Fish Tank Plants - Don't Be Put Off by the Experts

I think that it is extremely easy to put someone off  growing live plants in their aquarium. Simply start talking about water parameters and watts per gallon, using the correct substrate, balancing the micro and macro nutrients and pretty soon people are looking at you with a glazed expression and quickly giving up on growing any plants in their tank.

But that really isn't the reality of fish tank plants. Think of growing aquarium plants as the same as growing anything in your garden. Most people could find out enough to be confident of growing something. After all, you don't need green fingers to grow potatoes. Just stick one in the ground and nature will do the rest.

You may need to practice a bit before moving on to growing orchids. Well aquariums are exactly the same. There are plants that will grow quite happily with the minimum of light and without too much care. You don't need to double the lighting in your aquarium in order to throw out the plastic and silk impersonators. If you do, then you are more likely to give yourself an algae bloom than you are to grow aquarium plants successfully.

Just like with gardening, choose the hardy, easy to grow plants and you can have a thriving planted aquarium in around six weeks without adding lights or installing a co2 system. Sure you may need to feed them but that is either a liquid feed or adding some laterite to your gravel. Don't panic about the laterite, if your tank is already set up and has matured a bit there is probably enough natural fertiliser in the substrate to support most plant life.

Your fish will feed the plants by producing ammonia that will get converted into nitrates. Nitrates are great plant food. After all, algae are plants and I bet you're already growing them successfully.

So chuck out the artificial plants, get down to the aquarium store and ask them about plants for beginners. If you're a bit worried, just store the artificial plants and throw them away in six weeks when the tank is thriving from your new found skill.

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