Aquarium plants

Among the cultivated plants in the aquarium are either aquatic plants, which always grow submerged, or thriving wetland vegetation. According to estimates by the aquarium expert Christel Kasselmann, from 100 to 150 plant species are offered as aquarium plants. Only thirty species of them are true aquatic plants.

Even if a fish tank like a rock basin can be operated without aquarium plants, they play an important role in most aquariums. As a waste product of photosynthesis, they produce oxygen during the light phase of the aquarium that is needed for respiration by other animals kept in the aquarium. They also reduce the undesirable growth of algae in the aquarium. Plants also degrade pollutants such as phosphate, nitrate and ammonium. In addition, they offer the animals hiding places and preserve boundaries.

In the typical Holland aquarium, roads are made with plants such as Bachburgel, Lobelia cardinalis and moss. Owners of these aquariums are often seeking the culture of fastidious aquarium plants such as the tongue blade, cognac plant, water milfoil and hair.

In Japanese nature aquariums, plants are most often of small stature and are a delicate species. The plant plays an important role and will be planted in the foreground. These include the pond liver moss, the tongue blade and Eleocharis acicularis.

Plants such as the java fern are often tied up in these types of aquariums on rocks or roots. In aquariums with fish, they eat the tender plants. This has been proven especially with the pygmy leaf peer, whose tough leaves are damaged by little fish.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) that plants need for growth is dissolved in the water only to a limited extent. The need for carbon dioxide varies from plant to plant. There are a number of aquarium plants, such as Egeria densa, the Indian waters, and the Indian water star friend, whose CO2 requirement can be ensured through regular partial water changes.

It is particularly common for all three plants to be recommended for a newly refurbished aquarium. As they grow well and are fast growing, they should be withdrawn in the early stages of an aquarium in which the risk of excessive algal growth is particularly high. The algae are actually the food source. Because of their ease of cultivation, they are also regularly offered as an inexpensive commodity.

For many aquarium plants to grow well, a higher carbon dioxide content in the water is needed than can be ensured as part of the water changes. These plants are dependent on carbon dioxide fertilization. There are a variety of different ways to achieve this fertilization. This ranges from those based on alcoholic fermentation, fermentation by a system (possibly computerized), to compressed gas cylinders.

Strong surface water movement and the use of sparkling stones drive out, to a large extent, the carbon dioxide dissolved in water. The fish put more oxygen into the water through membrane pumps and filters.

The carbon dioxide dissolved in water is increasingly delivered over the water surface to the air and removed from the water plants. In terms of livelihood, the fact of reduced growth reacts to produce less oxygen for the fish and leave the algae more nutrients. Carbon dioxide-rich aquarium water is deficient in oxygen.

Almost all commercially offered aquarium plants come from nurseries that have specialized in the breeding of aquarium plants. Mainly from the genus Echinodorus, there are more and more new varieties, which are characterized mainly by interesting red to reddish-brown speckled leaf colors.