Plants in the aquarium

One of my favorite aspects of keeping aquariums are the plants within. Here is a page devoted entirely to the plants in my aquarium.

Java Fern [Microsorum pteropus]
Java Fern Forest	Pearling	Spreading	Java Fern Forest 2	Out for a trim

Java Fern is one of the easiest plants to grow and is what I started with. Since my tank developed into a 'high-tech' plant tank the java fern has exploded and turned into java fern forests! Despite it being common and easy to grow, it remains one of my favorites for sure.

Tiger Lotus [Nymphaea lotus]
Foot - long leaves.	Fish and shrimp enjoying the huge leaves.	Tiger Lotus pearls like mad.	Full tank shot showing how big they can get.

Tiger Lotus can be kept small and submerged by keeping them well trimmed. If they get away from you, they get HUGE and send numerus foot-long leaves to the surface. It took me a couple months of trimming between 3 and 5 of these foot-long floaters every week (thats nearly 50% of the plant every week) to get it to stay submerged again and not have any floaters.

Other misc. photos:

Unknown Swordplant. This has been one hardy plant that easily fills my 75G front to back and about a foot and a half across. Also grows out of the water, needs a taller tank than a standard 75G.

Java Moss [Vesicularia dubyana]. This stuff is suppose to be quite invasive but I have never been able to keep it long term since it has always been an algae magnet.

Red Rubin Sword [Echinodorus rubin] on the chopping block literally. Another massive swordplant too big for my 75G but very hardy. That's a 2 foot by 4 foot cutting board its on... roots are nearly a foot long and the body of the plant about 2 feet long and easily has a 2 foot girth. 

Baby Tears [Micranthemum umbrosum] is said to be suitable for groundcover but it either couldnt root well or was constantly being uprooted by my fish. It ended up growing as a floating ball and grew alarmingly fast. I had to remove it from my 75G tank.

This webpage originally created on 2/10/07. Last updated: 2/10/07

Our Aquarium Page [main]

Movie Clips of our fish

Plants in the aquarium

The Tanks & Hardware

Loaches (lots of 'em)

Plecos & Cats

Brackish Fish

Cichlids:

Apisto&Severum

Rainbows

All Other Fish, Frogs, and Shrimp

Goldfish & Whiskey Barrel Pond