Aquarium Plants
UPDATE: Due to our recent refurbishment, we now have more space for our retail plant display, and thus a wider range of live plants in stock.
Are you fed up with poor quality aquarium plants that always die Then take a look at ours. Here at Wayside Aquatics we stock 'Tropica' plants, the very best aquarium plants available. They may cost a little more, but the quality speaks for itself. You can almost watch them growing! On any given day we have different plants available here in the shop, so come and see the difference.
Buying and growing aquatic plants is one of the most overlooked areas in aquarium keeping. Living plants are obviously beautiful and give a wonderful lush look and feel to your tank, but they have many other benefits as well. For instance, most fishes feel more relaxed and comfortable in these surroundings, causing them to show more natural behaviour and brighter colours. Plants can also take up nutrients and some pollutants from the water, thus improving its quality. They will absorb ammonia and other fish waste products, using these as a source of nitrogen and so reducing the load on the biological filter. This also makes problems with algae far less likely. Finally, the plants? root systems release small amounts of oxygen into the substrate and help prevent it from becoming stagnant. For maximum benefits, aim to cover two-thirds of the base area of your aquarium with live plants. For new aquariums, try choosing fast-growing plant species first. These are best at removing the excess ammonia (and possibly nitrite) which can be a particular problem in these set-ups as the filter runs in.
It is important to choose the right substrate when you set up your aquarium. Plants prefer a grain size of 1-3 mm, such as our fine natural pea gravel. If the substrate is too fine, it may become clogged and stagnant and cause plant roots to die off. If too large it may harbour debris and uneaten food, or simply be too heavy for the plants to root into. Placing a fertiliser under the substrate, such as TetraPlant CompleteSubstrate, will also improve growth tremendously. Otherwise, you will need to add a liquid or tablet plant fertiliser on a much more regular basis to provide the plants with the nutrients they require. (You wouldn?t dream of potting a garden plant in just gravel, so why should you expect aquarium plants to grow in it!). Here at the shop I sell Easy-Life's ProFito, Tetra's Plantamin (another liquid), as well as Tetra's Crypto plant tablets. These products do not contain free nitrate or phosphate, and so will not encourage the growth of algae.
Like land plants, aquatic plants also need light and CO2 to grow. Aim for a set-up with twin tubes and reflectors to enhance light levels, such as the Juwel range, and change the tubes for new ones at least once a year. Keep the lights on over the tank for 10-12 hours a day, preferably using a timer to ensure consistency. CO2 will be produced naturally in the aquarium, but strong water movement will tend to drive it out into the atmosphere. Because of this, plants dislike the use of airstones and pumps with strong flows that create turbulent conditions. They do best in set-ups with only gentle movement at the water surface, such as that found in the Juwel range of aquariums . However, bear in mind that all tanks require some circulation, in order to ensure that the resident fish can get enough oxygen at night when the plants are no longer photosynthesising. Similarly, aquariums that are heavily stocked with fish will require more circulation, making plant growth harder to achieve. If growing traditional aquatic plants is difficult, another option is to go for floating plants. These take up their CO2 from the atmosphere, and this allows them to grow much faster. Although often overlooked, there are several types available for home aquariums, and they have the added bonus of providing the fish with instant cover.
Finally, few fish species actually eat living plants. If the plants die off, this is usually because the conditions in your aquarium are not right for them. However, some large fishes or those with sucker mouths can damage plant leaves or uproot them: small shoaling fishes are the most suitable. If in any doubt please ask.
