Decorations: Live Plants

Aponogeton, grown from just a bulb

Now, I have to admit: Plants may be one of the most frustrating parts of my aquarium. They're a pain to plant, fish eat them or pull them out, and half the time they're floating on the top, bobbing up and down in the filters stream. But, let's face it. They really make an aquarium look good. I plan on doing a series on my aquarium decorations and aesthetics and today I had done a (20%) water change and some gardening so I figured I would start with plants.

Keeping plants in the gravel is a task unto itself. For weeks I would find plants floating on the surface every morning and every time I replanted them, roots would get damaged. The plants I bought would get nibbled and pulled on until it was only one or two leaves and I almost gave up and went with silk plants. However, I found an easier way to do it.

Available at local home improvement
or gardening stores.

If you're setting up your tank currently, I suggest you use a layer of plant substrate under your layer of gravel. Unfortunately I didn't have plant substrate when I started my aquarium so I had to figure out an alternative method. So I did some looking around and found small plastic dishes (I think for use with tiny potted plants) and bought CaribSea Floramax Premium Aquarium Substrate. Once you find your supplies, the first thing to do is cut holes in the bottom of the dishes (see picture) so that water can move through it. I planted everything outside of the water; planting anything that wants to float away is a nightmare. First, pour a thin layer of substrate to cover the bottom of the dish. Then, hold the plants up in the middle and surround the plants with more substrate. After plants are properly placed and covered, submerge the plants into the water slowly, so nothing moves out of place. Dig a hole in the gravel big enough for your dish to sit in and cover the edges with gravel (to hide the plastic dish). Success. You now have planted some good looking plants that should thrive off of the plant substrate.



Tips and Tricks:

• The Aponogeton in the picture above (first one) actually started as a bulb I bought from PETCO.com. I had to cover it with an upside down plastic dish so my fish wouldn't eat it and pretty soon it was growing a few inches a day.
• Arranging your plant life is pretty difficult when they're in a 4 inch diameter, so try to figure that in when planning your landscaping
• All in all, using substrate and planting plants after setting up a tank is a chore. If at all possible, layer substrate under your gravel and do your planting before filling up your tank (probably easiest in about 4-6 inches of water.