Man, when I first got into this whole aquarium plant thing, everyone and their brother was yelling at me, ‘You gotta have soil! Special soil! Expensive soil!’ So, like a good little beginner, I shelled out cash for these fancy bags. My first planted tank? Looked like a swamp for days. Seriously, mud everywhere. And half the plants I bought just melted anyway. What a waste.
I was about ready to give up and just stick to plastic plants, you know? Then I was over at my mate Kevin’s place. This guy’s tank was insane. Lush, green, looked like something out of a magazine. I’m looking close, and I’m like, ‘Kev, where’s your dirt layer? What magic mud are you using?’ He just kinda chuckled.
Turns out, Kev wasn’t using any ‘soil’ like I was. He had some plants tucked into gravel, some tied to bits of wood, and a bunch just floating around looking happy as clams. That got me thinking. Maybe all that ‘you MUST use soil’ talk was just… talk.
So, I started experimenting. Got a cheap bunch of Java Fern, remembered someone saying don’t bury the thick stemmy bit. Tied it to a rock with some fishing line. Guess what? It grew! Then I tried some Hornwort, just let it float. Took off like a rocket! Meanwhile, some of my ‘properly’ planted stuff in that expensive muck was still looking sad.
What I Learned About Plants and Dirt (or Lack Thereof)
The big secret? Not all plants are created equal, especially when it comes to what their roots wanna do.
-
Some plants, like Anubias or Java Fern, they actually HATE having their main root part (they call it a rhizome, I think?) buried. They’ll rot! These guys are happy campers just being attached to rocks or driftwood. They pull what they need from the water.
-
Then you’ve got your floaters. Stuff like Frogbit or Water Lettuce. Obviously, no soil needed. They just bob around on top, roots dangling down. Dead easy.
-
And stem plants? The ones that look like little trees? Yeah, a lot of them can root in soil, or even sand or fine gravel. It gives them an anchor. But I’ve had plenty of success just sticking them into plain old gravel, especially if I’m adding some liquid fertilizer to the water. They seem to manage just fine grabbing nutrients that way too.
So, back to the big question: do aquatic plants need soil? From my experience, a big fat NO. Some like it, some can use a substrate like gravel to anchor, but a whole bunch of ’em don’t need that special bagged soil at all. It really depends on the specific plant you’re trying to grow.
Honestly, figuring this out saved me a lot of hassle and probably a fair bit of cash. Plus, less mud in my tanks is always a win in my book. Sometimes just watching what happens and not listening to every ‘expert’ pays off, you know?
