The easy planted aquarium

In my opinion plants are one of the best things you can add to your aquarium, as well as being visually pleasing, plants bring in benificial microbes, help reduce nitrates and other pollutants, provide shelter, and just take your tank closer to be an ecosystem, rather than a hold facility.

But what if you can’t afford, or don’t want to go to the effort of, CO2, improved lights, and active substrates.

Never fear there are plenty of plants that can thrive in a tank with sand or gravel, and with a budget light, and no additional CO2. No you can’t have the deep reds of the more difficult plants, and they probably won’t be growing fast enough to take up all your nitrates, but they can still do wonders.

Java fern

An epiphyte Java fern needs to be glued or otherwise attached to wood or rock. Do not bury the roots. A dab of superglue can keep it fixed to the wood, until the roots have managed to get a strong foot hold. It generally grows well, often taking some time to get established. It seems to prefer tanks that have regular water changes to get that boom in growth. Java Fern Windelov can require higher lighting, but the original form and most of the types will thrive in most aquariums.

Anubias

Another epiphyte, I love bateri, it stays medium sized, but for larger tanks, A. Congensis/heterophylla is a grat choice. Gold coin, and nana are a good choice for smaller or foreground plants.

Bucephalandra

Yet again an epiphyte. This is a very slow growing plant, but there are such an amazing range out there. Make sure you buy from a respected source as some are illegally taken from the wild.

Vallisneria

Long thin tendrils reaching for the surface. Happy to be planted in sand or gravel, vallis will root itself as long as there is enough substrate. The smaller varieties will still get large enough to reach the surface of the average aquariums. Spiralis, including spiralis tiger is one I love to have in tanks. Americana and the various Giant Vallis types will grow to the surface and then along the length of the tank, leaving an wild look, although they will cut off some of the light to the lower levels.

Limnophila Sessiliflora

Again this is happy to be planted in sand/gravel/that gap between two ornaments. I’m pretty sure it would find somewhere to root in a bare tank, and when this plant gets going, it gets going. I’ve had tanks almost overtaken after putting a single bunch in there. If you let it reach the surface it will have a slightly different coloured leves.

Hygrophilia

Polysperma for soft water, and 53b for the harder water tank.

Red Root floater

As long as you don’t have too much surface movement, or condensation dripping off the lid then this is a great floating plant.