Aquarium Plants Care Guide
Introduction
Use the following recommendations to care for your aquarium plants.
Safety Precautions
Working with aquarium plants is considered nonhazardous. Please follow all laboratory safety guidelines.
Culturing
Upon receipt, rinse plants in dechlorinated tap water to remove
bacteria and other contaminants. Remove any dead or discolored
leaves or other organisms such as snails. Aquarium plants consist
of banana plants, cabomba, hornworts, Elodea, Lemna (duckweed),
Safittaria, and Vallisneria. The general structure of Lemna (duckweed)
is shown in Figure 1.
Aquarium plants prefer to live in a temperature between 18–24 °C. If
the plants will be used within one to two days, place them in a holding
tank of aged, conditioned tap water. For rooted plants, if long-term
growth is desired, place 2
″
to 4
″
of coarse sand or aquarium gravel in
the bottom of the tank. This is required for the roots to adhere prop-
erly. Elodean and Lemna are floating plants. Plants benefit if the
aquarium has been operating for at least 4–6 weeks prior to their
addition. This allows chemical cycles to equilibrate and necessary nutrients to accumulate in the water and gravel.
When ready to transplant, scoop a shallow depression in the substrate and arrange the plant’s roots loosely in the
depression. Refill the depression with surrounding gravel such as the plant’s root crown is level with the gravel substance.
Arrange plants eight to ten centimeters apart with taller plants towards the rear of the tank. Remember to allow plants and
their roots room to grow. Cover the aquarium lightly to prevent evaporation.
Tips
• If the aquarium is also home to other animals such as fish or snails, be cautious not to over-feed them. Overfeeding
pollutes the water with organic wastes which are harmful to both plants and aquatic animals.
• Check your aquarium daily for dead plants of animals. Always remove all wastes from the aquarium as it accumulates.
• Most aquarium plants need 10–12 hours of light per day. They thrive at a hardness of 4–12 dH and a pH of 6.5–7.2.
Disposal
Please consult your current Flinn Scientific Catalog/Reference Manual for general guidelines and specific procedures, and
review all federal, state and local regulations that may apply, before proceeding. Do not release aquatic plants into local
environments, species may be invasive. Dispose extraneous/unwanted plants according to Flinn Scientific Biological Waste
Disposal Type VI, common garbage wastes.
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New Frond
Meristem Region
Parent Frond
Rootlet
Figure 1. Typical Duckweed Cluster
