Edible Aquarium Plants for Fish

Watching fish swimming back and forth in an aquarium or fish tank can be relaxing as well as hypnotic. Adding plants to the tank gives it a different look completely and the plants provide a hiding place and food for several kinds of fish. There are many plants available that can create an underwater garden and at the same time provide a food source for your aquarium fish.

  1. Hygrophila difformis

    • Hygrophila difformis is a common aquarium plant that has bright green, fern-like leaves. It is fast-growing and suitable as a starter aquarium plant. Sold as bunches of unrooted terminal shoots, it can be inserted into the gravel at the bottom of your aquarium, and a small rock can be placed on it until it becomes rooted. Once it starts producing leaves, it needs some pruning to prevent it from becoming spindly. It is grown completely submerged, and as it grows, the softer bottom leaves are enjoyed by certain fish in your aquarium.

    Hornwort

    • Hornwort of the genus Ceratophyllum demersum, is another fast-growing plant that survives under most kinds of light. Six-inch strands of this plant can grow 3 feet long in a 10-gallon tank. Because it has no roots, it tends to float around the aquarium, but it can be anchored by placing a small stone on the bottom of the plant. Its fine leaves and dense growth make it an ideal hiding place for fry, which are newly hatched baby fish. It is also useful for absorbing fish wastes faster than it can be produced. Cichlids enjoy eating this plant.

    Duckweed Lemma

    • Duckweed Lemma is a free-floating plant with small, flat, oval-shaped fronds and threadlike roots. The mother plant produces daughter fronds, which sometimes will stay attached to the mother. This process of reproduction continues until there is a continuous mass of floating plants. These plants produce tiny flowers that flower sporadically. Goldfish and poi enjoy munching on these plants.

    Aponogeton

    • Aponogeton is a bulb-like plant. Once it starts sprouting, it produces a large number of leaves that reach to the surface of the water, providing shelter and food for fish. If given the proper light, it flowers easily. Goldfish enjoy eating the leaves of the plants as they age and soften, and will also eat the flowers and seeds as they fall back into the water. Plant them by carefully inserting the bulb into the gravel at the bottom of your aquarium, and within a week or so, you should have a plant.