What are the benefits of keeping live plants in an aquarium?

I am experianced in the aquarium scene, but I am very new to keeping live plants. As I have read some articles online I was also wondering about a few things, mainly:

1 ) Will live plants soak up unwanted diatoms in your water?

2 ) What are some major benefits about having live plants in your aquarium.



Thanks,







Ryan

What are the benefits of keeping live plants in an aquarium?
If you are up to a little more up keep, live plants are worth it.



They will not soak up extra diatoms.

They will help with these parameters:



*They can control ammonia, ammonium and nitrites (especially hornwort)

* They are excellent for Nitrate removal/contro

*Healthy Plant roots will inhibit anearobic bacteria and Hydrogen Sulfide production

*Plants add a natural beauty to an aquarium

*In some fish such as Discus they will help stimulate breeding by aiding in a more natural environment.



With proper care they are not real difficult. Often anecdotal advice will doom many a newbie plant keeper when all you need are:

*minerals; can be provided by products such as Flourish or wonder shells.

*Carbon; can be provided by flourish excel, CO2 generators (which do not need to be as complicated as the faddish yeast based CO2 generator, the Sanders CO2 Floramat is simple and economical, as well as been used by Pros for years and does not require monitoring)

*Organic nutrients; these are provided by fish waste and even the quality of a fish food helps here.

*A good substrate for rooted plants (i personally like Azoo Plant Grower Bed)

*Proper lighting depending on the plants selected.



For more information about plants in an aquarium, I recommend this article:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/...
Reply:No, plants will not soak up diatoms. However, they use up the nutrients that diatoms need so they can help reduce or eliminate the amount of diatoms over time.



Benefits of live plants are:



1) They look great and natural. No plastic plant looks as nice! They provide cover for shy fish and fry.



2) Herbivorous fish can nibble on them and get some fiber and nutrition.



3) Plants utilize nutrients that undesireables such as algae, cyanobacteria, and diatoms need to grow. Healthy plants use up these nutrients such as iron, phosphorus, and nitrate and outcompete the other stuff.
Reply:Typically, live plants are purely aesthetic, but they do benefit aquariums by using a small portion of nitrates. In a fully planted aquarium (where the substrate is not visible) cleaning the substrate is not necessary as all the waste and detrius is put to good use.



While certain types of plants will use nitrates to their benefit, the amount they use is fairly insignificant when compared to the amount that you eliminate in water changes.



I personally love the look of a nice planted tank. While the benefits for the fish and aquarium itself are limited, I will continue to grow them in my tanks for a while.
Reply:They help add oxygen to the water and give your fishies something to munch.
Reply:The main purpose of having plants is to super-saturate the water with oxygen. With an air diffuser, you can only get around 96-98% saturation in the water. With plants, good light, and carbon dioxide injection you can increase o2 levels to above 100%, so much so that you will be able to see bubbles rolling off of plants and the surfaces in the aquarium.



Additional benefit is that the plants will absorb nitrates from water column. Some plants, like the java fern, have the ability to break down some toxins into less dangerous substances.





Downsides is the maintenance required to upkeep plants. They are not simple at all. You have to balance KH values, monitor co2 levels, prune dead leaves, change water very often, and it often brings black algae if you don't do it correctly. The maintenance effort costs of keeping healthy plants keeps most fishkeepers to plastic plants after multiple failed attempts (unless you're loaded with cash and time).

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