If you are wondering, do goldfish like plants in their tank then you are in the right place.
In this article, I am going to answer the same question.
I will also show you some best live aquarium plants for your goldfish tank.
I will also answer some frequently asked questions related to goldfish and plants.
So let’s dive in
Table of Contents
So, do Goldfish like plants in the tank?
Yes, goldfish like plants in their tank. You can keep alive or fake plants in your goldfish tank. Plants help to emulate the natural habitat of the fish. Goldfish also like to nibble on live plants.
Do Goldfish like fake aquarium plants?
Goldfish may prefer fake aquarium plants instead of no plants in their tank.
Fake aquarium plants may not provide as many benefits as live aquarium plants.
However, there are some benefits of keeping fake aquarium plants.
Benefits of fake aquarium plants
- First of all, fake aquarium plants are very easy to maintain and they don’t require a lot of attention. You just have to scrub them once a month to remove algae
- Unlike live aquarium plants, you don’t need to worry about providing ideal lighting and fertilizers to them.
- Besides, there is a wide variety of fake aquarium plants to choose from.
Drawbacks of fake aquarium plants
- Though there are a lot of fake aquarium plants that look very realistic still they will never look as real as live aquarium plants.
- One of the biggest drawbacks of fake aquarium plants is that they will not help to purify the water. And oxygenate the water.
- Goldfish sometimes like to nibble on live plants. So they’ll not be able to do so with fake aquarium plants.
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Do goldfish like live aquarium plants?
The natural habitat of goldfish contains live aquarium plants.
So when you keep live plants in your goldfish tank, the goldfish will feel like home. And they will feel safe in the tank.
Benefits of live aquarium plants
- One of the most important benefits of keeping live plants in your goldfish tank is that they help to oxygenate the tank.
- Another important benefit is live plants will help to purify the water by consuming harmful products from your tank such as ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, metals, etc.
- There is a wide variety of live plants you can choose from. So it will help you to achieve the aesthetic look you want for your goldfish tank.
Drawbacks of live aquarium plants
- One of the most common problems when it comes to keeping live plants in a goldfish tank is that goldfish like to munch on live plants. So if you keep live plants your live plants may get consumed by your goldfish. That’s why you’ll need to keep only goldfish compatible plants in the tank. I am going to tell you some best live plants for your goldfish tank later in the article.
- The second problem is as live plants are living things they do require attention. You will need to provide them fertilizer. And provide them the ideal lighting so that they can thrive in your tank.
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5 Best live plants for goldfish
Now I am going to tell you some live aquarium plants which you can easily keep in your goldfish tank.
Some of these plants include the plants that Goldfish usually not like to eat.
And this list also includes the plants that goldfish do like to munch on. But they are fast growing plants so they’ll not get completely consumed by your goldfish.
So let’s dive in
1. Water Sprite
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| PARAMETERS | VALUES |
|---|---|
| PLANT | Water Sprite |
| COMMON NAMES | Water Fern, Indian Fern |
| SCIENTIFIC NAME | Ceratopteris thalictroides |
| FAMILY | Pteridaceae |
| CARE LEVEL | Easy |
| LIGHT REQUIREMENT | Medium to high |
| GROWTH RATE | Low to Moderate |
| TEMPERATURE | 68-82°F |
| pH | 6.0-7.5 |
| HARDNESS | KH 3-8 |
| PLACEMENT | Mid to Background |
| MAXIMUM SIZE | 13.5 inches |
| MINIMUM TANK SIZE | 10 Gallons |
Water Sprite is very undemanding and it can tolerate a wide range of water parameters. So this plant is very easy to keep in your tank.
As goldfish is a cold-water fish, you’ll need to choose the plants that can do well in cold water. Water Sprite can tolerate temperature as low as 68° Fahrenheit so you can easily keep it in your goldfish tank.
Goldfish may sometime nibble on this plant but if you provide it the ideal environment to this plant then it will grow pretty fast. And occasional nibbling will not be an issue.
Ideally, you should provide high lighting conditions to Water Sprite. 3-5 Watts per gallon if you are using fluorescent light. Or more than 50 micromoles if you are using LED light.
