Aquarium plants on lava and tree roots

Aquarium plants on lava and tree roots

At Tropica we categorize aquarium plants grown using traditional methods (loose plants and cuttings) as our 1st generation plants. Plants in pots containing mineral wool substrate are 2nd generation plants, and our 3rd generation plants are grown on stones and roots.

Originally we developed this special form of plant cultivation for plants used in pet shop sales aquariums. Plants are not normally grown in such aquariums because they get in the way when fish have to be caught or the aquarium has to be cleaned. But plants grown on stones and roots can be removed and replaced freely, and it has been proved that fish suffer less from stress in aquariums that contain plants. They seem healthier and acquire the right colour in record time. Such fish are more attractive from a sales point of view, and our 3rd generation plants have been a great success in pet shops. At first we thought that aquarium owners were not prepared to pay a higher price for plants grown on stones and roots. But more and more people are happy to pay for a decorative combination of plants that never looks as if it has just been planted. These plants are also interesting to experiment with because they can be moved around easily. Our production is increasing all the time.

The high price is necessary because it takes longer and requires more space and work to grow an aquatic plant on a stone or tree root. Among other things, we import special porous lava from Iceland and tree roots from Malaysia, which we then grade to ensure that they have the right size in relation to our production. In the wild the species most commonly found growing on stones and roots are Anubias, Microsorum, Bolbitis and Vesicularia.