Freshwater Aquarium Plants - Avoid the Biggest Beginners' Mistake
Freshwater Aquarium Plants - Avoid the Biggest Beginners' Mistake
Why would you want to go to all the trouble of having to buy and look after live freshwater aquarium plants? Surely we have enough trouble looking after the fish?
Well there are several very good reasons why live aquarium plants are worth all the trouble. There is one very obvious reason and that is that your aquarium will look stunning with them, but there are many other reasons why they are worth the trouble. They provide a refuge for the fish and they oxygenate the water. More importantly they help to reduce the concentration of nitrites in the water. Nitrites are the big killers of your fish. They are a result of the build-up of detritus from fish droppings. Plants encourage the growth of good bacteria which remove the poisonous nitrites.
There is no gain without pain and the pain is that you have to choose your plants carefully and look after them well.
Plants need two things in particular - nutrients and light. Nutrients they get from the substrate or gravel. Light they have to get from artificial sources. You should not and cannot rely on sunlight to provide sufficient light levels.
Not providing sufficient light is the biggest mistake made by beginners and is the main cause of plants becoming straggly and possibly dying. Sunlight hitting your tank is the worst possible thing because it encourages algae growth which as well as sticking on the glass making the tank look awful also attaches itself to your plants and stifles their growth. It is a fine balance between providing enough artificial light for healthy plants but not too much for excessive algae growth.
First of all, the light level that you choose will depend upon the plants that you choose but as a minimum you will need at least one T5 fluorescent tube in a reflecting hood. Some plants require considerably more lighting for instance several T8 fluorescent tubes.
Algae growth is a real problem because you can never eliminate it completely but there are two things you can do to keep it under control. The first thing is to limit the hours of lighting to no more than 12. The other thing you can do is to put some algae eating fish into your tank, species of Otocinclus for example.
So there it is, avoid the biggest beginners mistake by providing plenty of artificial light for a maximum of 12 hours every day and you have a good chance of owning a beautiful home aquarium.