The Best Way to Add New Plants in an Aquarium

Aquarium plants are an enjoyable and healthy way to add visual interest to your aquarium. They have the added bonus of being able to improve filtration and clear the water. Ideally, all plants should be introduced at once, before the fish, but from time to time you may want to add additional plants to an already planted tank or replace some existing ones.

  1. Inspection and Quarantine

    • Before adding any new plants to an existing aquarium, be sure to carefully inspect them for any unwanted pests that might have tagged along in the bag. If you are trying to avoid introducing snails into a tank, try cleaning the plants with a potassium permanganate and water solution to remove unseen snail egg clutches.

      It is always a good idea to quarantine any new life for a few weeks in a designated quarantine tank before adding it to a healthy, established tank. Plants can carry parasites from the holding tank at the pet store or nursery that might infect your fish. Quarantining allows you to detect potential problems before they get out of control.

    Acclimation

    • Like fish, plants are subject to shock if they are dumped suddenly into drastically different water conditions. To acclimate plants, float them in a bag on the surface of the aquarium's water, just like you would do if you were acclimating fish. Every five or 10 minutes, add a cup of water from the aquarium into the bag. Add water two or three times. This slowly gets the plants used to the new temperature and pH of the water.

    Planting

    • If you are adding a lot of new plants to a tank, it may be best to drain out half of the water from the tank so that you can more easily reach the substrate. Be sure to trim off the bottom inch or so of stem plants to stimulate new growth. Remove any dead or yellowing leaves that might pollute the water. At first it may be difficult to keep plants anchored in the substrate until they can become established. Place larger rocks up against the base of a plant to help hold them in position. Many companies offer nonlead-based plant weights that can be used permanently in your tank.