Guide to Aquarium Plants

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April 8th, 2009

Fashion Your Aquarium with the Best Aquarium Plants

You dream of creating a breathtakingly wonderful piece of living art combining flora and fauna and you are now thinking of purchasing the best aquarium plant accessories to make that dream a reality. Plants provide beauty and interest in your aquarium as well as protection and nutrition for your fishes.

Before buying and introducing plants in your aquarium it would be best to know how to make your fishes and plants live harmoniously. Plants need carbon dioxide which is exhaled by the fishes; light for photosynthesis; nutrients such as phosphorus, iron and other trace elements to survive.

A neophyte aquarium hobbyist may not be successful in combining different plants because over abundance of these needed elements may cause an imbalance making some plants to thrive while others may not survive. It would be best to seek expert advice or at times learn through trial and error.

To make your aquarium freshwater or tropical fishes and plants co-exist in harmony, they should match each other. Fishes like cichlids like to dig so floating plants would be the best instead of plants that are anchored to the substrate. Some fishes are herbivorous and devour the plants at a fast rate. It would be best not to introduce any plant at all or choose fast growing plants.

An imaginative and creative aquarium aficionado would mix and match different plants making a beautiful collage of greenery among gracefully swimming tropical fishes. An artistic aquarium owner may mimic the mystery of a tropical forest or the sparkling crystals of jewels combining the nature, type, color, translucency of different plants, colorful fishes, and positioning other aquarium accessories such as driftwood, corals, rocks, and gravel artistically with the source of light.

The best aquarium plant accessories are the anubias, aponogetons and cryptocoryne species, bunched aquarium plant genera, sagittaria, and vallisneria species. They are easy to grow, thrive in 23 to 28 degrees centigrade temperature and a neutral pH of 7.0.

The anubias species grow in very low light with green rounded or lance shaped leaves. This aquarium plant is perfect for attaching to driftwood giving a resemblance of orchids growing on tree branches. The driftwood aquarium accessory exudes an exotic, forest-like ambience.

The cryptocoryne species survive well in low to moderate light. The different species show subtle ranges of color that range from copper, red, brown, green, bronze and a species imitates the color of sunset. These species are rooted with medium to small sized leaves that are elongated, spiral shaped, or tapered. They make colorful foreground plant or may be planted in the middle of the fish tank to give a landscaped effect.

Aponogetons are very easy to grow with very low to moderate lighting. Their leaves are tall and elongated. They can be planted at the background of the fish tank aquarium. The vallisneria are tall swampy real aquatic plants giving a dramatic look where your fishes can swim in between their blades of the plant. They flourish well in moderate to high lighting.

Growing aquarium plants with your fishes will provide you with many good hours of fun and relaxation. You can always choose from the best aquarium plant accessories to fashion your aquarium into whatever you want it to be: elegant, exotic, upbeat, dramatic, or artistic.

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