When out shopping for live aquarium plants the wide range available can result in a penchant to pick a bit of everything that catches your fancy. If you have several plants of diverse types all in the same tank, they will be competing for light and food and very soon you will find that the hardiest ones have occupied most of the space causing the others to perish. Hence, control yourself and restrict your choice to about three types. You could select two aquatic plants to create a mass in the back of the tank and one for the middle.

You may use Sagittaria or Vallisneria as one of the aquatic plants to put at the back but make sure you don’t use both in the same tank as they have a tendency to vie with each other. A bushy aquarium plant in the back of the tank would look nice. You could use Hygrophila which grows very easily. However, if you are looking for something that is more decorative you can go in for Ludwigia or Cabomba-Limnophila. If you are going to have a cold water aquarium, these are your best options.

For the center, it is advisable to use a beautiful plant - Echinodorus, Aponogeton or Cryptocoryne if yours is a warm water aquarium. For a cold water aquarium, you may choose from Muphar, Ranunculus and Hottonia.

Aquatic plants should be fleshy and color-intense; don’t pick up those that are drooping and lifeless. The majority of aquarium plants are fragile when they are removed from the water and should be lifted up by using extreme care. Don’t ever lift them out from the center of the stem; the best way to pick them up is by holding them at the base, allowing them to hang down from your hand. Choose aquatic plants which are only half grown and have plenty of leaves.

A lot of aquarium plants that multiply through cuttings will have thin roots like hair coming out of the nodes where the branches grow. Select this kind as they will take root sooner. Plants having crowns should have high-quality roots which should be fleshy and hairy.

From all the aquarium plants that you would find in the stores, the ones mentioned here have been verified to be the most dependable and fascinating. Make sure you select really healthy ones and you will be on your way to having an attractive aquarium with happy fish swimming around.

Read on more if you wish to find out how to setup a planted tank.

David