To Plant Or Not To Plant....

I have a 10g tank that I have had set up for a little over a year and a half now. I'm bored with the gravel I currently have, so I was planning on switching it to a more natural brown gravel. I also am not thrilled with my lighting, it just seems too white (its just a basic T-8 flourescent from the hardware store). I wanted to buy a couple more fake plants to densen up one area of the tank, and was thinking about changing bulbs too.

So, then I started thinking, maybe I should just change it over to a planted tank, or part fake part real. I think I am going to change the substrate and the light first, then see how satisfied I am, but I'd like some input form everyone here.

Here is a pic of the tank now:

i like that alot as it is but i would say something to fill the gap between those cambombas? maybe with some twisted vallis or something? java fern maybe?

HTH bret

Thanks. I did some slight rearranging today, changed the gravel, and got a different light. I am much happier with the tank now, enough so that completely changing to real plants isn't necessary, but I may still get a few.

The more I look at it I think you are right and that gap does need to be filled in. Might go with a couple real plants there...

That piece of wood in the tank would be a great place to cover with java moss. And you could also attach java fern to that piece of wood, whichever one you like more.

IovaykInD - Actually, that is some kind of red rock, not wood.

I did a little renovation on the tank, and among some other things I turned those rocks into a cave-like structure. Here is a fresh picture that I would like some input on. I do still want to add a couple plants, but I need some convincing as to why I should go with real ones over fake ones.

I was looking at plantgeeks.com and here are some possibilities for plants that I came up with:

Anacharis, Green Hygro, Horwort, Java Moss, Java Fern, and African Fern.

Basically what I want out of plants is something that will require very little extra effort from me, meaning I don't want to be having to trim plants every week. Also, I don't want something that is going to take over my tank...

Anyone's thoughts would be appreciated...

For a tank with plastic plants, it's looking really good right now.
If you decide to switch over to real plants, I would urge you to read the pinned topics first and try to get a better understanding of the plant requirements. You might already know this, but it's not just a case of putting in some real plants to replace plastic ones - and expect the same "look" but with a real feel.
You will have to be prepared to (almost certainly) fight an algae battle at some point.
Something I never encountered in all my years of plastic plants.
You will have to be prepared to invest a bit more time in your tank - plants have needs too !

real plants have benefits to your tank in that they hep oxygenate it they look grea they move in a current fish seem to like them . and for years without any knowledge i kept vallis, java fern , stwisted vallis and cabomba in my tank with no problems