Do Aquarium Plants Need Soil or Can You Grow Them in Plain Gravel
# Do Aquarium Plants Need Soil or Can You Grow Them in Plain Gravel? When I started keeping aquarium plants in my San Jose flat, I had exactly three constraints:…
FZONE Pro Series and the Pressurised System That Most Beginners Start With
I bought my first CO2 regulator because I was tired of dosing liquid carbon every other day and watching my red plants turn green anyway. I had maybe £80 to…
Marimo Moss Balls and Whether They Count as Real Plants or Just Look Nice
# Marimo Moss Balls and Whether They Count as Real Plants or Just Look Nice I’ll be honest with you, I bought my first marimo moss ball because I thought…
Proserpinaca Palustris and the Mermaid Weed Nobody Knows About
# Proserpinaca Palustris and the Mermaid Weed Nobody Knows About I spent three months trying to get this plant to turn properly red. Three months of tweaking lights, adjusting CO2,…
Anacharis and the Cheap Stem Plant That Pet Shops Always Have in Stock
# Anacharis and the Cheap Stem Plant That Pet Shops Always Have in Stock I bought my first bundle of anacharis for £2.50 from a grotty pet shop in a…
CO2 Diffusers Compared and Inline vs Ceramic vs Bazooka
# The CO2 Diffuser Puzzle: What Actually Works in Real Tanks I spent my first six months in this hobby completely baffled by CO2 systems. The terminology alone was enough…
CO2Art Pro SE and the Regulator That Became the Gold Standard
# CO2Art Pro SE and the Regulator That Became the Gold Standard I bought my first CO2Art Pro SE because I’d spent three months researching regulators like I was choosing…
Fluval CO2 Kit and Whether the Disposable Cartridge System Is Worth Bothering With
# Fluval CO2 Kit and Whether the Disposable Cartridge System Is Worth Bothering With I bought the Fluval CO2 kit on a Tuesday afternoon because my eight-year-old daughter pointed at…
The 10 Best CO2 Systems for a Planted Aquarium and Whether You Even Need One
# The Definitive CO2 System Ranking: What Actually Works (And What Doesn’t) Right, so after months of back and forth, three proper arguments, and Samuel threatening to bin his Fluval…
The 10 Best CO2 Systems for a Planted Aquarium and Whether You Even Need One
# The Aquascaping Life CO2 System Ranking: What Actually Works in 2025 Right, so we’ve spent the better part of three months arguing about this one. Bobby nearly walked out…
Barclaya Longifolia and the Red Crypt That Flowers Underwater
# Barclaya Longifolia: The Red Crypt That Flowers Underwater I bought my first Barclaya longifolia because the aquascaping forums wouldn’t shut up about underwater flowers. My daughter had been pestering…
Fast Growing Aquarium Plants and How to Use Them to Outcompete Algae
# Fast Growing Aquarium Plants and How to Use Them to Outcompete Algae You know that sinking feeling when you peek at your tank in the morning and there’s a…
The 10 Best Aquarium Plants for Beginners That Are Actually Hard to Kill
# The Definitive Ranking: Best Beginner Aquarium Plants According to Our Tank Keepers Right, so we finally sat down to hash this out properly. Took us two sessions and nearly…
The 10 Best Red Aquarium Plants for Adding Colour Without Losing Your Mind
# The Definitive Ranking: Best Red Aquarium Plants for Your Tank Right, so we finally sat down and hammered this out. Took us four sessions, two proper arguments, and Juan…
Hygrophila Pinnatifida and the Brownish Red Plant That Grows on Hardscape
# Hygrophila Pinnatifida: The Brownish Red Plant That Grows on Hardscape I’ll admit, the first time someone told me about a plant that could grow both in substrate and attached…
Anubias and Why Every Shop Recommends It and Why They Are Right
# Anubias and Why Every Shop Recommends It and Why They Are Right I walked into my first aquatics shop to buy a goldfish bowl and somehow ended up in…
Cryptocoryne Wendtii Red and the Low Tech Red That Doesn’t Need CO2
# Cryptocoryne Wendtii Red and the Low Tech Red That Doesn’t Need CO2 I spent six months trying to find a red plant that would actually stay red in my…
Ludwigia Repens and the Red Plant That Actually Stays Red Under Basic Lighting
