Tank plants do much more than sit “pretty.” In addition to supplying oxygen, aquariums give fish something to nibble on, work to prevent algae growth, and give aquatic life a natural place to spawn. Plants even play a part in successful filtration by consuming the carbon dioxide that fish put into the water and emitting oxygen. You can fill your aquarium with plants and provide a helping hand toward the birth of a naturally occurring ecological system.
Kinds of Plants
Available in three basic types, your plants can be rooted, bunch, or floating. Rooted plants grow roots along the bottom of your aquarium and have to be planted in the gravel of the tank. Bunch plants don’t require planting, but they will grow roots as well (you can just set them down on the bottom). Floating plants on the other hand, simply float along the surface of the tank’s water.
Among these basic three types, you might enjoy these specific plants:
Elodea – a freshwater perennial Egeria – a tropical aquatic plant Crystalwort – resembling green seaweed or leafy moss Hornwort – with slender hornlike capsules
Landscaping Your Tank
When thinking about inserting aquarium plants, remember that too many of them can cause problems similar to overstocking a tank. The more space that your fish have to move around, the healthier they’ll be. You’ll also want to make sure that you can see and enjoy your fish. So arrange larger plants along the backside of your aquarium and shorter plants along the front.
Plant Care Advice
To prevent plant death and disease, provide them with 12 hours of adequate lighting – that is, lighting that reaches all of the plants in the tank! Light is extremely important to plants, as it contributes to the photosynthesis process. Without it, the plants will die. More importantly, photosynthesis allows the plants to emit oxygen into the tank’s water and with out adequate oxygen, your fish will die.
You can monitor the growth of your plants to determine if your lighting strategy is successful. If they don’t seem to grow as expected, you might need to increase light.
Grow lights encourage the growth of not only the plants and fish in your aquarium (something you want), but they also encourage the growth of algae (something you definitely don’t want). But you can combat algae growth by placing an aquatic snail inside of your tank.
03/26/07 - Deciding to put an aquarium in your house will give it a tranquil and natural feel. Since you won’t want to be constantly explaining to your guests why there are fish floating on the top, you need to learn how to look after it properly and maintain a healthy environment for your fish. It is [...]
03/26/07 - If you have done the proper planning for your new aquarium, you’ve already purchased, or otherwise acquired, everything you need to set it up, and have prepared a location in your home where your family and guests can get the most enjoyment from it. If you haven’t, you should do your research and planning, and [...]
03/26/07 - Congratulations! You’re about to create one of the most unique forms of entertainment that there could ever be. Whether you’re a lone pet lover or a staff biologist – you’ve got to admit that aquariums are pretty cool! In no other receptacle can you literally take a slice of aquatic life and enjoy its beauty [...]
03/26/07 - So you’ve finally decided to bring a new hobby to your life and that’s keeping a tropical fish, you might need all the equipment in order to keep the fish full alive. It’s true that before getting a fish, there are lots of thing to do. In maintaining an aquarium, you can actually take care [...]
03/26/07 - A pump is something that isn’t essential in an aquarium set up but it is desirable as this causes more oxygen for the fish. The pump is usually attached to a long tube which is in turn connected to a long stone that has small holes through out it; the pump blows air into the [...]
erleyedit: This article needs help with English grammar. In some places it is almost incomprehensible, as if it was translated by a software program with no understanding of the information it is trying to communicate. I do technical writing professionally. Can I fix it for you?
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nan in pa: hi there, i don't have cats, my daughter has 3 ,i will tell her of the lemon in water thing, though she uses the vets flea on skin liquid . what about dogs, and fleas, we have dachshunds we keep inside our homes very neat, they have their OWN room with doggie door,they go into
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