Why Do My Aquarium Plants Die?
Okay, this is something that was bugging me for quite some time. All the plants I got for my aquarium, barely lasted a couple of weeks, before wilting away – and with them, all my visions of having one of those wonderfully landscaped aquariums.
Hunting for a reason, I decided to write a post on what I discovered – feel free to add your experiences
The secret, I discovered, lies in knowing your aquarium plants better. There are some which tend to lose all their leaves, before they sprout new ones, while your fish may tend to find some of them a tasty snack. In fact, my fish, specially the sucker fish, and the black ghosts, tend to chew on the leaves a lot, specially new shoots.
That said, aquarium plants need light too – I initially found that a bit surprising, but given that plants need light to do 
their magic with chlorophyll, it makes sense. If you can’t get sunlight, a normal bulb works just as well. As a thumb rule, 2-3 watts per gallon generally works for a well-planted aquarium.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) – While on the topic, plants also need CO2, without which they cannot perform photosynthesis, the process where they turn light energy into energy that they can use (sugars). Most plants will do well with the carbon dioxide produced by fish, etc. in your aquarium, but some plants may need more. In any case this generally works very well – even plants that would survive without additional CO2, grow more rapidly when provided more CO2. CO2 can come from fermentation or from a gas cylinder filled with liquid CO2. More on that later.
Substrate matters too. Different plants need different substrates, since apart from nutrients, plants also use the substrate to anchor themselves. For instance, Java fern in its natural environment creeps over logs and rockwork, attaching itself by roots, and is often used to decorate bogword.
If you have a gravel as the substrate, fertilizer pellets help in providing nutrition to the plants. Alternatively, you could use iron rich clay fertilizers like laterite.
Water conditions also play a role – like fishes, some plants too require certain kinds of water conditions.
In short, you would be well advised to know the plants that you are getting, but the rewards are worth it.
Pic via here.
