I just started a 55g tank and wanted to get a few live plants. When I went to the pet store the "fish" guy told me that it was a really bad idea. He said that when the plants die they let out toxins that would kill my fish. Then told me that their plants (in the tanks with fish) die after a few weeks and they just take them out and replace them. So, I was wondering if anyone has had any problems with fish deaths caused by plants. I have yet to read or hear anything like this but, I don't want to waste a ton of time doing research on what to get and how to keep plants if they are just going to kill my fish.

In normal case when a tank is setup purely for fish without making any consideration for plant, then the plant will like to die in a short time and the dead plant will decompose and deteriorate the water quality in the aquarium. The person who told that is true in one aspect but clearly he is not good in aquatic plants.

For aquatic plants to thrive, many considerations has to be put in place. You will firstly need powerful lights to supply these plant the necessary light for the photosynthesis process. You will also need to install Carbon Dioxide (CO2) tank control be timer that will release CO2 into the water accordingly to some schedule. Plant basically need Sunlight and CO2 for the photosynthesis process. With all these installed, your aquatic plant not only will not die but will grow pretty fast and you will need to maintain the plant by frequent trimming.

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That the most stupid comments I have ever heard.... go and tell the "fish" guy that if they does not know how to take care of aqua plants, he should just says so...


It is not very popular for aquaplants here in Malaysia...but actually having plants is good as it gives out O2 to the fish.... and also the roots will suck up the fish poo as fertilizer to kinda recycle the tank...

I used to have a 2 ft / 40g tank and planted a lot of aquaplants in them... it just looks beautiful..

A few things to keep in mind :

aquaplants... like most plants needs the following to grow healthly :

- sunlight ( subsitute by a high W light source )
- CO2 ( can be injected into the water a various ways )
- fertilizer ( either base ( underground ) or liquid fert )
- water condition ( pH, kH... with water test kits )


Things you should NOT have with an aquaplants :

- filter that create too much movement on the water surface... increase the loss of CO2
- air bubbles... again... increase the loss of CO2 as the plants will generate pure O2 for your fishes...

Check out the articles below for a low tech mini planted tank


http://www.aquaticquotient.com/aq_ar...a60894c8<br />

Hope this helps


Stan