Aquatic plants require the same vital elements as soil-based flora. An aquarium plant needs food and sunlight to convert that into energy for use by the plant. They also need the proper balance of trace chemicals in the water which the aquarium plants will absorb into their leaves. Sometimes this balance is achieved during the original planting, but sometimes adjustments will have to be made.

Here, you’ll find some worthwhile tips which will help you grow live aquarium plants.

Using aquatic plants helps your tank maintain a viable ecosystem. They absorb waste products given off by fish, and re-oxygenate the water. Aquarium plants also help to prevent algae growth by using the nutrients that algae would use, and filling the natural formation of photosynthetic flora. Tropical fish, by instinct, hide around and among aquatic plants, so having them in the tank promotes healthy fish as well as a healthy environment for those fish.

All flora requires ample lighting. Aquarium plants need from 8 to 12 hours of sunlight or artificial light every day. Natural sunlight is always best, tank lighting is an alternative. Be sure that the tank is set up in such a way that this is available to aquatic plants, but also provide shadowed recesses for nocturnal fish, such as catfish. Too much light will promote the growth of algae, and is detrimental to the health of fish and live aquarium plants. There must be a scheduled light/dark ratio for tank design, because too much or insufficient lighting creates stress in tank life.

This is the easiest aquatic plant care task. When a tank has a variety of well fed fish. Live aquarium plants take in the nitrogen and carbon from fish waste, and absorb trace elements which dissolve from fish food. Tap water offers some required elements to aquarium plants in addition to providing a relatively stable pH and gH balance. As long as your fish are well fed and plentiful, your live aquarium plants will grow well. Perform a weekly check of the acidity of the water, but a well designed tank needs little additional care.

If algae has begun to grow, either inside the tank, or on the plants, it is a sign that one of the three basic aquatic plant care steps needs attention. First, check the tank’s pH and gH levels. If this is fine, determine whether you have enough aquatic plants for the environment. One or two aquarium plants per cubic foot is a rough guide, but needs vary according to factors such as number of fish, and amount of lighting. Make sure that the aquarium plants are experiencing light/dark periods each day, yet not being stressed by exposure to direct light throughout the whole day. Live aquarium plants create a stable tank environment and an enjoyable and entertaining tank layout.

Read on more if you are ready to find out how easy is it to setup a planted tank.

David
AquaticMagic ~ Grow Happiness

There are many reasons why you need to start a freshwater aquarium. It tends to reduce stress in our hectic lifestyle. It leads to a better understanding of a world that is as different from our own as the Earth is from the Moon and it’s a great hobby to have that leads to making friends and exchanging views with like-minded people.

A freshwater aquarium is the kind of hobby that starts off well in terms of cost and then can rapidly escalate as you begin to realise that there are probably dozens of different tank decoration variations you need to try, CO2 adjusters to buy, new freshwater tank filters and diffusers, not to mention water conditioners, medication for your fish, skimmers and freshwater aquarium plants.

There is so much in fact that if you are just starting out and are looking for in-depth information which will help you with your freshwater aquarium then you have come to the experts.

At Aquatic Magic we have a variety of plants, freshwater aquarium equipment and livestock which are reasonably priced precisely because we understand that a hobby should give pleasure without costing the Earth.

Dip into our website and check out our Blog and get ready to enter a world where you are the master of an aquatic universe.

It was in the late nineteenth century that fish were first kept at home. Originally they were kept for a short span of time and used for consumption. You would normally find home aquariums in towns along the coast where the fish were easily available. Today, nobody would even think of lowering a net into the tank to cook and serve the pet on the dinner table. Home aquariums are meant to entertain and enjoy. They add color and life to any home. They have a soothing effect on the observers. For this reason they are displayed in physician’s offices and at shopping centers where the kids are kept busy while their parents shop.

Let’s examine the benefits of keeping fish rather than bigger animals as pets.

1. They don’t require much care as compared to other pets like dogs, cats or birds. If you are going away on holiday it is okay for you to leave the fish on its own for even a week or more. You just have to get a kind neighbor to feed them maybe a couple of times.

2. They are low maintenance. Although a home aquarium does need recurring cleaning and other maintenance, it is slight as compared to the larger pets.