# Ludwigia Repens and the Red Plant That Actually Stays Red Under Basic Lighting I spent three months troubleshooting why every red plant I tried turned green within a fortnight.…
How to Grow Aquarium Plants and the Four Things That Actually Matter
# How to Grow Aquarium Plants and the Four Things That Actually Matter Look, I’ve watched enough people spend hundreds on fancy aquascaping setups only to watch their plants slowly…
Hornwort and the Floating Stem That Grows an Inch a Week Without Trying
# Hornwort and the Floating Stem That Grows an Inch a Week Without Trying I picked up my first bunch of hornwort because it was cheap, not because I had…
How to Care for Aquarium Plants Without Turning It Into a Second Job
# How to Care for Aquarium Plants Without Turning It Into a Second Job Most people get into planted tanks because they want something beautiful and peaceful, not because they…
Pothos and the House Plant You Can Stick in Your Filter and Watch It Explode
# Pothos and the House Plant You Can Stick in Your Filter and Watch It Explode I stumbled onto pothos purely by accident. My flatmate had this straggly houseplant on…
Ludwigia Super Red and Whether the Tissue Culture Hype Is Worth the Price
I picked up my first Ludwigia Super Red because I was tired of explaining to my kids why our “red” plants kept turning green. They’d peer into the tank and…
Rotala Blood Red and the Stem Plant That Needs Everything Dialled in Perfectly
I bought my first pot of Rotala Blood Red because the photo on the website looked impossible. Deep crimson leaves that seemed to glow from within, like someone had backlit…
Vallisneria and the Background Plant That Does All the Work While You Learn
# Vallisneria and the Background Plant That Does All the Work While You Learn I planted my first bunch of vallisneria because it was cheap, looked green, and the shop…
Echinodorus Red Flame and the Sword Plant That Gives You Red Without the Effort
# Echinodorus Red Flame and the Sword Plant That Gives You Red Without the Effort I picked up my first Echinodorus Red Flame because I was tired of watching red…
Water Wisteria and the Fast Grower That Makes New Tanks Look Established
# Water Wisteria and the Fast Grower That Makes New Tanks Look Established I bought my first water wisteria cutting for three quid at a local fish shop because everything…
Java Fern and the Epiphyte That Dies If You Plant It in Substrate
I’ve bought this plant six times over the years. Killed it four of those times by doing exactly what you’d expect anyone would do with an aquatic plant: planting it…
Rotala Rotundifolia and the Stem Plant That Goes From Green to Red Based on What You Feed It
# Rotala Rotundifolia: The Stem Plant That Goes From Green to Red Based on What You Feed It I’ve killed plenty of plants trying to get them red. Spent months…
Java Moss and the Plant That Grows in Almost Any Conditions You Give It
# Java Moss and the Plant That Grows in Almost Any Conditions You Give It I’ve killed plenty of plants in my time. Expensive stem plants that melted overnight, carpeting…
Banana Plant and the Weird Looking Lily That Beginners Fall in Love With
# Banana Plant and the Weird Looking Lily That Beginners Autumn in Love With I bought my first banana plant because it looked like nothing else in the shop and…
Alternanthera Reineckii Mini and the Compact Red Plant That Belongs in Every Nano Tank
# Alternanthera Reineckii Mini and the Compact Red Plant That Belongs in Every Nano Tank I spent two years trying to get red plants to stay red in my nano…
How I Set Up My First Planted Tank (And What I Wish Someone Had Told Me)
I’m looking at a large 55-gallon tank sitting in my garage that my friend was about to throw away and I said, “What could go wrong?” Yeah, famous last words.…
Why I’m Obsessed with 5-Gallon Tanks (And You Should Be Too)
You know what’s funny? Most people assume the larger the tank, the simpler the task; however, I’ve found that my five-gallon setups (a 5-gallon) have taught me more about aquascaping…