For fast growth, in addition to a high lighting environment, you should also provide fertilizers to Water Sprite.
Taking about placement, you can keep Water Sprite floating in your tank. Or you can also plant it in the background of your tank.
Check the price of this plant at Amazon here
2. Java fern
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| PARAMETERS | VALUES |
|---|---|
| PLANT | Java Fern |
| COMMON NAMES | Java Fern |
| SCIENTIFIC NAME | Microsorum pteropus |
| FAMILY | Polypodiaceae |
| CARE LEVEL | Easy |
| LIGHT REQUIREMENT | Low to Moderate |
| GROWTH RATE | Low to Moderate |
| TEMPERATURE | 68-82oF |
| pH | 6.0-7.5 |
| HARDNESS | 60-160 ppm |
| PLACEMENT | Mid to Background |
| MAXIMUM SIZE | 13.5 inches |
| MINIMUM TANK SIZE | 5 Gallons |
Java fern is one of the most popular plants in the aquarium hobby.
This plant can tolerate temperature as low as 68° Fahrenheit. So you can easily keep it in your goldfish tank.
This plant doesn’t require very strict water parameters. And it is relatively cheap which makes it an ideal choice for beginners.
Besides, Java fern is a very hardy plant and it can easily survive goldfish attacks.
It is also not very undemanding when it comes to light.
You can easily keep it under low to moderate lighting conditions.
Light Between 1.5 to 2 Watts per gallon if you are using fluorescent light. Or light between 15 to 50 micromoles if you are using LED light is sufficient for this plant.
Also, Java fern doesn’t require additional fertilizers.
However, to encourage faster growth you can supplement it with fertilizers.
Check the price of this plant at Amazon here
3. Anubias
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| PARAMETERS | VALUES |
|---|---|
| PLANT | Anubias |
| COMMON NAMES | |
| SCIENTIFIC NAME | Anubias |
| FAMILY | Araceae |
| CARE LEVEL | Easy |
| LIGHT REQUIREMENT | Low-Moderate |
| GROWTH RATE | Slow |
| TEMPERATURE | 72-82°F |
| pH | 6.5 – 7.8 |
| HARDNESS | 60- 160 ppm |
| PLACEMENT | Mid-background |
| MAXIMUM SIZE | 11+ Inches |
| MINIMUM TANK SIZE | 5 Gallons |
| PROPAGATION | Rhizome Division |
Anubias is one of the most popular plants in the aquarium hobby.
This plant is very hardy and it can easily survive goldfish attacks.
It can tolerate temperature as low as 72° Fahrenheit so you can keep it in your goldfish tank.
Besides, this plant doesn’t require strict water parameters. And it is very undemanding which makes it an ideal choice for beginners.
Anubias do well under low to moderate lighting conditions. So you should provide it light anywhere between 1.5 to 3 Watts per gallon if you are using fluorescent light. Or light Between 15 to 50 micromoles if you are using LED light.
Anubias is a short plant so you should keep it in the foreground of your tank. You can also tie it to any in ornament in your tank like driftwood or rock.
Anubias can do well without any additional fertilizers. However, for faster growth, you can supplement it with some fertilizers.
Check the price of this plant at Amazon here
4. Pothos
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| PARAMETERS | VALUES |
|---|---|
| PLANT | Pothos |
| COMMON NAMES | Golden pothos, silver vine, taro vine, devil's vine, devil's ivy |
| SCIENTIFIC NAME | Epipremnum aureum |
| FAMILY | Araceae |
| CARE LEVEL | Easy |
| LIGHT REQUIREMENT | Low to high |
| GROWTH RATE | Fast |
| PLACEMENT | Hanging out site the aquarium |
| MAXIMUM SIZE | 6 to 30 feet |
Pothos is not an aquarium plant so it is not very common in the aquarium hobby.
But there are a few reasons I like Pothos plant and that’s why I included it in this list.
First of all, Pothos is a very hardy and undemanding plant which makes it an ideal choice for beginners.
It can survive in almost any condition so you can easily keep it in your goldfish tank.
