Plants For Your Fish Tank
Plants can help enhance the look of your fish tank but did you know that they also provide your fish with a great place to spawn and hide? Not only are fish tank plants decorative, they actually help to keep your aquarium water healthy for the fish by reducing the carbon dioxide level.
The key to growing plants in your fish tank is the lighting. Most plants require high levels of light and if you have tried to put plants in your tank only to have them wither and die after a few weeks, this is most likely the reason. It’s a simple matter of getting a brighter bulb for the tank and you can have lush green plants that give your aquarium a natural look.
Freshwater Tropical Fish
Planting natural aquarium plants is quite easy. Most plants you buy will have a root system which needs to be planted into the substrate. To do this, grasp the root end of the plant between your thumb and first finger while making a little hole in the substrate with your free fingers. Gently push the roots down into the hole and hold in place while swooshing back some of the substrate to cover the root ball. Rootless plants can be planted much the same way, instead of pushing the roots into the gravel push the bottom of the stems in.
Plants For Your Fish Tank
There’s many different kinds of fish tank plants available at your local pet store or even for sale here on the internet. Here’s a list of some of the most popular aquarium plants.
Amazon Sword
The Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus (bleheri)) has long narrow flowing leaves that sway in the current. This plant can grow up to 50 cm tall. It requires good lighting and fertilization so is a bit harder to keep than most plants. If given the right environment, however it can be a fast grower, sending out shoots to reproduce. It prefers aquarium temps of around 30 degrees c. with a PH of 5.5 – 9.
Anubias Anugustifolia
Although the name is a mouthful, this plant is really quite pretty with long narrow leaves. This is a great plant to keep in your aquarium if you have a lot of herbivorous fish as they will not eat it. It does not need a lot of light so is rather easy to grow in most any aquarium. This plant is a slow grower but will reach up to 15 cm. It likes temperatures of betweeen 20 and 30 c and a PH of 5.5 – 8.
Moneywort
Moneywort (Bacopa monnieri) is another plant that is easy to grow in most fish tanks. It has a long stem with small leaves in pairs all along the length. This plant is a pretty good investment as you can propagate it by taking cuttings and then planting those right in the aquarium. It does like a lot of light and a PH of 6-9 in a tank that is between 15 and 30 degrees c. Given the right conditions, this plant to grow up to 30 centimeters.
Wisteria
Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) doesn’t look anything like the vine that grows in your yard, but it is a wonderful aquarium plant with large oaky leaves. This plant also helps to prevent the growth of algae in the tank by absorbing nutrients from the water. It does need a lot of light but is a fast grower and can grow up to 50 cm. Plant Wisteria in a tank that has a PH between 5 and 9 with temps between 22 and 30 c.
Java Moss
This fish tank plant is different from the rest as it has a more mossy appearance and actually almost resembles coral in the way that it grows. It attaches itself to rocks or wood in the tank and it’s mossy tendrils extend upward to a height of 5cm. Requiring minimal light, this is one of the easiest plants to grow. It will tolerate most water conditions but prefers temps of 15 to 28 c. This plant may be a slow starter but is very hardy.
So now you know, plants add ambiance, help keep your tank clean, provide shelter for your fish and are not hard to grow provided you give them enough light and good water conditions.
Plants For Your Fish Tank
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Why Are My Aquarium Plants Dying?
There are some basic reasons aquarium plants do not thrive, with lighting being one of the most important. No matter what fertilizers you use, or how much gravel you have in the bottom of the tank, most of your plants will not grow without light. The best way to provide light is to use the hood that came with the tank and make sure the lights are working. Ambient light from the room the aquarium is in will not be enough to keep the plants from dying. You can also purchase fluorescent lights from any pet store to add more light to the tank. You need to make sure the light is getting down to the bottom of the tank, especially in the larger, deeper tanks. Standard light strips come with 15 watt lights, which word well for smaller tanks.
Two four foot light strips (40 watts each) will provide 80 watts of good lighting for a larger tank. If you are trying to grow plants in a 50 gallon tank, you might want to invest in two double four foot light strips, providing 160 watts of light.
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Plant choice is also a factor in why your aquarium plants are dying. Some aquarium and fish stores will sell plants like pathos or parlor palms that will not survive in an aquarium. To make sure you have the right kind of plants for your aquarium purchase a plant guide for aquariums or research online before going to the store.
Why Are My Aquarium Plants Dying?
You can purchase aquarium plants that have been grown with the roots fully submerged and the leaves in the open air. This prevents algae or snails on the plants. However, if you do this, watch for the leaves that were previously out of the water to start to die off once submerged. Do not worry about this as the new growth will be adapted to life under water and will thrive.
You may notice some of these phenomena on your aquarium plants:
• Transparent leaves: this means the chloroplasts in the leaves are dying. Check to be sure you have enough light in the tank. Another cause could be a lack of the proper amount of iron or potassium in the tank. You can correct this with fertilizer tablets. Sometimes tap water is the culprit, especially if it is hard and alkaline. If that is the case, consider using distilled water when you change the tank water.
• Hair like growth on the leaves: this usually signals fungus. There are two ways to correct fungal growth in the tank. The first one is quick but not so easy, just physically brush it off by hand. That can be somewhat messy and you risk not getting it all. The best way is to stock the tank with some algae eating fish or grass shrimp.
• Black spots on the leaves: this is caused by a lack of iron and vitamins. Check with your pet store for iron and vitamin supplements that can be added to the tank on a regular schedule.
Why Are My Aquarium Plants Dying?
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10 gallon freshwater aquarium with live plants
10 gallon freshwater aquarium with live plants Tube. Duration : 6.95 Mins.
This is an update of a previous video after 8 months of improvements and iterations to complete the configuration. The idea has always been to create a healthy, viable long-term environmental, low maintenance, low cost technology to create and bass. A lot of research, trial and error went into this configuration. No increased risk or changes from the beginning, is that this device can be used as a guide proven that it worked for a year. Proposal for the public is to take a serious aquarium setup, becauseare many correct ways in which it unfolds. Summary of what follows, I have learned in the process, and where I want to do is take in the future, such as the aquarium: – General rule of thumb in an aquarium tank increases the size of the setup cost increases, rising costs maintenance, but maintenance costs. However, bowls, vases and home are so hostile to fish and are even illegal in some European countries to do so. – An aquarium should always be below the highest point of a position in space, sostanding, should size, noise filter, the color and lighting must be designed in advance. – Within an aquarium consider the type of substrate, bottom, hood light, heating, filtration, and how to hide them better. Try contrasting colors with dark substrate and background colors in the end, with green plants and bright colors of the fish. Read more "Aquarium Golden Ratio" for the layout. – When the setup time progresses many types of algae is a part of natural phenomena, are not harmful, but canbe …
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