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| Anubias barteri - (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Live aquarium plants and fish have a beautiful and subtle relationship, with each meeting the other's needs. Extra oxygen, protection and food are just a few of the benefits plants can offer to your fish and aquarium. It's not always easy to decide where to begin when you have decided that you want to plant in your aquarium. just like your fish, live aquarium plants have needs of their own, which can vary widely from species to species. So just what constitutes an easily kept aquarium plant? If you are looking for a kind of plant that will not be too demanding, then try to find plants which do not need too much heat, light and nutrient supplementation. At the other end of the scale, a heavily planted and exotic tank can begin to take as much work as an exotic tropical marine aquarium.
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| Java Fern (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The first step is to identify which plants you could use in your tank or aquarium. Your fish will have specific needs for temperature for example and so will the plants, the two must be similar or the plants will die. Most plants can take variations in temperature, how much will depend on how widely conditions tended to vary in the world where that plant evolved. Lighting is also important to consider and is perhaps the most crucial aspect of plant keeping, without the right level of light plants will become sick in the same way they do when they do not have all the nutrients they need.
It does pay to do your research. Fortunately, lighting and heating are normally expressed in watts per gallon, so with this in mind, it is normally possible to work out if there is any "common ground" for both the plants and the fish. With lighting in mind, it is helpful to look for bulbs that have an output of 400-450 and 600-650 nanometres; this provides red and blue light needed in photosynthesis. You may find it helpful to use two or more different kinds of lighting to provide both.
Java Fern, Java Moss, Live Mushroom Plant, Anubias, Vallisneria Spiralis are all good example of plants which are easily kept and are ideal for beginners. Try to pick a plant you like the look of and believe you would be comfortable with at the start. When you have found your feet, you can always introduce some more.
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