Aquarium Plants and Lighting Mini-Guide

Aquarium plants are as important to aquariums asaquarium. If the level is allowed to fall below the
water is to fish. Aquarium plants add more life totop angle iron the tank looks like a container
aquarium and make it to look beautiful whileholding water.
completing the aquarium community structure.Aquarium Lighting is also important for aquarium
The most important thing to bear in mind withplants
plants is to form an attractive background, leavingThis depends greatly on whether you intend to
ample space so the fish can swim undisturbed andsuccessfully grow plants or not. Lack of light
be seen. The tall, grassy type is best planted atcauses colorful fish to fade and clanch-reds to
intervals in rows, while the feathery ones lookpink, green to white. The two main methods of
better when they are bunched into small clumps,lighting aquarium are by the INCADESCENT and
which makes them to appear like branchingFLOURESCENT.
bushes.The total amount of light required is a matter of
When planting rooted plants, hold the tips of thetrial and error. Too much light will turn the water
bunch of roots between the thumb and secondgreen; too little will stunt plant growth.
finger and rest them on the sand. Now with theThe lighting can be natural or artificial or a
first finger push the upper part of the rootscombination of both. The best position is near a
(where they join the stem) about 2cm into thenorth facing window. This should provide the ideal
sand. Without moving this finger scrape with theamount of indirect lights which an be
thumb and second finger some sand over anysupplemented by artificial light.
uncovered portion of the root.The lighting should be housed in wood constructed
When putting in rootless plants in bunches, thestylishly with the furniture and placed above the
method explained above is repeated, but this timetank. if there is no natural day light, the lights
the lower ends of the stems are placed togethershould be left on for approximately eight hours
and treated exactly as if they were roots.per day.
It is important that the water surface should beIf the water turns green, you cut down on the
right up to the lower edge of the top angle ironlight.
of the tank, so that looking from the front theThe best light for showing off an aquarium comes
water surface can not be seen and the viewerfrom behind.
gets the impression that there is no water in the