Cara Tanam Pokok Akuarium: Planting Potted, Tissue-Culture & Bunch Plants
The basic cara tanam pokok akuarium: take the plant out of its pot, remove all the rock wool or gel, trim damaged leaves and long roots, then push the roots into the substrate with tweezers so the crown sits just at the surface. Epiphytes like anubias and java fern are the exception: tie or glue them to wood or rock instead of burying them. Before any plant goes in, rinse it and check for snails and eggs. This guide covers each kind of plant you'll receive, potted, tissue culture or bunched, and how to help plants recover after courier delivery in Malaysian heat.
Before You Start: What You Need
- Aquascaping tweezers (long, straight or curved) for precise planting
- Scissors for trimming roots and leaves
- A bowl of dechlorinated water to keep plants wet while you work
- A spray bottle if you're planting in a drained tank
- Substrate that holds roots: aquasoil, fine gravel or sand
Find tweezers, scissors and tools in Aquascaping on FishyHub.
Step 1: Inspect and Clean Every Plant
Plants from tanks and farms can bring in pest snails, snail eggs, planaria or algae.
- Rinse each plant in dechlorinated water.
- Look under leaves for jelly-like snail egg clusters and small snails. Remove them by hand.
- Cut off brown, melting or broken leaves.
- Optional quarantine: keep new plants in a separate tub with light for 1–2 weeks and watch for snails hatching. Some keepers use a plant dip; follow product instructions carefully and avoid using bleach unless you know the method and the plant tolerates it.
Tissue-culture plants are grown in sterile labs and are free of snails and algae, which is why shrimp keepers love them.
Step 2: Prepare Each Type of Plant
Potted plants (in a plastic basket)
- Push the plant out from the bottom of the basket.
- Peel away the rock wool (the grey or white fluffy material) with your fingers and tweezers. Get as much as possible out of the roots. Left in the tank, rock wool traps dirt and can rot.
- Trim roots to about 2–4 cm. This seems harsh, but it encourages new roots that adapt to your substrate.
- Large potted plants can often be split into several smaller clumps for a fuller look.
Tissue-culture plants (in a gel cup)
- Remove the plant and rinse off all of the gel in a bowl of water. Leftover gel feeds bacteria and clouds the water.
- Separate the clump into small portions of a few stems or plantlets each.
- Plant these little portions close together. They spread to fill gaps.
Bunch plants (stems held with a lead or foam band)
- Remove the lead strip or foam band.
- Separate the stems.
- Remove the lower 2–3 cm of leaves from each stem, since buried leaves rot.
- Cut the bottom of each stem cleanly with scissors.
Epiphytes (anubias, java fern, bucephalandra, mosses)
Do not bury the rhizome. Tie with thread or fishing line, or glue with gel superglue, to wood or rock. See pokok anubias care for the method.
Bulbs and tubers (aponogeton, lilies)
Rest the bulb on top of the substrate, or bury it only halfway with the growing tip exposed.
Step 3: Cara Tanam Pokok Akuarium with Tweezers
- Grip the plant at the base of the roots or stem with tweezers, holding the tweezers at an angle.
- Push down into the substrate, about 2–4 cm deep for most plants.
- Release the tweezers and slide them out at the same angle, so you don't pull the plant back out.
- Push substrate around the base to firm it in.
- For carpets (e.g. Monte Carlo, dwarf hairgrass), plant tiny portions a few cm apart in a grid, all over the area. They join up as they grow.
- For stem plants, plant each stem individually, about 1–2 cm apart, rather than as a bunch. A crowded bunch rots at the bottom.
Crowns matter: for rosette plants like crypts and swords, the crown (where leaves meet roots) should sit level with the substrate surface, not buried.
Planting a New Tank: Wet or Dry?
| Method | How | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Dry or damp start | Plant into wet soil with only a little water, spray often, then fill slowly | Detailed scapes, carpets |
| Filled tank | Fill halfway, plant, then fill the rest | Simpler, most beginners |
| Dry Start Method (DSM) | Plant into damp soil, cover with cling film for weeks before flooding | Carpets in tanks you're happy to keep dry for a while |
When filling, pour water onto a plastic bag or bowl so it doesn't blast plants out of the soil. Expect a little cloudiness for the first days. See air akuarium keruh.
Where to Plant What
| Zone | Example plants | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Foreground | Carpets, dwarf sagittaria, small crypts, anubias 'Petite' | Short, slow or creeping plants |
| Midground | Cryptocoryne, anubias nana, bucephalandra, java fern | Around hardscape |
| Background | Vallisneria, stem plants, larger swords | Tall, fast growers |
| Hardscape | Mosses, java fern, anubias, buce | Tied or glued |
| Surface | Floating plants | Shade, nutrient uptake |
For a full layout guide, read cara buat aquascape untuk pemula.
Plants After Delivery: Surviving the Courier
Plants usually travel better than fish, but Malaysian heat and courier depots can still stress them.
- Open the parcel as soon as it arrives and float plants in a bowl of dechlorinated water.
- If leaves look limp, trim the damaged ones and plant the rest. Healthy roots and rhizomes recover.
- Don't expect instant growth. Many plants are grown emersed (above water) on farms and drop their old leaves after planting. This is called "melting" and is common with cryptocoryne. The plant regrows submerged leaves within weeks if the roots are healthy.
- East Malaysia orders take longer. Ask the seller how they pack plants for longer trips.
- Order plants for delivery early in the week if the seller allows, so they don't sit in a hot depot over the weekend.
Aftercare: The First Month
- Lights 6 hours a day in week one, then increase slowly to 7–8. Strong light on new plants invites algae.
- Water changes 2–3 times a week at first in a new soil tank, to remove ammonia leaching from fresh aquasoil.
- Fertilise lightly once plants show new growth. See baja pokok aquascape.
- Replant floaters: if stems float up, push them back in with tweezers.
- Remove melting leaves so they don't rot.
FAQ
Rock wool pada pokok akuarium perlu buang ke?
Perlu. Buang sebanyak yang boleh sebelum tanam, sebab rock wool boleh perangkap kotoran dan reput dalam akuarium. Guna jari dan penyepit untuk keluarkan dari akar.
Kenapa pokok akuarium saya cair selepas ditanam?
Kebanyakan pokok dari ladang ditanam di luar air (emersed), jadi daun lama akan cair bila masuk dalam air. Ini biasa, terutama pada cryptocoryne. Buang daun yang cair, dan pokok akan keluarkan daun baru dalam beberapa minggu kalau akar sihat.
How deep should I plant aquarium plants?
Roots about 2–4 cm deep, with the crown at the surface. Stem plants can go a bit deeper. Never bury the rhizome of anubias, java fern or bucephalandra.
Do I need tweezers to plant?
Not strictly, but they make planting much easier and stop you uprooting other plants. They're especially useful for carpets and small stems.
How do I stop snails coming in on new plants?
Rinse and inspect plants, remove eggs, quarantine for 1–2 weeks, or buy tissue-culture plants, which are pest-free.
Start planting: browse aquatic plants, aquascaping tools and aquarium soil from sellers across Malaysia on FishyHub.