigia and Cabomba are some of the varieties of aquatic fond plants which can be clumped together and anchored with some gravel. These pond plants help create a water garden that oxygenates the entire water thus providing a healthy living environment for the fishes.
The Aponogetons often sold as Betta bulbs are another variety of aquarium plants. The specialty of these plants lies in the fact that they are low light aquarium plants and can thrive in the absence of sunlight or artificial light. The Aponogetons are actually Rhizomes where the stem is thick and leaves and roots both arise from the stem. The Aponogetons have a thick bulb which is sold separately. These plants grow very fast. Java ferns and moss are also capable of growing in low lighting conditions but they don’t look too beautiful. The Cryptocorynes is another variety that grows very slowly nevertheless doesn’t require much light. It produces plenty of leaves and is a nice plant to have in the aquarium.
There are a couple of other fish tank plants that are commonly used to provide a nice ambience inside the aquarium to the fish. The Salvinia molesta also known as the Giant Salvinia is a commonly used floating fern that acts as a nutrient absorber and is also a natural food for the Koi. Besides it is useful for breeding betas. This plant which is characterized by the roots growing from the underside is very easy to remove and cleanup unlike some of the other plants used in the fish tanks. Water lilies are another versatile species of plants that can grow equally well in low light and high lighting conditions. Also known as lotus plants these have red leaves that look very attractive and can be anchored with 1/4th of their bulb in the gravel and they are particularly fond of iron rich substrates.
Silk aquarium plants
Silk aquarium plants are sometimes used instead of real aquarium plants. Although they look slightly artificial, the great advantage they have is that they don’t decay and die and hence you don’t need to clean up the tank. Besides they can be cleaned of bacteria and other algae and debris by simple rinsing and placed back in the aquarium.
