Aquarium plants add a whole new level to freshwater fish keeping experience. Aquarium plants help to give the aquarium a more realistic look, and there are many benefits of aquarium plants. Adding plants to your aquarium helps in maintaining your aquarium’s water quality by absorbing nitrates reducing toxic in your tank. Aquarium plants also provide shelter for your fries and supplemental source for your fish. As a whole, plants help in replicating the natural environment that the fish come from. Here I have listed 9 Best Low Light Aquarium Plants as well.
9 Best Low Light Aquarium Plants | Plants for Beginner
Low light aquarium plants are often referred to as the easy aquarium plants as they require low light and are easy to maintain.
Here is my Top best list of low light aquarium plants that I used when I was a beginner. These plant might help you too being successful in keeping them as they require low light, easy to maintain, doesn’t require additional co2 in your tank.
Water Wisteria
Water Wisteria is one of the aquarium plants that grow fast as well as it helps to add depth and beauty to your freshwater aquarium. This plant needs minimal maintenance as well as it makes it a fuss-free plant to have. It looks like tall lace-like green leaves. These plants just need a temperature of water at 74°F – 82°F and medium lighting. The function of it is like a carpet plant that is in the front, lining the floor of the aquarium. This is the reason water wisteria is in the first position of one of the best low light aquarium plants.
Java Moss
Java moss is the other low light aquarium plant that looks like a fuzzy and green on the bottom of the aquarium and the temperature of water need to be 70°F – 75°F. You can use any kind of light for java mass and is a versatile plant. You can attach java moss on your driftwoods or on the surface of your decorations, it can also be used to covers the bottom of your aquarium which helps to protect baby fish. Java moss can be a great source of food for baby fish.
Lilaeopsis
Lilaeopsis one of the greatest carpeting aquarium plants you can keep. The plant looks like grass with green in color. It needs a water temperature of 74°F – 85°F. The plant requires medium-light to thrive. Since this aquarium plant covers the aquarium floor, this will help your fries a hiding place.
Amazon Sword
Generally, they are planted in groups in the back of the aquarium. The color of this plant is a Green which is tall sword-like leaves in bunches. The temperature of the water for the Amazon sword needs to be between 72°f – 82°F. The light should be moderate and the function of this plant is to decor the background of the aquarium which also helps fish to hide.
African Water Fern
African Water Fern looks like lush feathery green leaves just like a fern you see in the shades. The temperature of the water needs to be 68°F – 80°F. The plant can also thrive in a low light environment. The function of this plant is to cover as well as décor the background which helps to hide fish.
Java Fern
Java Fern is one of the very popular aquarium plants as it needs low maintenance and is very beautiful. You can use this plant in any area of the aquarium. It looks like a long green leaf in bunches. The temperature of the water needs to be 68°F – 82°F. The light needs to be low to medium for this plant and the function of this plant is to decor the background of the aquarium which helps fish to hide.
Green Tiger Lotus
Green Tiger Lotus is one of a wide-leaf variety that needs very little maintenance and the environmental conditions need to be average which helps this plant thrive. This plant looks like a wide, green leaf, medium height and the temperature of the water needs to be 71°F – 82°F. The light should be moderate. The function of this plant is to create a hiding place for fish as well as it can be used as background decoration.
Anubias Nana
Anubias Nana may grow up to 6 inches and it has dark leaves. The plant is ideal for the beginner. Anubias nana is one of the best low light aquarium plants as it can thrive in very low light as well. This plant looks as it is of medium-sized, oval leaves which are dark green and the temperature of the water is to be 72°F – 82°F. The lights should be moderate and the function of this is to make tank beautiful throughout the aquarium.
Cryptocoryne Beckettii
Cryptocoryne Beckettii is a medium-sized plant. It has a pointed leaf that is mostly green with a reddish due. The temperature of the water needs to be 68°F – 86°F. The height of this plant usually reaches between 4-6 inches and 3-5 inches wide. Since the plant is very tolerant of water parameters you can easily keep them in your tank. The plant requires low to medium light since high light can burn the leaves and promote algae growth.
Benefits of aquarium plants
Live plants provide several benefits for the aquarium and the fish besides looking nice. There are so many benefits of aquarium plants, some of them are as follows:
Aesthetically Pleasing
This is the first reason you keep a planted tank. Aquascaping is an art of arranging different plants, rocks, driftwood in a manner that please you. Adding plants to your aquarium gives a more realistic looking environment. There are many plants with different colors and shapes. But you should not use fake ones. The movement from the water pump which helps to bring life to the real plants, instead of the stiffness once it has been displayed by artificial plants.
Fish Health
Artificial plants are made in such that these plants are friendly to the water and the fish. However, this does not give any guarantee that it will not damage the fish in any way. The colors of an artificial plant will fade and will give an unnatural look to your aquarium. On the other hand, live plants help to achieve the right nutrients in the water. Helps in absorbing toxic in the water as a fertilizer for the photosynthesis process. Small fish will have a place where they can hide and feel relaxed in a natural ambient as well. Natural supplements for the fish are always the best, adding plants in the aquarium will provide your fish with a good natural diet.
Food Source
Your fish will not devour your real plants in a few weeks so you don’t need to worry about it. You can feed them every day so they will be happy with it, but in case, if you forget to feed them for a few days and if you have natural plants in your tank, then there is no need to worry. Because in this kind of situation, the real plants can be their salvation. Even though fish do not want to eat it, they will still have a few which can be enough for survival. Do you know that most of the fish are omnivorous, due to which they do need to eat the plant? This benefits the plants with their digestion and the ecosystem in which they live.
Oxygen Production
Even though there is a device that is meant to keep the aquarium water oxygenated, most of the time it is not enough. Because an air pump can rarely provide all the oxygen needed for the fish because it only pumps the air from the atmosphere. In case if you use an air stone that helps to provide enough oxygen for fish then it will help to gather bacteria in it and will make water dirtier than it should be and it disturbs fish too. The plants in the aquarium help to remove the air pump and air stone completely. When plants photosynthesize, they release oxygen in its purest form taking it carbon dioxide that the fish breadth out.
Algae Reduction
When you do not have any natural plants in your aquarium then probably aquarium may have algae and it doesn’t even matter how many chemicals you add to the water, algae will still appear as it only needs some light and nutrients in the water. You can add algae eaters in the aquarium but they will be exhausted in a short period of time. Whereas, when you have a real or live plant in the aquarium they will use all the nutrients in which algae grow. Their roots are so strong enough to absorb everything, so there will not be enough nutrients for algae.
There are many advantages of having live aquarium plants in your aquarium such as:
- Behavior Modification
- Nutrient Cycling:
- Algae Control
- Food
- Aeration Of the Water Column
- Root Systems Promote Substrate Security
- It helps in Filtration
Aquatic plant care
You need to maintain the light and the temperature of the aquarium in the correct order which is one of the most important factors in planting plants in the aquarium. A lot of planning, care, and attention is needed for creating the perfect underwater garden. It can also be expensive to achieve the desired effect. You need to maintain a planted aquarium and keep your fish alive, which is one of a challenge.
Plant friendly fish
The top Freshwater Fish Species for planted tanks are listed below:
- Ember Tetra
- Cardinal Tetras
- Neon Tetras or black neon tetra
- Harlequin tetras
- Rainbows
- Angelfish
- Discus
- Guppy’s
- Chili Rasbora or mosquito Rasbora
- Dwarf gourami