3. They become a terrific learning tool for growing children. If the kids are involved in caring for the aquarium they learn to be responsible. You can teach them to feed the fish and clean out the tank. It also helps toddlers develop their language skills as they make conversation with the fish. You can name each fish and educate your kids the fun way by asking them to tell the color of the fish or count them. A fish floating at the top is something nobody would want, but since death is unavoidable this is a simple way to help your children understand it and learn to cope.

4. In today’s world with an endless number of cable channels and video games. An aquarium would add a rejuvenating source of fun to the home. So the next time you gather for dinner, turn their attention from the tv to the aquarium and talk about it. This will lead to a lifetime interest in fish keeping as a hobby.

Why wait? Get your home a planted tank with fish now!

David

Elimination of encrusting algae can be accomplished by simply scouring the aquarium sides or cleansing the rocks occasionally. If you have plastic plants and a gravel bed which is entirely white, it will require more effort as you would need to bleach the gravel to eliminate the algae altogether. But if you use bleach which is very poisonous, you must meticulously wash out the gravel thereafter or else even tiny traces could have an adverse effect on the fish in the aquarium.

Extra light is the main reason for green algae. The first few things you should do to eliminate the algae is to reduce the light, change water fractionally and replace the artificial plants with live aquarium plants. Thereafter, an algae killing formula should make sure that the crisis has been eliminated, not to reappear for awhile. Only make sure you don’t overuse it!

What is even more important is to first eliminate the causes that brought about the algae in the first place. Using live aquatic plants is one of the most successful methods of keeping the algae away. Abundant growth of the aquarium plants will filter out the extra light thus keeping the algae under control. Besides, aquatic plants absorb a lot of nutrients from the water therefore leaving extremely little for the algae to feast on. You will be surprised to learn that the ideal plants to space ratio is about 50 to a square foot.

Green algae is supposed to be tasty and an excellent way of eliminating it is to introduce some algae eating fish like the Suckermouth Catfish, Siamese Algae Eater, Peckoltia, Ancistrus or Otocinlus. Is your aquarium lit continuously? Too much light can promote the growth of algae. By making sure your aquarium is lit for at most ten hours in a day, and removing whatever green algae you can get your hands on, you can restrict the growth of algae quite effectively.

You can control the growth of algae by changing the water time and again. In so doing, you will maintain the nutrient levels in the aquarium, which are vital in restricting the growth of algae. You must introduce suitable live aquatic plants that absorb high levels of the same nutrients needed by algae. This will result in the algae getting starved thereby reducing its chances of survival.

The suggestions mentioned here have to be carried out faithfully if you want to have an algae-free aquarium on a continuous basis.

Read on more tips on anti-algae solutions!

David
AquaticMagic ~ Grow Happiness

It is not difficult to deduce why most aquariums have aquatic plants. Having aquarium plants in your aquarium not only adds to its aesthetic beauty but also creates an environment closer to the natural habitat of your pet fish. A lot of species of fish feel secure and comfy when there are plants to hide around and there are some that will just not thrive in the absence of plants. Some species of fish live around rocks and feel safe among rocky and cave-like structures. If you find that the fish are damaging your plants by feasting on them or uprooting them, try using rocks and some bits of wood. Or perhaps you could select floating aquarium plants that don’t need to go into the substrate or plant hardy aquarium plants that grow pretty fast and are none the worse after being nibbled at.

Aquatic plants maintain the quality of water in the tank besides beautifying it and providing shelter to your fish. Just as plants and fish exist together in the wild waters and maintain the ecosystem so also they bring the same benefits while living together in an aquarium. The waste matter let out by the fish serves as a manure to the plants. Thus, instead of floating around in the tank and causing harm to your fish, it will be put to good use if you have live aquarium plants in your tank. However, you must make sure that you trim the plants on a regular basis and remove the dead or rotting parts so that the water does not get polluted. The live aquarium plants use carbon dioxide thus maintaining a healthy level in the tank and produce oxygen which is crucial for the fish. The plants are also home to a variety of micro organisms which help maintain the water content. Having live aquarium plants leaves very few nutrients for the growth of algae.

