Where can you buy the best online aquarium plants in Australia? PetWave offers the widest range of premium grown Australian aquarium plants at perfect prices.
Our live products come with a 100% Live Guarantee, ensuring you will receive a healthy plant. In the unlikely event that anything goes wrong during shipping, you will receive a replacement.
We have handpicked 9 of the best varieties of aquarium plant and identified their growing requirements and specifications in the handy guide below!
1. Amazon Sword: The Amazon Sword is a popular choice in aquariums and for good reason. Not only does it look fantastic and offer good coverage, it’s also fast-growing and easy to care for.
Amazon Sword varieties are usually planted in the middle or back of the aquarium. Its large leaves and ability to grow (up to 50cm!) make it ideal for creating a full background or creating a fish hiding spot.
Given their potential height of up to 50cm, the Amazon Sword may require some pruning depending on your tank size.
Ideal pH: 7.5 or lower
Ideal Lighting: Moderate
Ideal Water Temperature: 22-27℃
Growth: Up to 50cm
2. Anubias Nana (Echindorus Bleheri): The Anubias Nana is an attractive foreground plant that provides great coverage and aesthetics while being hardy and tolerant of most water conditions and environments.
Anubias Nana offers both a decorative look and protection for smaller fish species, providing large leaves for fish to find their own space. It can live fully or partly submerged and can attach to logs creating an aquarium driftwood creation. Anubias Nana driftwood creations can also be complete from PetWave.
Typically, Anubis Nana doesn’t grow any higher than 5cm, making it ideal for foreground planting.
Ideal pH: 6.0 - 7.5
Ideal Lighting: Moderate
Ideal Water Temperature: 22-27℃
Growth: Up to 5cm
3. Baby Tears (Bacopa monnieri): Baby Tears are an attractive choice for a middle or background aquarium plant, offering accent and contrast with its light-green coverage.
Baby Tears are hardy and forgiving, providing foliage and decoration even for the beginner planted aquarium.
Given their potential height of up to 30cm, Baby Tears may require some pruning depending on your tank size and requirements. New plants can be propagated by cutting the side shoot or terminal bud as well as via seed production. Just place the stem plants in your aquarium substrate and roots will shoot within a few days.
Ideal pH: 5.0 - 7.5
Ideal Lighting: High
Ideal Water Temperature: 20-27℃
Growth: Up to 30cm
4. Dwarf Hair Grass (Eleocharis Parvula): Dwarf Hair Grass provides a thick, lush carpet for your substrate which will thrive and provide beautiful coverage and help prevent algae growth.
While not the most difficult plant, Dwarf Hair Grass does require a little more maintenance to get it right. You should siphon or gravel-vac your Dwarf Hairgrass once a week, and for optimal, horizontal growth, regular and consistent trimming is required. If left to its own devices, Hair Grass will grow towards your aquarium lights - vertically - and you won’t benefit from the carpet coverage.
As trimming Hair Grass can get quite messy, it’s a good idea to have your fish net handy so that you can scoop up the excess trimmings.
Ideal pH: 6.5 - 7.5
Ideal Lighting: Moderate to High
Ideal Water Temperature: 21-28℃
Growth: 3-10cm
5. Cryptocorynes: Crypts are one of the most popular aquarium plants in Australia. They are best suited to the foreground or middle of your aquarium and offer excellent coverage with their medium size and bushing habit.
They offer a range of attractive colours, from greens to reddish-brown, and available in a variety of sizes.
Crypts typically thrive when not under direct light - this can be diffused through a fine-leaved plant or placed strategically in your tank. While direct light won’t typically kill your Crypts plants, it will impact their growth rate and size.
Ideal pH: 6.0 - 8.0
Ideal Lighting: Low to Moderate (indirect)
Ideal Water Temperature: 22-27℃
Growth: 10-15cm
6. Java Fern (Microsorium Pteropus): Java Fern are an attractive and popular plant which, while easy to care for, is a slow growing aquarium plant. 
Java Fern is an excellent choice for the beginner as not only does it look great, it’s exceptionally easy to grow. It is highly flexible, able to attach and grow on logs, rocks and substrate. This plant is a great start for the true beginner, or for someone who has had bad luck with more complicated plant specimens.
It will provide thick, leafy coverage and excellent hiding places for small and medium fish.
Ideal pH: 6.0 - 7.5
Ideal Lighting: Flexible
Ideal Water Temperature: 20-27℃
Growth: Up to 35cm
7. Wisteria (Water Wisteria): Wisteria is a fast growing aquarium plant with lacy leaves. Water Wisteria is an easy plant which is well suited to the beginner.
It can be grown partially or fully submerged, either rooted in substrate or left to float. If grown in cooler temperatures, your Wisteria will have round leaves, while wisteria grown in warmer temperatures will have a pinate leaf shape.
Ideal pH: 6.5 - 7.5
Ideal Lighting: Moderate
Ideal Water Temperature: 23-27℃
Growth: Up to 60cm
8. Bacopa (Bacopa Caroliniana): Bacopa are an easy, undemanding, fast-growing aquarium plant which is ideal for the background of your aquarium.
While your Bacopa will thrive under good, low light, it has few other demands. With bright lighting, the leaves of your Bacopa will have a red appearance.
For ideal decoration and coverage, you should aquascape your Bacopa in small groups.
Ideal pH: 6.8 - 7.2
Ideal Lighting: Low
Ideal Water Temperature: 22-28℃
Growth: 20-30cm
9. Green Pennywort(Lysimachia nummularia): Green Pennywort is an easy to care for plant ideal for beginners, with moderate care conditions and little maintenance required.
Pennywort will happily grow to the surface where, if left unattended, it will spread along the water surface, offering an attractive pond coverage look. If you prefer to keep your Pennywort as a tall, vertical plant, you can simply trim excess length at the bottom of the stem and if desired, submerge the shoot into the substrate for more growth.
Pennywort can be submerged or float along the surface. If you choose to let your Pennywort float, it will thrive with a small water current.
Ideal pH: 5.5 - 8.0
Ideal Lighting: Low - High
Ideal Water Temperature: 22-28℃
Growth: Up to 60cm
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