Growing Plants, Planted Tank Basics

Aquascaping Plants

As a freshwater tank owner, you’ll need to know which aquascaping plants you should invest in to complement your aquarium or paludarium habitat. Aquatic plants are an important part of your overall tank’s health. In addition, they beautify your tank with lush greens, reds, and violets.

In this article, we’ll go over what aquascaping plants are, their biological process, which ones you should choose, and more.

Overview of Aquatic Plants

What is an Aquatic Plant?

Aquatic plants, (hydrophytes or macrophytes), are water plants that reside in aquatic environments like freshwater lakes, rivers, ponds, or seas, and also saltwater seas and oceans.

Aquatic Plants in Nature

In nature, aquatic plants grow in shallow waters in freshwater lakes and rivers. Plants play a vital role in the health of a lake or river’s overall ecosystem, and aiding in the health of fish, invertebrates, and other animals that live in and around these waters.

  • • Aquatic plants make a great hiding place for prey animals or spawning fish.
  • • Plants also help clean out pollutants and extra sediment from lake, pond, or river water.

Overview of Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is the process of transforming sunlight energy into food for plants. During the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, the carbon dioxide is absorbed, and the oxygen is released. The oxygen that is released is used by organisms such as fish, invertebrates, or bacteria. Any extra oxygen will rise to the water’s surface.

There are several environment factors which influence the rate of photosynthesis. These may include light intensity, nutrients in the water and temperature, and carbon dioxide availability. However, in your aquarium, it is easier to influence the amounts of these factors to best optimize your plants’ health and growth.

Important Factors to Keep in Mind for Aquascaping Plants

Light

If you’re planning to purchase an aquarium and keep aquascaping plants, you’ll need to educate yourself on light.

Light conditions in your tank will need to replicate the sun’s light in a natural environment.

  • • Light duration – To accurately replicate natural lighting, you’ll want to expose your aquascaping plants to about 8 hours of direct light (photoperiod). However, in a new aquascape, you’ll want to cut this time to between 5 and 6 hours to reduce the growth of algae.
  • • Light intensity – To determine brightness, we use a light measurement unit called lumen. The efficiency of light is given by the total lumens produced per watt of power. Another important light measurement unit is the lux. Lux values are equal to lumens per square meter. It’s important to note that light intensity requirements can vary between species of plants.
  • • Source of light quality – The range of visible light from violet to red is called PAR (Photosynthetic Active Radiation). Aquascaping plants use only red and blue lighting from the spectral chart.
  • • Color temperature – This is determined by degrees in Kelvin. Kelvin specifies the color of the light. Sunlight has a color temperature of approximately 6500K. When purchasing aquarium lighting for your tank, you will want to choose between 5500K and 8000K. For aquarium lighting, you should opt for LED lamps, since they overall provide the best source of light when compared to other products on the market, and feature Bluetooth connection, remote control, 24/7 programmable controls, and more.

Read about PAR here: Let’s Talk Lighting

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Your aquascaping plants need carbon dioxide to thrive in your tank. They feed off carbon dioxide that is present in the water as well as the aquarium substrate. If there is insufficient carbon dioxide in their environment, it will cause limited photosynthesis and stunted plant growth.

For good levels of carbon dioxide and maximum plant growth, you’ll want to ensure you have invested in a quality CO2 system for your aquarium.

Read more about carbon dioxide here: Carbon Dioxide: Part 1

Nutrients

In addition to carbon dioxide, aquascaping plants will also need macro and micro nutrients for optimal plant growth to take place.

  • Macro nutrients – These include Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K), Phosphorus (P), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), and Sulfur (S).
  • Micro nutrients – These include Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Boron (B), Copper (Cu), Molybdenum (Mo), and Chlorine (Cl).

Read more about nutrients here: Preventing Mineral Deficiencies with AquaLife Plant Supplements

If plants experience a lack of macro or micro nutrients, it will likely result in deficiencies like browning or wilting leaves. If you supply your aquatic plants with plenty of these nutrients, they will absorb them through their leaves and stems and growth into healthy specimens within your tank.

Aquascaping Plants to Add to Your Tank

Beginner Plants

Are you brand new to aquascaping? You’ll want to choose “easy” plants that don’t require special aquarium conditions such as CO2 addition or high-light intensity.

  • • Anubias
  • • Cryptocoryne

Intermediate Plants

As you become more experienced with aquascaping and caring for your aquarium, you can step it up with more advanced plant care. These plants will have higher requirements for light, CO2 and handling. Try your hand at one of the following intermediate aquascaping plants:

  • • Alternanthera
  • • Echniodorus

Advanced Plants

If you are caring for the most advanced plants, you will absolutely need to add higher doses of CO2 using liquid fertilizers. Some more advanced aquascaping plants include:

  • • HC Cuba
  • • Glossostigma
  • • Utricularia

Complementing Your Aquascape

Looking to create a beautiful aquascape in your tank? There are plenty of aquarium plants to try out! Some of them complement a certain tank style, such as Dutch, Iwagumi, or Nature aquascapes.

Java Moss, Dwarf Hairgrass, African Water Ferns, Anacharis, Dwarf Rotala, and Water Lettuce are just some of aquarists’ favorite plants that beautifully complement your fish and inverts. For more information on aquarium plants and guidance on planted tanks, check out our planted aquariums guide.

Contact SevenPorts for Aquascaping Tips

Need assistance with your aquascape? Whether you are shopping for plants and need advice, are having an algae growth problem, or are shopping for lighting and carbon dioxide products, we are here to help. Please give our experts a call at 1 (626) 333-5372.