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I LOVE having live plants in my 2 tanks. If you pick the right ones they are very low maintainance and help keep the water really clean--especially when you're slack about doing the regular water changes like I am! My favorite lo-light aquarium plants are:

Java Fern http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_javafern.php

Java Moss http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_dubyana.php

great recommendation! live plants are great in (ell-kept) tanks for a bunch of reasons, and it can rapidly progress from hobby to art form to obsession. there are many wonderful examples out there: check http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/ADA2006.html for a few more.

and if you can't fit a giant tank or don't want to haul it up three flights of stairs, google "planted nano tank" for examples of what you can do in small aquaria.

who would have every though fresh water aquariums could be sooo beautiful. this is art, very japanese.

you answered my question. seeing these on the website and admiring them for some time, i was wondering how difficult it was to keep them looking so lush and beautiful.

is there a lot of work involved weeding out the dead, yellowing plants?

jeffnyc,

The Java Fern occasionally gets a brown or yellow leaf, but they're easy to pull off and many times they'll fall off and float to the top where it's easy to get to them. I have little tanks, (a 12 gal and a 6 gal Eclipse tanks) so most of the time I'm able to use kitchen tongs to pluck the odd brown leaf off. The Java moss never gets brown and it just keeps growing and growing and is gorgeous! Java moss is harder to find in my area for some reason, but once you get a small bunch it will grow and you will be able to divide it up if you want to.

Many people will "plant" their java fern directly in their gravel but I prefer to create several "planting throughout my tanks by tethering it to some large aquarium rocks using some sewing thread. After a month or so it's roots have latched onto the rock and it makes it really easy to move the fern bunch around for cleaning or re-decorating the tank.

The Java fern will also tether itself to just about anything and it will take on any shape/form you want it to. I have a tall column of it in my big tank and that's where my Platies have their babies (they're live-bearers and I adore them) and the babies hang out in the protective fern until they're large enough to swim with the big fish!

I wish I could go take a dip!

jeffnyc,

If you set up the tank correctly, you should never have dead yellowing plants.

However, if you want to go for the lush look that is seen in most aquariums inspired by Takashi Amano, you will need a source of CO2 going into your tank. Some people make inexpensive DIY CO2 by using an old 2L soda bottle and some yeast. To get more stable CO2, you need a CO2 tank you can get from any online brewery, as well as a regulator for it, and a way to diffuse it into the tank.

Depending on the plants you choose, you may or may not need to add fertilizers (dry or liquid) to the tank on a regular basis to get the best growth. You also need to do regular water changes. It is actually a lot more work than you would initially think but the end result may be a beautiful tank to look at.

I would recommend visiting some websites and learning as much as possible so you can do it right the first time before starting. This will save you a lot of headache in the long run. I didn't do this and have been dealing with annoying algae problems forever now =(

www.plantedtank.net is one site where you can read some good advice and also see other people's tanks in the forums.

wow. these are breath taking! Thank you so much for sharing!

I just love his work. It's awesome.