Inspiration for a Planted Aquarium.

Creating a planted aquarium is like painting a picture. The possibilities are endless just like your imagination. With a few basic principles under your belt you can create your own world full of drama, new life, creating a zen like quality. It is amazing to watch the completion of photosynthesis and see the newly created oxygen bubbles escape off of the plants.

The main ingredient for a successful aquarium of any kind is patience. Too often people are so excited about having an aquarium that they introduce too much too soon! Think of your planted aquarium as a garden that you are planting...you have to wait for the seeds to grow.

There are so many benefits to having plants in your aquarium. Together with the bacteria that inhabits the bottom gravel, plants form a powerful purification cycle.  

Each plant is like another separate filter.  They use the ammonium, phosphate, and nitrate created from fish waste and other sources.

During photosynthesis, plants use carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a nutrient and, in turn, enrich the water with fresh, pure oxygen, which is essential for the fish.

Healthy, thriving plants use up the nutrients that the unsightly algae would otherwise use. A properly balanced aquarium has very little algae.

Plants provide shelter. Fish fry need dense-growing plants as well as finely shaped plants in which to hide from their hungry fellow inhabitants. A densely planted aquarium creates a natural environment for your fish and for you to enjoy.

There are five essential ingredients in the design of a planted aquarium.  First is patience, second is good lighting such as Hagen's Glo T5 High Output Lighting, third is a healthy and nutrient rich substrate: we recommend Carib Sea Eco Complete and Sera's Flore Depot, fourth is a good quality fertilizer and fifth, for the keeners, the addition of C02. We have a variety of C02 systems for sale at Aquariums West as well as many types of aquatic fertilizers.

At Aquariums West we can set you on the right track in starting and maintaining a planted aquarium.  There are so many things that you will learn and discover while embarking on this exciting new hobby. Take your time and enjoy as it unfolds and often times flowers.  When you have patience you also have success!

We carry quality Tropica plants from Denmark. If you see something that you would like to order from Tropica send us an email and we will request it to be added to our next order. Got a question about a plant or want to see their complete plant list? Click here to visit Tropica's web site. They have easy to understand information about all of their plants.

We also carry gorgeous aquatic plants grown in Singapore which arrive almost every week. If there is something special that you would like let us know and we will order it for you. Here is a list of the plants that are available to us: