As I prepare to do my first aquascaped tank, I'd love to know what some of your favorite or least favorite plants for aquascaping are and why you like/dislike them. I've read many people complain about most mosses because they can overtake a tank if not properly maintained and are difficult to contain after trimming. Whats your experience with different plants and how do you use them in your scapes? How much maintenance would they require to maintain a certain aesthetic? Any plants that go well together or become problematic together? I would like to set up a nature style tank (possibly with some emergent growth) that can be set up for a long period (years) and be maintained with weekly maintenance, not a diarama or something that would need to be rescaped every 6-12 months. I'd love an area of sand but hesitant about carpeting plants that might eventually just cover the sand. Tank I'm planning is 36L x 18Wx 16T (90 x 45 x 40cm). Would love to hear your thoughts, and any reccomendations that might work well in this set up.
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Deep dive into what are your favorite/least favorite plants for Aquascaping?
- Thread starter filmpunk
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Mosses have always been hit or miss for me. Trimming can be a pain, pieces WILL get everywhere unless you are meticulous.
Favorite plants: Midground plants are hard to find/work with, and Blyxa Japonica is the easiest I've found by far. S. repens is my favorite in appearance but is not actually that easy and very prone to algae if you have nutrient-limited environments.
For stems, Rotala rotundifolia variants (Hra for more orange, Blood Red) grow fast and look great, but trimming every 2-3 weeks can get annoying.
Pogostemon deccanensis (aff erectus) is incredible -- grows slower than rotala, takes trimming like a champ, can be repeatedly mowed down and will recover without issues (in my tanks). Also has AMAZING emersed growth with purple flowers you'd like in that nature style tank with emergent growth:
Least favorite plants: Dwarf sag and vals send runners everywhere and are weeds, and can look really "hobbyist". Nothing wrong with that if that's what you want, but not very easy to use in a scape.
Mosses look beautiful, but might be my least favorite plants due to constant algae issues, trimming issues, attaching issues... but that's just me. I LOVE terrestrial mosses and love the look of aquatic mosses, but they just don't vibe well in my setups.
Favorite plants: Midground plants are hard to find/work with, and Blyxa Japonica is the easiest I've found by far. S. repens is my favorite in appearance but is not actually that easy and very prone to algae if you have nutrient-limited environments.
For stems, Rotala rotundifolia variants (Hra for more orange, Blood Red) grow fast and look great, but trimming every 2-3 weeks can get annoying.
Pogostemon deccanensis (aff erectus) is incredible -- grows slower than rotala, takes trimming like a champ, can be repeatedly mowed down and will recover without issues (in my tanks). Also has AMAZING emersed growth with purple flowers you'd like in that nature style tank with emergent growth:
Least favorite plants: Dwarf sag and vals send runners everywhere and are weeds, and can look really "hobbyist". Nothing wrong with that if that's what you want, but not very easy to use in a scape.
Mosses look beautiful, but might be my least favorite plants due to constant algae issues, trimming issues, attaching issues... but that's just me. I LOVE terrestrial mosses and love the look of aquatic mosses, but they just don't vibe well in my setups.
Any echinodorus. Alltime favorite. One day i want something like this : ADA SUIKEI CREATORS #05 Daichi Araki | AQUA DESIGN AMANO
Any hygrophila sp.- supposedly easy, but they hate me. Still trying, atm with K/Mg ratio
Imo mosses are easy to maintain- if wrapped on smaller stones, you can take them always out to trim.
But -cultivating any carpet together with moss in one tank -> never again
For sand+carpet i´d choose something with slower growth rate, e.g. Crypto parva, as you can see here very educational:
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- #4
Absolutely love that emergent growth of the pogostemon deccanensis. Will it grow from submerged until breaking the waters surface? If so, does it keep it's submerged growth or would it be better to grow separate plants for emerged & submerged growth?
Either or! It has a very stiff stem, and if planted densely underwater it will grow emersed. However, it will shade the underwater parts of itself and could cause some issues after a few months, but not too bad. You could always just plant it emersed to begin with somehow, and get better results that way.
