The Fish Tank : plants for your aquarium

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Back left : Selaginella wildenowii; Middle right : Dracaena sanderiana Front : unidentified	A mixed planting of Hygrophila, Selaginella and Dracaenea, looking very decorative whilst giving cover for the fish, something for them to nibble on and aerating the water.		Back : Selaginella sp. Front: Hygrophila polysperma
Left : Hygrophila polysperma (reaching for the surface) Centre:Selaginella wildenowii Front right : unidentified	Left : Dracaena sanderiana Right : Vallisneria spiralis, against a background of Selaginella	A newly-planted Hygrophila plant, already growing strongly.	Dracaena sanderiana (This is not a true aquatic species and is short-lived in the aquarium.)

Feathery Cabomba caroliniana grows fast and is an excellent oxygenator.	(Back) Amazon Sword plants Echinodorus bleheri (Front) Anubias barteri caladiifolia	(Front) Anubias barteri caladiifolia	Floating Azolla caroliniana gives much-appreciated shade and shelter amongst its trailing roots (Top) Azolla from below and (Bottom) from above.

The plants in my aqauarium

Dracaenea sanderiana: "Wheat Plant" - not a true aquatic and will eventually die despite all your efforts. Nevertheless, while it lasts it is very decorative with brightly variegated leaves. According to the books, it is not eaten by the fish. I wish somebody would tell that to my fishes!

Echinodorus bleheri : Amazon Sword Plant - cheap and easily obtained, grows well IF you can persuade your plec to stop digging it up...... Makes a good "backdrop" plant; will be nibbled at by your herbivores.

Anubias barteri caladiifolia : "Spade leaf" - seems pretty tough and they haven't eaten it yet, but it remains to be seen how fast it grows, how long it survivies etc. Nice specimen plant.

Azolla caroliniana : "Fairy Fern" - a dainty floating plant which gives both shade and shelter. Botanically it is quite complex - it is in fact a fern which houses blue-green algae in its leaves, which have the ability to absorb nitrogen from the air for the whole symbiotic plant to use.

Cabomba caroliniana - cheap and easy to obtain; Cabomba grows fast but fortunately the fish find it tasty so tend to keep it in check! It may produce small white flowers above the water surface if there is room in your tank's hood.

Selaginella wildenowii - another non-aquatic which, although it doesn't seem to actually GROW in the tank, also takes a long time to DIE, and always outlasts every other plant in my tanks as the fish never eat it. Makes an excellent background plant

Hygrophila polysperma - fast-growing - VERY fast-growing; once the shoots reach the surface they develop rootlets; nip these shoots (complete with roots) off and re-plant them, and you too can have a tank full of hygrophila...... its colour changes to a reddish-brown if grown in good light, and forms an effective contrast to the usual greens.

Vallisneria spiralis : "Corkscrew Vallis" - common and widely available; other similar Vallisneria species have untwisted leaves, variegated leaves etc. Looks best planted in clumps of two or three.