How to Grow Live Plants in a Fresh Water Aquarium

Silk or plastic plants in an aquarium just look fake, there's no other way to say it. You can purchase live plants for a fraction of the price, in many different shapes and colors, and have the pleasure of watching them grow. Also, live plants provide additional oxygen to your fish. Problem is, how do you grow live plants? Follow these simple directions for a natural, green aquarium.

Things You'll Need

• Silt for bottom of aquarium
• Grow light
• Plant fertilizer

Instructions

Steps to Growing Live Plants in Your Aquarium

1. If you know you are going to want to plant real plants in your aquarium when you are setting it up, you can purchase a special aquarium silt to place under your gravel. The silt will give your new plants something to anchor into so they have less of a chance of coming unrooted and floating to the surface. The accumulated debris under the gravel in an established tank performs the same function.

2. Go to your favorite aquarium and purchase your aquarium plants. Come home and plant them in your aquarium. Do not take off the metal bands holding together some of the plants. When the plant is rooted in the gravel, the band will not show and it will keep your plant from separating and rising to the surface. As you plant your plants, dirt and debris from your tank will cloud up the water. Do not be concerned with this; it will clear up within an hour or so.

3. Purchase a freshwater plant fertilizer that is safe for your fish. The directions will specify how much fertilizer to add and how often--usually once a week.

4. Consider purchasing a grow light for your aquarium. This is not an immediate thing that you need to get; many aquarium lights that come with aquariums will do just fine. Keep an eye on your plants, and if you notice that they start turning yellow, it's time to make the purchase. A grow light will give your plants just the right UV rays so they will grow their best.

Tips & Warnings

• New plants often have snails on them that you will not readily see. If you are concerned about this, take the plants out of the plastic bags and run them under water or gently spray them down before putting them in your tank.

• Fish will sometimes pull up aquarium plants or even eat or shred them. One way to possibly thwart this problem is to purchase all of the plants you are going to get at once; your fish will hopefully not pick on any particular plant, so they will all have the ability to thrive.

• Grow lights will also increase the amount of algae in your aquarium. One way you can slow down algae growth is to limit the amount of time the light is on. Keep the light off 10 to 12 hours a day. It will not harm the plants and will greatly help with this problem.