Choosing plants for your aquarium

Most hobbyists are quite naturally drawn to making their aquarium look as natural as
possible. Adding plants is one of the better ways to make your aquarium look stunning.
Plants have some obvious advantages when it comes to looks as well as use. Most
viewers are stunned by the beauty of lush green plants that grow abundantly in water. As
described earlier in this e-book, live plants have a much more serious role to play in your
aquarium than being mere decoration. The plants provide a hiding place for the fish too.
So, you will find that many fish species are happier and more relaxed around plants.
Plants will also produce oxygen and use up the nitrogenous wastes that the fish give out.
This alone makes them desirable in your aquarium.
Natural plants have some inherent negative aspects. You should be aware of these before
you decide whether you want to keep them in your aquarium. Keeping real plants in your
aquarium requires an equal amount of dedication as keeping live fish. Plants need to be
maintained, nurtured and propagated. Dead and decaying parts will need to be pruned and
cut off regularly. Real plants may also introduce snails and hydra into your water and
they can be the transmitter of fish infections too. If your fish love to nibble on the plants
that you have decided to put in, you will have a hard time keeping these plants alive. Real
plants require some particular kinds of nutrients, fertilizers etc. That means you will have
to go in for a particular combination of materials in your substrate. When the substrate
becomes old, you will have to change it or fertilize it. A planted aquarium with real plants
generally needs more light than a fish-only aquarium, since fish do not rely on
photosynthesis. Without sufficient lighting, your plants will not be able to generate
oxygen and can even begin to die and decay.
If you do not have that much of time for the aquarium just at the moment, you can go in
for fake plants. There are numerous gorgeous looking fake plants available in the stores.
Fake plants are of course much easier to keep. And hopefully, your fish will not develop
a taste for it. A combination of fake and real plants can also be a good solution and give a
more natural look to your aquarium. Maintenance will be less because a large chunk of
your plants will not need to be maintained. When you select fake plants, it is usually
better to choose silk plants rather than plastic plants. Silk is easier to clean if you need to
scrub out algae. Plastic plants tend to fall apart while cleaning. This will however vary
from manufacturer to manufacturer and high quality plastic plants can still be a good
choice.
So, why put in live plants at all, when you can have equally beautiful artificial plants?
After all, artificial plants are so much easier to look after and maintain. And they NEVER
wither or die. Well, here are some very valid reasons to go for live planting, at least
partially, in your aquarium.
􀂾 Oxygen, the byproduct of photosynthesis, is a necessary
ingredient for any fish aquarium to thrive.􀂾 In addition to keeping Carbon dioxide levels low, plants
also keep a check on the nitrogen levels, thus protecting your fish.
􀂾 The natural surroundings that the plants provide give the
fish in captivity a sense of freedom and security. This is especially
important if you plan on breeding your fish.
􀂾 Plants are a source of food for many species of fish,
provided of course that they do not nibble away too much and kill
the plant.
􀂾 Plants also help to keep your substrate in place, especially
if you are using sand at the bottom. The tiny root systems of the
various plants help to anchor the substrate to the bottom of the
aquarium.
􀂾 Small amounts of algae are a natural part of an aquarium,
but excessive algae growth can be an aquarist's worst nightmare.
Real plants inhibit the growth of algae by releasing certain
chemicals. They will also compete for nutrients, since they live on
the same substances as algae.
Plants are also a sure shot indicator of the health of your aquarium. Unfavorable
conditions within your aquarium will typically first affect the plants, and this will warn
you that the fish will soon be sick too. This helps you to take timely precautions and
emergency protective measures.
Before you can make up your mind regarding the kinds of plants that will go into your
aquarium, there are some style statements that you should know about. There are two
main planting styles that have evolved among aquarists over a period of time. A quick
overview of these styles and their usability will help you decide which way you want to
go, or if you want to think up something entirely different.
The natural style: As the term suggests, the natural style is just that - natural. Here, we
strive to mime nature as closely as possible. Introducing a variety of plants without any
particular order is the most important thing in this style. Think natural - in nature, you
would not find groups of similar plants sitting pretty in some order. The aim is to
cultivate a 'wild' look. It may seem that no planning goes into this kind of style, but this is
far from the truth. Plants may seem to be placed at random without any serious
coordination, but to achieve that striking display of 'wilderness' in your aquarium, you
need to sift through the various plant varieties, and pick and choose the right ones.
The Dutch Style: This style is for the more serious planters. The aquarium is more for the
plants, and the fish seem to be added in as an afterthought. You will hardly find these
kinds of aquariums with superbly colored fish. There will just be a few colorless fish
hanging about. The style tries to replicate a verdant garden, in all its green glory. An
important element in this style is terracing or layering. You will find that the aquarium is
divided into terraces, with different kinds of plants growing on different layers. The back
of the aquarium will be higher than the front. The plants are the main focus of this
display.Firstly, there is the open style aquarium. In this kind of aquarium, the top of the aquarium
is left open most of the time. The plants are allowed to grow right out of the aquarium.
The tops of the plants are never trimmed. You need to be extra careful when you keep an
open aquarium. If you have any jumpers in this aquarium, you will find that you are
poorer by a number of fish after some time. An open aquarium is therefore not suitable
when you keep such fish species.
A habitat aquarium can also adopt the natural style. The habitat aquarium is one in which
you place ideally suited species of fish and plants that have the same requirements. A
habitat display will take plants and fish from some particular geographical location, and
mimic their ecosystem.
You can categorize the natural plants that should go into your aquarium depending upon
their behavior. Very broadly, there are three kinds of underwater plants:
􀂾 Plants that float at the top of your aquarium
􀂾 Plants that will stay firmly rooted to the bottom
􀂾 Plants that come in a bunch and keep moving or floating
around
Keep in mind that you cannot put in just any plant. Common household plants should
naturally be avoided. Any plant that is not a water plant is bad news in the long run. They
may adapt to the water initially, but may not be able to cope with their surroundings after
a period of time. Changing your set up after some time is not very easy, and plants also
take time to adapt and grow.