How to Raise Live Aquarium Plants With Turtles

As a current or future owner of a pet turtle, you may become interested in creating a more natural-looking landscape for your pet compared to the common glass aquarium filled partly with water. Since turtles are notorious for eating and/or uprooting live plants, many hobbyists have used plastic or silk plants instead of live plants or have strayed from plants altogether. However, live plants can be grown with turtles as long as the proper plants, substrate, lighting and turtles are selected.

Things You'll Need

  • Turtle aquarium
  • Aquatic plants
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Instructions

    • 1

      Research the types of aquatic plants that are compatible with the turtle you currently own or plan to purchase. Some turtles require hardier plants than others since each species often has a different diet and feeding habits. You should also verify that the plants you select are not toxic to your turtle. You can simplify this process by writing down all of the plants you find that would be compatible with your turtle.

    • 2

      Choose the type of planted turtle tank you wish to maintain. You need to decide between a tank where the plants will either grow in substrate or will obtain nutrients from the water column itself. There are many plant species that are not root-dependent and therefore do not require substrate. These plants are popular in turtle tanks because there is no additional substrate maintenance (e.g. substrate needs to be gravel vacuumed at least once a week to prevent the accumulation of waste).

    • 3

      Purchase the plants that best match your interests and the specifications for your turtle. If you choose to have a substrate, purchase the substrate that best matches the requirements for your plants and turtles.

    • 4

      Rinse the plants in de-chlorinated water before adding them to your tank. Add the plants to your turtle tank. If you have substrate, the plants will need to be planted in the substrate. Plants that are not root-dependent can be added as floating plants at the surface of the aquarium.

    • 5

      Clean your planted tank regularly by changing the water and removing waste to ensure that your plants and turtles are healthy. Depending on the requirements of the plants you added, you may also wish to add plant nutrient solution in order to ensure that your live plants are receiving all of the nutrients required for life.