List of freshwater aquarium plant species

Summary

Aquatic plants are used to give the freshwater aquarium a natural appearance, oxygenate the water, absorb ammonia, and provide habitat for fish, especially fry (babies) and for invertebrates. Some aquarium fish and invertebrates also eat live plants. Hobbyists use aquatic plants for aquascaping, of several aesthetic styles.

Bolbitis heudelotii, one of hundreds of aquatic plants found in the hobby

Most of these plant species are found either partially or fully submerged in their natural habitat. Although there are a handful of obligate aquatic plants that must be grown entirely underwater, most can grow fully emersed if the soil is moist. Though some are just living at the water margins, still, they can live in the completely submerged habitat.

By scientific name edit

The taxonomy of most plant genera is not final. Scientific names listed here may, therefore, contradict other sources. Many of these species are dangerous invasives and should be disposed of in a way that guarantees that they will not enter local waters.

Common aquarium plant species:

False aquatics or pseudo-aquarium plants edit

Several species of terrestrial plants are frequently sold as "aquarium plants". While such plants are beautiful and can survive and even flourish for months under water, they will eventually die and must be removed so their decay does not contaminate the aquarium water. These plants have no necessary biology to live underwater.

Images edit

Photos edit

Illustration edit

References edit

  1. ^ Li, Fay-Wei; Benito C. Tan; Volker Buchbender; Robbin C. Moran; Germinal Rouhan; Chun-Neng Wang; Dietmar Quandt (2009). "Identifying a mysterious aquatic fern gametophyte" (PDF). Plant Systematics and Evolution. 281 (1–4): 77–86. doi:10.1007/s00606-009-0188-2. ISSN 0378-2697. S2CID 14599652.
  2. ^ "Staurogyne — The Plant List".
  • Hiscock, Peter (2003). Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants. United States and Canada: Interpret Publishing. ISBN 0-7641-5521-0.
  • text for the Italian ed. by Francesco Bianchini ... et al.; photos. by Giuseppe Mazza; American ed. edited by Michael K. Oliver (1976). Simon & Schuster's Guide to Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Fishes. New York, New York, United States: Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 0-671-22809-9. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

See also edit