Besides, Pothos is one of the best plants to remove ammonia from your tank. And as goldfish is a pretty messy fish i.e. it produces a lot of waste, this plant can help a lot.
Also, you don’t need to plant Pothos plant in your aquarium. Instead, you just have to sink its roots into your aquarium and keep all the other parts of the plant outside of the tank.
So basically, there’s no way your goldfish will consume this plant.
Besides, Pothos is a very fast growing plant.
And the best part is, this plant doesn’t require any attention. It doesn’t have any particular light requirements. And it can do well without any additional fertilizers.
It is a set and forget kind of plant!
Check the price of this plant at Amazon here
5. Water lettuce
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| PARAMETERS | VALUES |
|---|---|
| PLANT | Water Lettuce |
| SCIENTIFIC NAME | Pistia |
| FAMILY | Araceae |
| CARE LEVEL | Moderate |
| LIGHT REQUIREMENT | Moderate |
| GROWTH RATE | Moderate |
| TEMPERATURE | 70 to 80 °F |
| pH | 6.5-7.2 pH |
| HARDNESS | Soft to Moderately Hard |
| PLACEMENT | Water Surface |
| MAXIMUM SIZE | 10 inches |
| MINIMUM TANK SIZE | 10 gallon |
Water lettuce is a floating aquarium plant.
This plant can tolerate temperature as low as 70° Fahrenheit so you can easily keep it in your goldfish tank.
Water lettuce is a bit tricky to keep in a home aquarium because it requires humidity. But if you provide it the ideal environment then it can grow really fast.
The ideal lighting requirement for water lettuce is moderate. So you should provide it light anywhere between 2-3 Watts per gallon if you are using fluorescent light. Or light Between 35 to 50 micromoles if you are using LED light.
Besides, this plant doesn’t require any additional fertilizers. You just have to provide it light and it will do just fine.
Check the price of this plant at Amazon here
- 6 Tips to Take Care of Live Plants in Aquarium (For Beginners)
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FAQ
No, plastic plants that are meant to keep in an aquarium are not bad for Goldfish.
However, you should avoid keeping plastic aquarium plants if you have telescope eye goldfish. Because if the plastic plants are too hard then it can damage the fish.
To check the plastic plants you have are good or not for the fish in your tank, you can do the pantyhose test.
To do the test, just drag the plant across the pantyhose. If the pantyhose tore then it suggests that the plant is too hard. And you should avoid keeping it in your aquarium.
In this case, you can go for silk plants. Or you can go for live aquarium plants.
I’ve written a detailed article on this topic covering some fish-safe plastic plants. You can read it here.
Goldfish like to eat Water sprite, Anacharis, Duckweed, Water lettuce, etc.
First of all, you should provide the ideal environment to your goldfish in your tank.
You should maintain the ideal temperature, pH, water hardness, etc.
You should also feed high-quality food to your goldfish. And feed a variety of food.
Lastly, you should keep up with the regular maintenance of your goldfish tank and keep the tank clean.
Besides, there are several other things goldfish like in their tank.
I have written a detailed article on this topic. You can read it here.
There are a few things you can do to cope with this issue.
You can try feeding them boiled vegetables such as boiled peas, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, etc.
So their vegetables need will be fulfilled and they will stop eating the plants.
If you are tank has slow-growing plants then you can try introducing some fast growing plants.
So even if the goldfish munch on them the plants will not get totally consumed. And they will keep growing.
There are some plants that goldfish usually don’t eat such as Anubias, Java fern, Pothos, etc. So you can replace your existing plants with these plants.
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Conclusion
In a nutshell, goldfish do like plants in their tank.
You can keep either live or fake aquarium plants in their tank.
However, putting live aquarium plants is ideal because there are a lot of benefits of keeping it in the aquarium such as they help to oxygenate the tank and purify the water.
You need to be a bit careful while choosing live plants for goldfish because they sometimes like to munch on them. So you should choose either fast growing plants or the plants that goldfish usually don’t like to eat.
You can choose the plants that I have mentioned above.
I hope you found this article helpful.
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Happy fishkeeping!
