Is your aquarium complete without plants? Absolutely not. There are various benefits of keeping live plants in your aquarium. It gives you an opportunity to design your aquarium in a way that suits your style and makes it unique.
Sand substrates are known to be a great alternative to gravel, however, sand is not a very ideal substance for growing aquatic plants. There are some plants that are root feeders which means that they obtain a lot of their nutrients from the substrate. Other aquatic plants find it difficult to anchor their roots in the sand substrate.
Now, what about the type of plants that don’t get their required nutrients from the sand substrate? Instead, they obtain it from the water column! These are the types of plants that you need to keep and grow in your aquarium containing a sand substrate!
Are Aquarium Plants Able to Grow in Sand?
When it comes to the anchoring of the plant roots in the sand substrate, you can prepare your sand substrate by adding some root tabs before you plant your aquatic plants. You will also be required to fertilize your substrate as a lot of types lack nutrients necessary for plants to thrive. So how do you keep aquarium plants in the sand substrate? It’s rather simple. For proper growth, plants require a lot of macro and micronutrients. Plants need to consume the macronutrients in large quantities. Macronutrients like phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium are essential. Micronutrients such as boron, iron, zinc, copper, and magnesium should be availed to plants in small quantities.
Nutrients such as nitrogen and carbon can be obtained from the freshwater aquarium without requiring you to add any fertilizers. To provide your plants with those other significant nutrients, you will be obliged to supplement your aquarium plants with fertilizers or rather plant them in a nutrient-rich substrate. But since we do not have the nutrient-rich substrate, we are left with the option to supplement the plants with fertilizers. We may either use liquid fertilizer or root tabs. The choice depends on the plant. Since most plants require enough area to place their roots, placing your plants two (2) to three (3) inches in the substrate is recommended. If you have a boisterous fish that like to dig around and redecorate cichlids, you may be forced to go a little deeper. However, going too deep is not ideal since plenty of toxic gather underneath the substrate.
How do you Anchor Aquarium Plants in Sand?
If not anchored the right way, aquarium plants grown in sand are known to aimlessly float. To avoid this, use a small-cap like item! Those caps on a plastic bottle or milk pack with a slit on the base is a perfect option. You should make a cross instead of a single cut to make it easy for your plant roots to go through the slit.
Let your plants go through the center and allow the roots to poke out from the bottom, and later put the plant in the sand! Dig it in and make sure to cover the roots and the cap with a lot of sand for enhanced stability.
Aquarium Plants That Grow in the Sand
Since you are well versed on how to grow aquarium plants in a sand substrate, let’s now move to the types of aquarium plants that grow in sand substrate. Most of them are easy to grow and will survive a fair amount of neglect.
Amazon Swords
Amazon Swords are a big beautiful plant with large long leaves. It thrives extremely well in the sand substrate and grows quickly under the right conditions. This plant is known to be a heavy root feeder and thus requires plenty of root tabs. The plant also needs a lot of space. Its size is 16 inches tall and is just about as wide. The plant can grow to be way too big than a 20 gallon /100 L aquarium. However, the plant doesn’t require much lighting. Medium lighting will do perfectly well. Pruning of the plant ought to be done by removing the leaves from the outside. This is because the new growth will sprout from the inside of the plant. It will thereby be ideal to cut the leaves at the bottom.
Vallisneria
Vallisneria is a plant with long-waving leaves. However, the plant propagates very well in the right conditions. It does pretty well in sand and needs some root tabs too. It requires medium to high lighting and is a better plant to serve as a background plant. Its shoots move along runners, and daughter plants always rise every couple of inches/centimeters. The properties create a perfect habitat for your fish and are important in developing ways to break the line of sight for the fish. This helps to lower their stress levels. However, fish that see each other often irrespective of their position may feel threatened at times. It’s important to come up with a wall that will block their vision and thereby make them safe.
Cryptocoryne
They vary in shape, size, and color. Provided you supply them plenty of nutrients like root tabs be rest assured they will do well in the sand substrate. The hard plants and adding liquid ferts will give you that added advantage. Make sure you keep the water conditions stable and be aware of their melting when you add them to your aquarium.
Hornwort
It is an extremely hardy plant that can grow in a lot of environments. The plant’s ability to handle many different parameters makes it a great beginner plant. It is suitable for growing in sand since it obtains most of its nutrients from the water. It hardly depends on its roots. To propagate the plant, take a cutting and push it back in the sand. It is from this cutting that the plant will be able to sprout.
Java Moss
It is the best for sand formation in fish tanks. However, it grows well in a range of water conditions and substrates. The plant has no true roots. To attach itself to rocks, decorations, driftwood, or even the gravel and sand, the plant grows free-floating or send-out rhizoids. Java moss absorbs its nutrients mainly through its leaves. This, therefore, requires you to add liquid fertilizer to the water regularly. The plant does well in low light.
Anubiaus
The plant has strong and dark green leaves and is available in various sizes. However, the advantage of this is that you are not required to bury the roots. This makes it ideal for any type of substrate. You can decide to tie the plant on wood or rocks. The plant requires low to medium light and obtains its nutrients from the water. Although it is a slow-growing plant, it is sturdy and can therefore withstand destructive fish such as goldfish. Note that it is not suitable to put goldfish in water as they require a lot of space.
Java Fern
The plant requires low light and can thrive without carbon dioxide. Since it needs some nutrients, you will have to add some liquid chemicals. The roots of this plant cannot be buried so make sure to attach them to a piece of wood or rocks. This plant propagates itself. They begin by growing on the leaves of a big plant, and at some time detach.
Cabomba
Although the plant is not extremely difficult to keep alive, this plant is not a beginner plant. The plant can suck nutrients directly from the aquarium water. This makes them ideal to live in plain sand. It requires a liquid fertilizer that can be found on this page. Cabomba requires medium to high lighting and is easy to grow in water with sufficient carbon dioxide.
Anacharis Elodea (Water Weeds)
This is a first growing beautifully green aquarium plant. Under the right conditions, the plant grows super quick. The plant does well in the aquarium without carbon dioxide. The right dosage of the liquid fertilizer should be added to the water. The ideal liquid fertilizer is found here.
Tiger Lots
This plant is bought as a small round ball and planted in the sand or substrate. Plenty of nutrients should be availed in the soil to feed the plant. Root tabs or other forms of nutrients may be used. In the beginning, the plant grows red leaves, but when it thrives, one large stem shoots from the water surface, forming lily-pad-like leave. This plant is available on Amazon with a 3 day live guaranteed.
Dwarf Hygro (Hygrophila Polysperma)
The plant grows quickly when plenty of nutrients are available. You should add liquid fertilizer and inject pressurized carbon dioxide. The plant is not a heavy root feeder and takes most of its nutrients from the aquarium water. This makes it possible for it to float on the water. The disadvantage of keeping it afloat is that it grows a lot of roots, which makes it wise to be planted in the sand.
In Conclusion
The above list only contains a few aquarium plants that grow well in sand. In conclusion, aquarium plants can grow in sand successfully. Make sure to purchase the right plant when looking to fill your aquarium!
