Life

Fish tank update…now with even more plants!

­I love plants and enjoy taking care of plants.  Watching a plant grow from nothing into something wonderful is so satisfying for me. For over 12 years I’ve kept an Ivy plant in my care, which has followed me through five moves and still keeps on growing.  But, this is the first time I’ve tried aquatic plants.

When we first decided to add live plants to our fish tank, we decided to keep things simple and get a Java Fern.  It was a little slow to grow at first but didn’t completely die off.  Java Ferns are rather forgiving.

Fish tank with java fern, lily pads, and small freshwater fish

Soon as our Java Fern started growing, we upgraded from a 10 gallon tank to a 29 gallon tank.  My fiancé’s first thoughts were more room for more fish; my first thoughts were more room for more plants.

Recommended YouTube channels for more on aquarium/aquatic plant care:

After consulting our local fish store for suggestions on what plants would work well together and not compete too much for nutrients but also be visually pleasing, we decided to add some Wisteria and a Dwarf Aquarium Lily.

Wisteria doesn’t have a strong root system, which raised some concerns in the initial planting stages.  But, root tabs and liquid fertilizer somehow kept this mini forest thriving. 

wisteria plant, aquarium rocks, corydora catfish

The Dwarf Aquarium Lily quickly became the star attraction in our tank.  The reddish leaves are quite the contrast to the browns and greens in the rest of the tank.  Plus, the lily pads grow bigger daily.  It’s very much a surprise every morning to see the current lily pads getting bigger, greener and brand new lily pads growing towards the surface.

All in all, a planted tank is great for the fish, and for me, a fun, new challenge in keeping plants.

Here are some differences I’ve learned about plants versus aquatic plants:

  • Aquatic plants can grow much more quickly than plants
  • Plants can be impacted by air conditions but aquatic plants can not only be impacted by the water conditions, but also have a huge impact on the living conditions of the fish
  • Aquatic plants have similar but unique nutritional needs
  • Plants can get sunburned and possibly die off but aquatic plants can get covered in algae and possibly die off
  • Both plants and aquatic plants require care in addressing lighting needs
  • Location is important to preventing different types of plants competing (sun for plants and nutrients in the water column for aquatic plants)