Grow large aquarium plants

Cultivating these large aquatic plants requires meticulous care, including precise lighting, nutrient balance, and water quality control.

Above is my 30 gallon (2023) that I chose for my experiment on how to grow large aquarium plants. I wanted to see how big I could get an aquarium plant to grow. There are actually 2 swords and a java fern in the pot. I filled the pot with aquarium gravel.

There is a little algae in this picture. I was experimenting with the plants’ nutrients in the water, hence the algae.

The picture doesn’t do the plants sizes justice. These plants were enormous, plus there were about 5 or 6 flower stems growing above the water.

12/21/24 It took experimenting with the plant in the pot to learn how to grow the aquarium you see at the top of this page. 

——————————————-

It took decades but I now have a system that works for me to grow large aquarium plants (See the picture at the top of this page). Here’s what I do for my aquarium.

1.  Use mostly reverse osmosis water.

The less nitrates in the water that I put into my aquarium, the less algae will grow. RO water has no nitrates. You create your own reverse osmosis water at home using an RO system like this one.

2.  Plant big plants

Large, fast growing plants take up the nutrients in the water leaving little to none for algae. Throw some small plants in for decoration.

3.  Pressurized CO2 runs from 5:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Add as much CO2 as possible without freaking the fish out. Helpful hint to save CO2: I have a little powerhead pulling the CO2 in from the CO2 diffuser into its impellers and out into the aquarium. This creates a very fine mist of CO2 throughout the aquarium.

I purchased my CO2 canisters from a local gas company (do a search). They cost me $140 for a cannister and then about $27 to exchange and empty cannister for a full one.

I purchased a CO2 regulator to deliver the CO2  to the aquarium water. Buy the most expensive regulator you can because they can have issues.

Update: 12/16/24 –  I actually leave my CO2 running full bore 24/7. This insures full carbon saturation. It doesn’t seem to negatively effect the fish. I do keep an eye on the CO2 moniter just in case. So far it is always green except when I run out of CO2.

4.  Lighting

I left the lights on just long enough to grow the plants and not grow algae.

Update 12/16/24 – The 75 gallon tank is brightly lit 10 hours per day. This is correct for my aquarium. 

5.  Add a UV sterilizer or two.

I’ve added two high quality UV sterilizers ran by two strong cannister filters. Those are on 24/7. If a UV bulb burns out, I know it because I start seeing hair algae showing up.

6.  Change out at least 50% of the water each week.

I do this by changing out 5 gallons of water daily from my 30 gallon tank. This reduces the nitrates and ammonium in the water, which helps starve out the algae.

Update 12/16/24 – Now I change out 50% of the water once a week. 

7.  If you want large aquarium plants and not a ton of algae be very aggressive in removing anything that might turn into nitrates.

I vacuum out food and poo daily. I’m very careful about feeding my fish. I remove any dying leaves. You’re trying to starve the algae. The aquarium plants absorb what little nitrates are still present in the water.

This page has aquarium plant mixes. Amazon.

Other pages on this site:

*  Grow your aquarium plants so big they take over the world - or at least look cool.

 *  Farlowella: For When Regular Plecos Just Aren't 'Pleco-y' Enough

*  "Pandamonium" in the Tank: A Guide to Keeping Panda Corydoras

*  Introducing: The Most Relaxing Hobby Ever! (Just Kidding, It's a 24/7 Drama) - Small Planted Aquariums

*  Tiger Barbs: Because Your Aquarium Wasn't Chaotic Enough