4 Tips for Choosing Freshwater Plants for Your Aquarium

Creating a natural and beautiful environment in your fish tank will not only increase your enjoyment of observing your fish but will help your fish stay healthy and live longer. Live plants are an excellent option for enhancing your tank, and they’re much more beneficial to its aquatic environment than plastic plants or décor items. Consider these four tips for choosing freshwater plants for your aquarium.

Understand Why Live Plants Are Best

In addition to their beauty, live plants benefit the aquatic environment. They take in carbon dioxide and exude oxygen. They feed on fish waste products, helping keep your tank cleaner. And they provide shelter, hiding places, and a corresponding sense of security for fish that like to define their own territory.

Research Compatibility

Find out what species of freshwater plants are compatible with your breeds of fish. Some fish will eat your plants or nose around and dig them up. Find out what plants your fish will eat rather than leave alone. Avoid those and get the varieties that will thrive in your tank.

Plants should also be compatible with each other; they should enjoy the same type of light and water conditions. Check the preferred pH, water temperature, and light conditions for each plant before you decide to use it in your tank.

Consider Aesthetics

You can use freshwater plants to hide filters, heaters, and aerators in your aquarium. They can also contribute to an aesthetically pleasing view for observers of the tank. Think of your plants as parts of a three-dimensional painting. You’ll need some low plants to grow along the bottom of the tank, some medium-height plants to provide foreground interest, and some taller plants to provide perspective and depth.

Be sure to keep an area in the center of the tank clear for free swimming. You want your fish to be able to move around when they’re not resting or hiding among your plants.

Select Nutritious Substrate or Safe Fertilizer

Once you’ve chosen your plants, you must prepare your tank. You’ll either need to root your plants in a nutritious substrate that’ll accommodate them or purchase fish-safe plant fertilizer. Plants will absorb fish waste as nutrients. However, fish waste alone won’t provide all the minerals and other nutrients they need.

Keep in mind that some plants take in nutrients through their roots, while others absorb them through their leaves.

When choosing freshwater plants for your aquarium, be sure to find live aquatic plants for sale from a reputable source that provides healthy specimens that are fish-tank ready. At Natural Environment Aquatix, we’ll help you choose plants that will be compatible with your fish and with each other for a healthy and beautiful fish tank.