Plants play a vital role in the aquarium, helping to manage nitrate levels, providing complementary oxygenation and of course, they are essential to improve fish health. Let’s not forget that they serve as a refuge and also as food.
Among aquarium plants, there are some that can be considered the easiest to maintain, they are aquarium plants for beginners.
They are not only easy to maintain, they are within the most popular group of plants:
Selection: Aquarium Plants for Beginners
What types of plants are suitable for beginners?
Within the plant kingdom, we have aquarium plants that need more or less attention. Aquarium plants for beginners fall into the second group, the one that requires the least attention to look perfect.
Thus, aquarium plants for beginners must meet a number of requirements:
- Survive with normal aquarium lighting
- Easily adapt to all kinds of water parameters
- No need for additional CO2
- Be easy to compost, or not need compost at all
- Be resistant, both to the aquarium conditions, and to the attacks of the fish
- Not need a specific aquarium substrate
I think that everyone is clear about the beneficial aspects of including plants in the aquarium, not to mention the aesthetic effect they produce.
Including natural plants in the aquarium, increases the difficulty of its maintenance for a beginner. Getting your fish to live happy and healthy is a challenge at the beginning, adding plants can be very stressful.
Aware of the need to properly choose which aquarium plants may be suitable for beginners, I have made this selection that I hope will be useful to you.
Best Aquarium Plants for Beginners
Cladophora Moss
The balls of moss Cladophora are becoming very popular, they do not need virtually no care, no need substrate to grow and help improve levels of ammonia.
It must be said that in reality the Cladophora moss is not exactly a plant, it is rather a ball of green algae, which has a point of mud in the center.
You do not need to do anything, you place them on the substrate and give life to your aquarium in seconds.
What do you need to know about Cladophora Moss? ( See file ):
- Water quality: pH between 6 and 8.5. GH between 9º and 30º, tolerates calcium and magnesium concentrations in hard waters well
- Height: It can reach up to 22 cms in diameter
- Reproduction: By division. You divide the balls and little by little they return to the ball aspect
- Situation in the aquarium: Especially in the foreground when they are small
- Lighting: Tolerates all types of lighting, although they will grow faster with intense lighting
- Temperature: 5ºC to 28ºC
Anubias nana
Anubias are plants of the Araceae family, originating in tropical Africa.
These are very suitable plants for beginners for several reasons:
- They are attractive
- They do not need specific lighting
- The quality of the substrate is indifferent, since they do not need to be buried … it is even better not to bury the rhizome
- They have large leaves resistant to the attacks of some fish
- Its growth is slow. This is a great advantage, you do not need to be aware of pruning
- They resist large changes in the pH of the water, as well as its hardness
Of the Anubias nana ( See file ) we must know the following details:
- Water quality: pH between 5.5 to 8.5. Water hardness (gH) between 6º and 12º
- Height: between 6 cm and 10 cm
- Reproduction: They reproduce from the rhizome or lateral shoots
- Situation in the aquarium: Ideal for the foreground of the aquarium, front
- Lighting: They do not need specific lighting, if they receive a lot of light they will grow faster
- Temperature: 22ºC to 28ºC
Echinodorus bleheri
The Echinodorus bleheri known as Amazonian sword are plants that due to their size, may be the only ones that we need to plant in a small aquarium.
If we have a larger aquarium, we must place them at the back , since they have a good size.
They are aquarium plants for beginners, because they are very easy to maintain and are the perfect helper to maintain the water parameters, since they consume many of the nitrogenous compounds that originate in the aquarium.
Main features:
- Water quality: pH from 6.5 to 7.5, with a hardness of 3º gH to 5º gH
- Height: Between 30 cm and 50 cm, with leaves that reach 4 cm wide
- Reproduction: By division. It generates small plants around it, which can be removed and planted individually
- Situation in the aquarium: Middle or rear shot
- Lighting: Likes strong lighting, but supports all types of lighting
- Temperature: 24ºC to 28ºC
Microsorum Pteropus Trident
The Java fern is a classic in any selection of beginner aquarium plants.
They are plants native to Southeast Asia that are very easy to care for and maintain , but above all they adapt very well to almost all kinds of conditions.
If we have an aquarium with a high density of fish, we can see how our fern grows much more and has a better color, that is because they are great allies with the waste that comes from the fish.
Main characteristics of the Java fern ( See file ):
- Water quality: pH between 5 and 8, gH between 4º and 20º
- Height: They have a slow growth, which can reach 35 cms
- Reproduction: They have a creeping rhizome, which can be divided when new leaves sprout
- Situation in the aquarium: Central or rear
- Lighting: Prefers medium lighting. I don’t like too high lighting
- Temperature: Between 18ºC and 30ºC
Vallisneria spiralis
Very attractive plant for its leafy appearance in the form of ribbons. They are ideal for back shots of the aquarium, where they will hide the entire rear of the aquarium.
They grow rapidly, resisting a very wide range of water qualities.
They do not need extra CO2, but if we add it, the plant will look much prettier and we will observe that its density is higher.
We have to take into account ( See file ):
- Water quality : pH between 6 and 7.5. The gH can be between 2º and 30º
- Height: They grow up to 60 cms
- Reproduction: Create small plants from stolons that spread through the substrate. We only have to divide the plant, to have new seedlings
- Situation in the aquarium: Rear
- Lighting: Moderate. If the lighting is strong, the growth will be higher
- Temperature: 15ºC to 29ºC
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