Trimming Your Aquarium Plants

HOW TO SHAPE TRIM AND MAINTAIN YOUR AQUARIUM PLANTS

Hedging and trimming aquatic plants is necessary to maintain the health and visual beauty of your aquarium. In the right conditions aquarium plants will grow very quickly. Speed of growth is dependent on the type of plant. Stem plants will grow the fastest, followed by foreground plants, potted plants and then ferns and moss will be the slowest.

how to trim plants in the aquarium aquascape

It is important to monitor your plants size, complications can occur when plants reach the surface and block light to lower plants in the aquarium. Similar to garden plants, constant cutting back of plants, especially stem plants, will cause them to grow into thicker hedge like structures. Initial plants will grow quickly and start to fill out the aquarium. After the first initial month or so they may become too large and take up too much space. In this case they need to be trimmed.

Stem Plants

Potted Plants

Moss

Java Fern & Anubias

For challenging but rewarding topic that will give you ideas on shaping and maintaining your aquarium to be an award winning tank, continue to this guide on aquascaping that will help you explore and integrate the principles of design and nature into your aquarium.