When we first started keeping freshwater tropical fish – we did have one major disaster which wiped out the whole tank. It was a particularly horrific state of affairs which we could have circumvented but I didn’t count as “our fault”…
We had gone away for a short holiday and yes, you’ve guessed it, the thermostat on the aquarium heater broke, the temperature of the water soared – fish tank extinction ensued…and my family and I were in tears on our return…
I was so shaken by the situation that for a while we kept only plants in our aquarium as we didn’t have the heart to add new fish.
Slowly over time we realised how wonderful a properly planted tank can be and how exotic the plants can make the whole aquarium look, a properly landscape tank adds huge visual impact. And of course, when fish are added to the tank, nitrites start to build up but with good plant life in the tank, oxygen is released, absorbing the nitrites leaving the water cleaner and healthier for the fish.
Let there be light…
The most important factor in the growth of plants is the sun, and in the freshwater tropical fish aquarium, strong lighting replaces the sun and is used to preserve the health and splendour of the plants.
Wayne Vandre, Horticulture Specialist, comments that light is the all-important source of energy used by plants in photosynthesis. But light is not just one simple, well-defined entity. The plant response is influenced by light quality, intensity and duration. It has been proven that the best growth of plants in an aquarium is under cool fluorescent light.
Fundamental to the quality of plant growth is the quality of the lighting that is provided, giving the tank a much better overall quality.
Different species of plants
Landscaping a tank can be fun and it is essential to get different types of plants to give the tank that exotic look. There are many diverse ranges of aquatic plants. Tubers need to be anchored by the root to the bottom of the tank. Floating plants do what it says on the tin - they float! They do not need to be fixed to anything and dont require special food. Rooted plants, like tubers need to be anchored to the bottom of the tank normally tied to pieces of rock or wood. Helping to fill out the aquarium, these types of plants will become pretty tall.
The nutrients and fertilizers required for plant growth are provided by the fish and water in the aquarium. It is rare that any extra supplements require to be added. One essential feature in having healthy plant life is the filtration system. Under gravel filters restricts the composition of the gravel in which the plants are rooted and produce a steady flow of bubbles that disturb the surface. All other kinds of filtration systems should work well for plants and it is good to keep water movement in the tank, but not too mush disturbance at the surface as CO2 is lost, essential to the survival of the plants.
All our tanks now have healthy plant life which makes it easier to keep happy healthy and colourful fish.
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