Choosing The Best Live Freshwater Aquarium Plants

When setting up your aquarium, it is very important to reproduce the fish's natural habitat, to ensure that they are healthy and can also breed. An easy way to do so is by choosing freshwater aquarium plants that the particular species of fish would probably live around in the wild.

Live freshwater aquarium plants, hence, are the most suitable choice and there many different types that you can choose from.

These include large plants such as the water lily. However, keeping in mind their sizes, these plants are better suited to ponds, rather than aquariums.

Depending on what kind of fish you buy for your tank, you can include floating plants in your aquarium, which will not only add to the tank's beauty but will also provide the fish in your tank a great place to hide. Floating freshwater aquarium plants include Fairy Moss and Riccia.

Using Rhizomes is also a good way of incorporating freshwater aquarium plants into your aquarium, as these generally grow upwards and its roots spread on the gravel. These roots hence give the look of a lush green carpet spread over the bottom of your tank's floor. The most commonly known varieties of Rhizomes are anubias and the African Fern.

In addition to looking gorgeous in the tank, they are also very easy to plant, as these freshwater aquarium plants attach to any piece of wood or large stones available in your tank. As the Rhizomes grow, there shoots expand horizontally, they produce leaves, as well and eventually covers most of the aquarium. This gives your fish the perfect hiding spots.

Another commonly known freshwater aquarium plant is the rosette. They are said to look like crowns and have roots growing beneath them and leaves growing vertically. These also cover the entire aquarium by the branching of their shoots. Sometimes, these plants, that include the Amazon Sword and Sagittaria, also produce lovely flowers.

One of the most commonly found aquarium plants are the stems. As ordinary as the name may sound, these miraculous plants grow from the nodes of a single stem. This trait of their's is also the origin of the plants name. The roots of the stem are firmly rooted in the gravel and the stem rises upwards. The stem also has leaves growing on them, which can be either individual or in pairs and on rare occasions having multiple leaves also.

Java Moss, is also another freshwater aquarium favorite and it is also sometimes known as the java fern. The java fern will serve the three purposes, it will protect your fish, make your tank look attractive and will also make a great tank started plant. Owing to its nature of surviving in a range of pH and is not particularly sensitive to all kinds of water.

Algae is the worst possible enemy of a dedicated aquarium keeper. It not only completely destroys the aesthetic look of your tank, but also has much more far-reaching and threatening consequences. Being a living creature, algae has a respiratory system and needs oxygen to survive; therefore, it consumes vital oxygen content of the water. The best possible solution to this problem is to choose one between two plants known as Water Wisteria and Plectomus. These two freshwater aquarium plants are 'algae-eaters' and help keep the algae content in your tank to a minimum.

If you are searching for one special plan, try cryptocoryne becketti. This amphibious plant comes with a potential of growing both on land and underwater. What makes this plant a real hit is the fact that it is available in a range of exceptional colors.

Amazon sword is another good option to consider for those who are searching for a popular aquarium plant. Echinodorus bleheri is its technical name and it is popular for its easy maintenance. As it grows fast and doesn't ask for a lot of care, it is the right choice for someone who has just setup a freshwater aquarium for the very first time.

The fact of the matter is that live plants add to the visual delight of your fresh water aquarium. No doubt, you have to put in more effort to take care of these live plants, but they also allow you to reap several amazing benefits. So, get them and make your fish feel extremely comfortable.