Friday, July 31, 2009

Aquarium Plants?

I was wondering if I could put any regular plant in an aquarium with fish, without the plant harming the fish. Because I have regular plants in pots that I would rather see in an aquarium than the kinds you buy in the store. So I was hoping i could put them in my aquarium
Answers:
Nope, aquatic plants are of entirely different species than plants that grow outside of water and have different methods of absorbing nutrients, sorry. Even those that are grown submerged (roots in water, leaves out) by stores have to adjust and have a lot of leaves die out before they manage to recover and grow leaves that can handle being immersed in water.
If you don't want to pay money to buy your plants from the store, go down to the nearest pond or lake and scrounge some plants up from the bottom. Just make sure you give them a good rinse in a weak bleach solution and then quarantine them for a week or two before you put them in with your fish so you don't introduce any aquatic pests or diseases into your aquarium.
what kind of plants are they
Even aquatic plants like amazon swords will die off once submerged. Amazons are grown above the surface, so they look nice in the store, but will grow differently after the old leaves die off. If you take a terrestrial plant and submerge it, it will die and produce ammonia, which will kill your fish.