There are a number of good reasons to add plants to your aquarium. They add beauty to your tank, make a healthier place for fish and create a sort of ecosystem within your aquarium. Live plants in your aquarium give oxygen to your fish and other aquarium pets.

Plants will also help to keep down ammonia levels by absorbing the ammonia from fish waste. Plants will also keep algal levels down, since they will be in competition with the algae for nutrients. Your plants may also become food and shelter for your fish.

So what kind of plants should you add to your aquarium? This depends on the kind of water in your tank and the kind of fish you keep. Before buying plants for your aquarium, research which plants will work best in your aquarium.

How well a given plant will do in your aquarium depends on the pH levels, the amount of minerals in the water and of course, the temperature. Tropical plants like soft water, but can do surprisingly well in hard water too. Most plants are happy to be in water between 6.5 and 7.5 on the pH scale. For the sake of your fish, you’ll probably want to keep the water between 60 and 85 degrees, so pick your plants accordingly.

You’ll also need adequate lighting in your aquarium to ensure that your plants can carry on the important process of photosynthesis. Your plants will need 10-12 hours of light a day for optimum health. If your aquarium is too brightly lit, then algae can become a problem. If you find algal growth to be a problem, then you’ll want to add some fish to your aquarium that eat algae.

You’ll also need to add substrates to your tank for plants – this will make their growth much easier. For live plants, you’ll want to choose Flourite or Laterite.

The plants in your aquarium will also need food. Look into what will be best for your plants; there are tablets and liquid fertilizers to choose from. Plants which feed through their roots will prefer tablets, while leaf-feeding plants do better with liquid fertilizer.

After adding plants to your aquarium, you may want to keep away from herbivorous fish, since they may well end up grazing on your plants! Be sure to find out how tall the plants will be once mature – this will help you decide on their placement.

Plants should go into your aquarium before the fish. This is because adding plants (or anything else) to the tank changes the pH, hardness and other factors. Add a little water to your tank (not enough to submerge them) before adding your plants. Then, you can anchor your plants. Fill the tank up and turn on your filters. Run tests on your water and check the temperature.

You should add only a couple of fish to your tank until the plants have a chance to become established. Your fish might eat the plants before they grow large and strong enough to take a nibble now and then.