Dustin's Blog — Java Fern

Read Time: 5.5 minutes Aquarium plants for cold water, crazy pH, giant tanks and nano tanks, evil fish, too little or too much light, and any other extreme you can throw at them Overall Tips for "EXTREME" Aquarium Plants (AKA the biggest piece of advice for planted tanks) The single most helpful tip we can give you on growing these plants, and any plants, really, is to study and imitate nature. If you're not sure if you can keep a plant in a certain tank environment (we're pretty awesome, but we can't list out every plant, here) look up where the...

Read Time: 5 minutes Tips and Tricks for Tall and Vertical Aquariums: Pros/Cons, Aquascaping, Maintenance, and Stocking Tall tanks: you love 'em or hate 'em. There's no denying that seeing a bright column of water with fish swirling up and down and tall plants swaying makes you want one. But do they stand tall against criticism? Vertical tanks have unique challenges and advantages, and we'll give you the rundown.  Pros and Cons of Tall/Vertical Aquariums The most obvious pro? They look cool. Even if you know nothing about aquariums, if you see a big tank at eye level or higher, you're going to...

Read Time: 5 mins Usually, thinking of planted tanks conjures up images of fish, or maybe of aquascaped tanks with no animals at all. But there’s a whole other side to the aquarium hobby that might hook you the way it’s hooked me: amphibians and invertebrates. If you’re looking for a unique planted tank idea and/or want to know which plants to put with your non-fish companions, then look no further. Here, we’ll match tried-and-true aquarium plant species with tank inhabitants you might have overlooked. A leucistic axolotl in a planted tank Aquarium Plants for Axolotls I’ve seen several posts from...

Read Time: 5 mins “Can I have a planted tank without special lights, fertilizers, or a CO2 system?” This is a question everyone in the freshwater aquarium hobby has asked at some point, and we have good news: the answer is a resounding yes. If you want beautiful aquatic plants without feeling like you have to sell a kidney to afford tech to keep them alive, we've got you.   This is the first of a two part series on which aquarium plants are right for you based on how much maintenance they need. In this post, we'll list out some...