Freshwater

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Part III: Water, Chemicals, and Plants
Pearl grass (hemianthus
micranthemoides)
Pearl grass is a very graceful-looking plant that is great for the foreground
of your aquarium. This species is light green and has half-elliptical shaped
leaves. As this plant grows, you will see it developing side shoots (in time
you will come to think of them as runners) in all directions. You can easily
prune this plant so it continues to grow and fill in the gaps that you want it
to cover up.
Level: Easy
Temperature: 68–82 degrees F
Light: Medium to bright
PH : 5.0–7.5
Placement: Foreground
Brazilian micro sword (Lilaeopsis
brasiliensis)
This South American plant is an interesting-looking species that resembles
thick green grass. The thickness can be a problem, as it will encourage algae
to grow all over it. The best thing to do is to thin the plant out by pruning
interior leaves (the thick leaves inside the outer leaves) so that light and
water can reach all of the plant’s surfaces. Once you have thinned the plant
out, carefully rinse it under room-temperature water to remove any excess
debris before adding it to your aquarium.
One trick we use to keep this plant from becoming a big bound-up ball is
to keep it in areas of the tank that have high circulation (near airstones or
filter return water). This slow-growing plant does really well in fine substrate
such as sand and eventually will look like you have a lawn growing in your
aquarium.
Level: Moderate
Temperature: 60–79 degrees F
Light: Very bright
PH : 6.0–8.0
Placement: Foreground