Several species of fish will just not reproduce in an aquarium having no plants. A few species need the plants just to hide around them and feel safe. Others require leaves to fasten their eggs to. If you are bringing up the baby fish in the same tank as the adult fish, the survival rate of the young ones is found to be much higher if the aquarium is dense with plants, creating a great hiding place for them. Plants with plenty of tiny leaves should work well. Fry that has newly hatched can also use little caves, stones or any artificial decoration as a safe hiding place.

For the process of photosynthesis, plants require light. If your aquarium has only fish, you don’t need much light. But if you decide to plant your aquarium densely, you will need to enhance the lighting. Fluorescent lights work better than the normal incandescent ones. However, although they are comparatively a bit more expensive, they do not give out as much heat and save electricity. Some plants require even stronger light, but to begin with let us stick to rugged aquatic plants like Java Moss and Java Fern. These live aquarium plants can endure a varied series of pH values and water hardness.

Instead of planting Java Fern in the substrate, it is better to fasten it to a bit of rock or wood where it will start giving out roots. Java Moss and Java Fern both multiply easily. Soon you will find that little plants have appeared on the old ones. Just break them off and attach them to some support and watch them grow all over again.

Read on more about setting up a simple nano tank to fit into a small corner of your home, or even in the tidy office space.

David
AquaticMagic ~ Grow Happiness

Water gives life and it is this element more than any other that drives the creativity and passion of aquarium enthusiasts. Contained within a few cubic meters of water enclosed on five sides by glass is the opportunity to create a world that is every bit the outcome of the aquarium owner’s imagination.

You can create a salt-water environment and populate it with tropical fish and tropical plants. You can go for fresh water fish and try a starter’s approach you can spice up your existing tank with plants and decorations and you can work out ways to make your aquarium unique.

Irrespective of what you decide to go for an aquarium is a blank canvas and you, its creator. Within its confines you can imagine infinite worlds of infinite beauty and AquaticMagic gives you all the tools necessary to create. From nice-to-have accessories such as the Mist Maker to essentials like Filters and Water Conditioners.

An Aquarium, properly handled, has the capacity to become an object of infinite beauty, a microworld within which one has the capacity to realize William Blake’s mystical observation: “Seeing the world in a grain of sand/and eternity in an hour”.

You probably realize of course that an Aquarium also has the capacity to become a floating money lake which constantly absorbs money. This is where AquaticMagic is special too. Driven by the philosophy to offer a great product at a great price the AquaticMagic folks source their produce directly from the farmers who produce them, cutting out the middleman and realizing savings which are passed directly to their customers.

With a 100% satisfaction guarantee that gives you a free replacement or a full refund should a mishap happen during shipping, AquaticMagic are dedicated to living up to their billing and helping aquarium enthusiasts across the entire range of fishkeeping to expand their hobby, develop their interest and save money by getting more for their buck.

Take your aquarium hobby to the next level:

Aquarium Accessories

Aquarium plants

CO2 equipment for your aquarium

Crystal red Shrimp

Check out our Blog for advice from the Aquarium experts

Transporting And Shipping Aquatic Plants as they do it from our favorite online source gets us the plants we want in the best condition we ever found (this is including our local pet stores). As online shopping has grown in popularity, it has become more common to purchase live aquarium plants from retailers outside of the buyer’s local area. Aquatic plants can usually be shipped without much worry, but there are a few things to remember.

The primary concern for shipping live aquarium plants is that they will be shipped alive, and arrive in the same condition. If aquatic plants are being shipped to a frigid locale, it may be best to wait until warmer weather, or communicate with the buyer and work out a method that will allow delivery directly into human hands. Various shipping services (we use FedEx) can handle this, as well as normal postal delivery which requires a signature at the door. This additional expense is much less important during warm months, as long as the live aquarium plants are properly packaged for shipping.

If the aquatic plants being shipped are bulbs, or otherwise in a dormant state, they are safe to ship in an ordinary bulk mailing envelope. Some live aquarium plants, however, may require the use of a shipping container or box. Any aquatic plants that are transported with soil should be carefully packed in a box. It is a good idea to label the package as “LIVE AQUATIC PLANTS”, to give added protection during handling.

Inside the shipping container, place the live aquarium plants in a water-tight plastic bag. Always be sure that such bags are of the same quality as used for human foods. These are not chemically treated, and will not pose a threat to the aquatic plants. Wrap the root system of the aquatic plants in paper packing, or even cotton, which can retain water. The more of the aquatic plant that can be covered in this way, the better it will be for the final delivery of living aquarium plants.

