Plants in the aquarium are necessary, their positive influence can not be overestimated. They can plant an aquarium, leaving 2/3 of it free for fish. The variety of aquatic plants suitable for aquariums is great.
Generalized all the plants for the aquarium can be divided into the following categories:
- Those that float on the surface of the water;
- plants that are attached to the ground;
- plants that do not care how they are located in the aquarium.
Unpretentious plants in the aquarium for beginners
These plants are actually very many. We will tell and show which plants are best sucked in the aquarium and require minimal care. So, let's begin:
- Duckweed. It is a wonderful addition - it creates a beautiful view and is popular with most aquatic inhabitants. Its only drawback is that it quickly covers the water cover, preventing the arrival of light. It periodically needs to be thinned, leaving several leaves on the surface.
- Wallisneria. An unpretentious and fast growing plant. For him, the soil composition, the amount of lighting and the water temperature are indifferent. It grows bushes with narrow ribbon-like leaves, sometimes decorated with small denticles.
- Echinodorus tender. It looks like an ordinary lawn grass. A beautiful carpet for the bottom of the aquarium, besides, a fairly unpretentious plant, which is very important for beginning aquarists.
- Hornwort . The plant looks like a tree. It grows quite quickly, it has a huge number of needle leaves on the trunks. Serves as an excellent protection for small inhabitants of the aquarium.
- Elodea . Very easy to care for and quite common grass for the aquarium. Requires good lighting, otherwise discards leaves.
- Limnobium. A floating plant, similar to a lake lily, is only small in size. Long roots leave the leaves, which like to eat fish and shrimp. It grows pretty quickly.
- Javanese moss. Very beautiful plant. It does not grow very fast and is quite demanding for lighting. They usually wrap snags to decorate the underwater world.
- Riccia. A floating plant grows quickly. As you grow, it grows and settles to the bottom. It looks very bright and beautiful. Can cover up vast expanses on the bottom, creating green islets. Its very fond of eating aquarium inhabitants.
- Heleocharis needle. Outwardly similar to echinodorus, only much thinner than it. At the slightest movement of water and in the aquarium it beautifully swaying, creating an unsurpassed decoration effect.
The maintenance of plants in an aquarium
When you decide what plants can be planted in your aquarium, you need to learn how to take care of them. General rules for aquatic plants are concerned with providing them with sufficient illumination and top dressing.
Fertilizers for plants in the aquarium are necessary for their normal growth and reproduction. Important for aquarium plants are trace elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium.
There are many ready-made fertilizers, organic and inorganic, on sale. Liquid mixtures of general purpose are suitable for poorly lit aquaria. There are also individual liquid top dressings with micro- and macro elements for aquaria with an average level of illumination.
Fertilizers in the form of dry powder, consisting of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, are suitable for well-lit aquaria. They are more economical in comparison with liquid ones. However, you need to have some experience for the correct calculation of their required quantity.
If you are a beginner aquarist, you are recommended to use ready-made liquid top dressing for you.