Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have a aquarium with several aquatic plants and besides the aesthetic value it also cleans the water and makes the fish less stressed.

Does anyone throw a few hardy aquatic plants in fish tanks in AP? Nothing major but just for fish health and possibly breeding purposes?

Sure (although I don't have any) I've seen lots of floating plants on here, but using underwater plants can work if the sun gets through. Most people are shading their ponds/tanks to keep algae at bay though, which would make submerged plants less happy. The crustacean keepers place all kind of hides in the tank to keep the yabbies and whatnot from killing each other when molting.

TC used badminton shuttlecocks in her aquarium which are kind of like having plants in there...

You can suspend plants over the surface in several ways, some people used rebar grids and some hang pots over the side of the tank. Have you research duckweed and azolla? Not underwater but useful for extending the ecosystem.

Many people have their aquariums set up as AP systems and I expect that a few of them have some aquatic plants in the system. As for larger AP systems, I expect that people often avoid much extra clutter in the tanks of heavily stocked systems as it will collect fish poo/other solids and keep them from being swept out of the tanks. I suppose it also depends on the type of fish you are stocking and the look you are going for with the system.

My tilapia will eat all but the plant stems of most things that I throw in. I doubt aquatic plants would fare much better.

In AP systems, the plants in the grow beds serve the functions of using up nutrients and the water flow is meant to provide aeration to the water so those two functions of aquatic plants are not really needed in an AP system. As for providing hiding/breeding habitat for the fish, they could still serve that function for appropriate types of fish if that is your goal. They can also look nice if you are trying to create a natural looking ornamental pond type system.

It is all in what you want to get from your system. Lots of things to think about.

I currently have no aquatic plants in my fish tanks. When we build the new house, I will probably put in a garden pond that will probably have some pond plants and such.