Aquarium Plant Maintenance Schedule and What Weekly Care Looks Like
Establishing a planted tank is one thing. Maintaining that tank is something else entirely. More often than not the tanks that stay stable long term have a predictable weekly maintenance…
How to Remove Dead Leaves From Aquarium Plants Without Making a Mess
It’s easy to look at those brown or yellow leaves decorating your aquarium plants and decide to leave them be for now. After all, there’s no need to stress your…
Aquarium Plant Supplements and Whether Extra Additives Are Worth the Money
Walk into any aquarium shop and you’ll be forgiven for thinking you’ve stumbled into a chemistry lab’s marketing department. Bottles upon bottles of every imaginable supplement promising faster growth, healthier…
How to Keep Live Plants in an Aquarium Looking Good Long Term
You spend ages getting your planted tank looking exactly how you want it too. Your carpet plants are spreading into the open areas, your stem plants are growing vibrant red…
Water Changes in a Planted Aquarium and How Often You Actually Need Them
Arguably no topic causes more debate and argument amongst aquarists than water changes in planted aquariums. One website will tell you to change 50% every week, another that you never…
The Complete Guide to Setting Up a Planted Aquarium From Scratch
# The Complete Guide to Setting Up a Planted Aquarium From Scratch > **TL;DR: Start Here** > > Set up your planted aquarium in three foundational steps: First, establish proper…
The Complete Guide to Cleaning and Maintaining Aquarium Plants
# The Complete Guide to Cleaning and Maintaining Aquarium Plants > **TL;DR: Start Here** > > **Three foundational steps:** First, establish a proper trimming routine using clean, sharp scissors to…
The Complete Guide to Growing and Caring for Aquarium Plants
# The Complete Guide to Growing and Caring for Aquarium Plants ## TL;DR: Start Here > **The Essential Three Steps for Plant Success:** > 1. **Get the basics right first**:…
Saltwater Aquarium Plants and Whether They Actually Exist or You’re Thinking of Macroalgae
One of the first questions I had when I started getting serious about marine aquariums was “what can I grow”? After years of successfully keeping “okay” freshwater plants, I wanted…
Planted Marine Aquarium and What Growing Plants in Salt Water Really Involves
When people think planted tanks, they automatically assume freshwater tanks with carpeting plants and CO2 dosing. However, there is a whole world of marine planted aquariums that I knew nothing…
Reef Aquarium Plants and the Difference Between True Plants and Coral
I’ll admit that when I started looking into reef tanks, I spent countless hours looking at pictures of gorgeous coral reefs completely enamored. “Coral trees? Brain coral? These things look…
12 Aquatic Mosses That Changed How I Think About Underwater Landscapes (Plus My Biggest Moss Disasters)
To make myself sound less like a total geek, I need to confess that I have over 300 photos of moss on my phone. This isn’t aquarium moss; this is…
Mangrove Plants in an Aquarium and Setting Up a Brackish or Marine Refugium
Keep mangroves! That’s right you vegetarians who inhale Marineland® vegetable slickcover™. I know mangroves seem intimidating, reserved for people with saltwater fishrooms and money to burn. I thought so too…
The Complete Guide to Dealing With Algae on Aquarium Plants
# The Complete Guide to Dealing With Algae on Aquarium Plants > **TL;DR: Start Here** > > 1. **Prevention first**: Start new planted tanks with 4-6 hours of light daily,…
Chaetomorpha in a Saltwater Aquarium and the Macroalgae That Doubles as Filtration
Living in San Jose means your flats aren’t always big. After setting up my reef in just four square feet of living space, I learned to appreciate every piece of…
The Complete Guide to Keeping Terrestrial Plants in Your Aquarium
> **TL;DR: Start Here** > > Getting terrestrial plants to work in your aquarium comes down to understanding what survives partial submersion and what doesn’t. Start with pothos cuttings rooted…