How to Grow and Care Your Water Plants?

Featuring live aquatic plants in your small pond or fish tank not only creates a captivating aquascaping but it also very healthy for your living inhabitants such as fish, shrimps, crabs, frogs and others. Many people find this hobby extremely rewarding and satisfying to the point of addiction when they spend long hours in looking and studying aquatic plants in their small tanks or ponds. There are lots of water plants in Melbourne but without knowing the habitat, living conditions and technical knowledge about plants, it is extremely difficult to grow in a small space.

If you have multiple water tanks in Melbourne or small pond in your garden, you need to take care of it. A natural pond or lake has its own way circulation and providing food for aquatic life forms. However, in a constraint space, you need to provide a much more natural environment to thrive your plants and better security for other aquatic creatures. Add plants that are truly submersible, which helps to filter the water naturally. Most of the floating plants like water lettuce etc. are also very useful as these plants help to remove ammonia and nitrates for the water.

Aquatic Planting Care Guide

Water plants play an important part in water garden. They provide shade and shelter for a variety of water creatures such as frogs, fish, dragon flies, shrimps and others. With proper care you can create an extraordinary level of beauty in your pond or tank.

Plant Selection and Placement Tips

• To create a natural habitat, always add diverse species in your aquarium or pond. If you want to create an aesthetic value to it, add stem, root, submerged and floating plants. The visual effect would be stunning and very rewarding.

• In a common tank, people put tall plants in the back, but it is not a thumb of rule because adding a few short plants in the back creates an illusion of depth.

• Many species such as Rotolarotundifolia, Ludwigiarepens and others have beautiful reddish colors. Some plants like Hygrophillia and Cambomba also have reddish and greenish hues, so these plants will surely add a dramatic visual effect in your tank.
• Always make sure you buy aquatic plants. Some vendors and shopkeepers sell plants, which are not truly aquatic and do not well in constraint space.
• Add water features in Melbourne like fountains, filters, rocks, and driftwoods in your pond or tank. These accessories have functional as well as aesthetic value to your tank.
• Look for healthy specimens. Avoid plants with holes, broken leaves or stems. Check for healthy root masses for submerged root plants.
• Install cleaning media and full spectrum light. Sunlight is the main ingredient for plants to make their food. LED lights, MH and even CFL light will fulfil the purpose.

Factors for Healthy Growth of Aquatic Plants

• If you have an indoor tank, you need full spectrum lighting for at least 8 hours a day, half watt for a liter.
• Check the temperature that doesn’t exceed more than 90 degree Fahrenheit and not less than 70 degree.
• pH should be a slightly basic, 6.5-7.4 is ideal.
• KH or carbonate hardness should be five degrees.
• CO2 is important, but for many plants natural ecosystem can produce sufficient CO2 for growth. In case you want to grow hi-tech tank with plants like Hemianthus, you need CO2 injection through pump, liquid or tablets.
• For a small pond or tank, you need to change 25% of water every week.
• You need proper substrate for healthy growth of plants. You can use natural garden potting mix with any chemicals or buy ADA soil from your vendor or online websites.

Brayden Duigan is a Melbourne based aquarist who preserves the hobby aquarium for last 12 years. At the age of 12 he first bought water plants in Melbourne and then hooked to it. He has studied extensively about aquatic life and created his own water tanks in Melbourne and help people to do it yourself.