Aquarium plants on wood or stone
Attaching aquarium plants to wood or stone
A plant attached to a piece of wood or stone is a beautiful addition to any aquarium. Ready-made examples are available for purchase, but it's at least as much fun to do it yourself. In this guide: which plants are best to use, what materials to use to attach them, and a step-by-step plan for doing it yourself.
Which plants?
You usually use a rhizome plant for this - a plant that does not need to root in the substrate. Good examples:
Hygrophila Pinnatifida, Pogostemon Helferi, Cryptocoryne species and Staurogyne Repens also attach well to coarser surfaces.
Which mosses?
Various moss species do not grow as tall, but instead cover your decorative piece with a beautiful green layer. Commonly used: Plagiomnium Affine ('Pearl Moss'), Taxiphyllum Barbieri ('Java Moss'), Vesicularia ('Christmas Moss') and Riccardia Chamedryfolia ('Coral Moss').
Attachment materials
To keep the plant or moss in place while the roots attach, you can choose fishing line, clamps between decorative pieces, a piece of clay or special plant glue.
In principle, you can attach a plant to any material, but some surfaces work better. With wood, the indentations often determine a good spot. With stone, a smooth slate or broken stone looks solid, but a plant attaches better to lava stone or other coarser structures.
Step-by-step plan
(with special aquarium glue and tweezers)
- Wash the decorative material and let it dry thoroughly
- Remove the plant from its pot, with as little other material as possible attached
- Check that both the roots and the decorative piece are clean and dry
- Apply a small amount of glue and press the roots into it with tweezers
- Hold the plant for 15 seconds and then let it dry for another 15 seconds
- Carefully place the plant in the aquarium
Looking for suitable plant tools or decorative materials such as wood and stones? Or would you prefer to be inspired by ready-made decoration? Feel free to browse our store or webshop.
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