Plants

There is a persistent worry among new keepers with hard tap water that plants are simply not going to work for them, that a lush green tank is something reserved for people with soft, acidic water and a cylinder of CO2 bubbling away. I had the same fear when I started, staring at water that measures around 22.5 dGH and assuming everything would sulk. It turned out to be almost entirely unfounded. The great majority of the plants sold in shops grow perfectly well in hard alkaline water, and several of the toughest actively prefer it. This is the list I would hand anyone setting up a low-tech planted tank on water like ours. ...

The single best upgrade I ever made to my fishkeeping was not a fancy filter or a bigger tank. It was a scraggly bunch of java fern tied to a piece of bogwood with cotton thread. Within a couple of months the tank looked alive rather than decorated, the algae on the glass slowed right down, and my water tests got boring in the best possible way. If you have been putting off live plants because you think they need pressurised CO2, blazing lights and a chemistry degree, I want to talk you out of that idea. A low-tech planted tank is cheap, forgiving, and honestly easier to run than a bare one. ...