Love this topic! Thanks for posting it!
IMO, for aquascaping, you first need to know the story you are trying to tell, then find the plants to tell that story for you. This will dictate the plants to use. However, I do think we have our favorites and not so favorites...
I really like to use color so plants that are not always green are pluses for me. I prefer vibrant scapes rather than pure greens unless it fits into the story being told.
I'm not a fan of mosses in aquascaping due to the maintenance. Riccia, glosso and E. tennellus (or whatever it's called these days) are not my favorites. They get out of hand. Have you seen Amano's tank in The Nature Aquarium 1 where glosso absolutely takes over like a monster?!
IMO, for aquascaping, you first need to know the story you are trying to tell, then find the plants to tell that story for you. This will dictate the plants to use. However, I do think we have our favorites and not so favorites...
I really like to use color so plants that are not always green are pluses for me. I prefer vibrant scapes rather than pure greens unless it fits into the story being told.
I'm not a fan of mosses in aquascaping due to the maintenance. Riccia, glosso and E. tennellus (or whatever it's called these days) are not my favorites. They get out of hand. Have you seen Amano's tank in The Nature Aquarium 1 where glosso absolutely takes over like a monster?!
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- #7
This is a big reason I decided to utilize a couple farm tanks. There are plants I've seen that I like in some aquascapes, but also A LOT I've never even attempted. Just wanted to see what I could grow successfully & how they grow so i have a better idea how to use them.
I agree. I definitely enjoy the use of color. I can appreciate the beauty of some all green scapes but it's just not something I'm drawn to keep myself.
I've read post after post about people complaining about Mosses. I love the way they look on driftwood... to me it gives the feeling that this little ecosystem in a glass box has developed naturally. All the complaints I've read have me pretty reluctant about using them though. I am trying some riccardia in the dark tank because I've read it's not a true moss and it's a bit easier to maintain... I guess I'll find out.
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- #8
Just a follow up as I'm looking into ordering some more plants and love that emergent growth on the pogostemon deccanensis.... I know it was formerly pogostemon erectus, but as far as plant labeling, are they actually the same plant or are they two separate species?
I think it was thought they were two species for a few years, but recently was concluded they're the exact same. I actually have some from tropica that was labeled deccanensis, and some from a local hobbyist labeled erectus, and they are 100% the same lol.
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- #10
OK , cause I've seen some shops selling both labels... and what really threw me off was buceplant's description of deccanensis "Pogostemon Deccanensis is a beautiful plant originating from India that resembles Pogostemon Erectus. Thin, needle-like leaves sprout in whorls from a thin stem with light green coloration that would look great when planted amongst groups of other aquarium stem plants. This aquarium plant is relatively new so there is little information available on it"
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- #11
BTW your 140g v2 i believe you are growing monte Carlo on the driftwood? Is it difficult to maintain like this? I love the way it appears to cascade down off objects and it's something I've been looking into recently, but having never grown Monte Carlo I'm not sure what to expect. I'm trying to avoid having plants that will pop up randomly all over the tank through underground runners... or simply carpet over a decorative sand. I love the leaf shape of ranunculus but just feel like it'll be difficult to manage it's spread. Also considering hydrocotyle tripartita if it can be "trained" to sort of grow like a vine and maintained in this fashion.
It has been an absolute weed! It is one of the easiest and fastest growing plants in the whole tank. I am literally removing 1-2lb of this plant from the tank every ~2 months.
Rather than trim it, I let it get huge, pull the entire clump off the driftwood, cut out the center, trim it over the sink, add 2-3 dabs of gel superglue, and stick it back on the driftwood. For how much Monte Carlo cost initially, I guess to have thrown out nearly $300 worth of this plant just a a trimmings. I can send you the trimmings next time so you can start your own!
Rather than trim it, I let it get huge, pull the entire clump off the driftwood, cut out the center, trim it over the sink, add 2-3 dabs of gel superglue, and stick it back on the driftwood. For how much Monte Carlo cost initially, I guess to have thrown out nearly $300 worth of this plant just a a trimmings. I can send you the trimmings next time so you can start your own!