To recap:
1. Check the delivery destination’s temperature, or ship aquatic plants via direct delivery.

2. Choose a package that is suitable for the aquatic plants being transported.

3. Place live aquarium plants into waterproof interior packages.

4. Aquatic plants require transporting in wet to moist packing material.

5. Live aquarium plants may be fragile, and should be labeled accordingly.

David
AquaticMagic ~ Grow Happiness

Having a heated substrate is largely considered beneficial to live aquarium plants. Warmth at the bottom of the tanks promotes decomposition of aquatic plant and animal wastes that are absorbed into the substrate. Many aquatic plants are tropical, and are much healthier with this environment. Faster breakdown of waste deposits means more vital nutrients for the live aquarium plants. Let’s look at how substrate heating is important to aquarium plants.

In a tank’s ecosystem, aquatic plants provide waste removal. By heating their root systems, faster healthier growth of live aquarium plants is encouraged. Aquarium plants then release oxygen into the water, as well as providing vital shelter and occasional food. Not only do aquatic plants prosper with a heated substrate, but many tropical fish will thrive in warm waters with lush aquarium plants. A heated substrate filters and breaks down chemicals that are required by live aquarium plants. In a tropical tank, aquatic plants grow faster with subsoil heating, which gives tropical aquarium plants longer, healthier stalks and branches.

Live aquarium plants can be adversely affected, also. Make sure the temperature is set to match the needs of the aquatic plants and fish. Since aquatic plants come from different regional zones, aquarium plant heating needs must be assessed according to which fish and live aquarium plants respond well at each temperature gradient. Aquarium plants will seem to wilt, or lose vitality if soil and water temperatures are too low or high. For most aquatic plants, light is associated with heat, and both should have weak or reduced periods each day to promote aquarium plant health. Always consider how the live aquarium plants would exist in their natural environment.

Another consideration for healthy live aquarium plants, is the type of substrate being used. While many aquarium plants only require an anchoring plant, other aquatic plants draw sustenance directly from the soils they grow in. Obviously, this type of live aquarium plant will do better in a substrate which promotes root growth, and rapid waste breakdown. Clay based substrate may not be suitable, for these aquatic plants, but they might do well in a loose gravelly environment.

For larger, lusher live aquarium plants, substrate heating is what works best for us. Healthy plants encourage greater vitality in fish as well. The entire environment of fish and aquatic plants depends on both sides being well adapted to the tank conditions. As the primary filtration system, heating the substrate encourages rapid decomposition, and discourages algae growth. It can be crucial to a beautiful tank with live aquarium plants.

We all want these beautiful tanks. I know I do.

David
AquaticMagic - Grow Happiness

As we have discussed before, tanks and fish are both healthier with live aquarium plants.

But what if you already had artificial aquatic plants, and want to move up to the real thing? The process isn’t difficult, and can be completed in a short period of time. Live aquarium plants are certain to make your tank more appealing to both outside observers and to the fish who live with them. Go ahead and pull the artificial flora out of your tank, to begin with, and we’ll look at how to replace them with living aquarium plants.

The first rule of adding live aquarium plants is to make sure that the existing fish are healthy in the tank. This will tell you some clues that the nitrate level is under control, likely with very frequent water change. It is hard to strike ecological balance in a tank without plants. Aquatic plants require, among other things, phosphorous and nitrogen which are best delivered via live fish.

Assuming that you began with a tank with fish and fake flora, and the fakes are now removed. On the other hand, let’s look at the fish involved - it needs the presence of live aquarium plants as much as the other way round. The water is considered “poisonous” to the fish, if the nitrate level induced by the untreated fish waste are getting too high. It affects the water parameters, including pH value. Live plants are able to moderate the situation.

Tropical fish are more inclined to prefer tropical aquatic plants. Live aquarium plants which are poisonous are no good, as are aquatic plants that are too appealing (they’d get eaten right away). With a little research, you’ll be able to find out which aquatic plants are safest for and with your fish. A mixture of aquatic plants that fish will eat, and ones that are merely decorative is a good choice, since it covers all the bases. Anyways, it’s what works best for us.

David
AquaticMagic - Grow Happiness

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