Plants for Freshwater Fish Aquariums

Adding live plants to your aquarium can give it a more natural look while providing important nutrients for your fish. Live plants are excellent sources of oxygen, necessary to keep your fish happy and healthy. Choosing the right plants for your aquarium means looking at your own tank and determining which types of plants will work best for you.

  1. Java Moss

    • Java moss is an excellent live plant for the beginning hobbyist or for experienced fish keepers who are new to growing live plants in their tanks. Java moss is very hardy and will grow in just about any type of water. This plant can be used as a floating plant to provide cover for newly hatched or shy fish, or it can be attached to driftwood, rocks and aquarium decorations, where it will form roots and begin to grow.

    Amazon Sword Plant

    • The large leaves of the Amazon sword plant make it a standout in just about any fish tank. This light- to medium-green plant works as either a background or foreground plant, depending on the size of the specimen. Large Amazon sword plants look great in the background of an aquarium, while smaller ones are good as foreground plants in just about any size tank.

    Duckweed

    • If you want to add floating plants to your aquarium, duckweed is an excellent choice. You will often see duckweed growing wild on ponds and other slow moving bodies of water, and it is a popular choice for backyard fish ponds as well. It is just as at home in the aquarium and it grows readily once it is put in place.

    Crystalwort

    • Crystalwort is a particularly good choice for freshwater aquariums, since it competes effectively with algae for the available nutrients in the tank. Crystalwort also adds oxygen to the water, an important consideration for the aquarium hobbyist. In fact, crystalwort can add so much oxygen to the water that bubbles will form and make their way to the surface.