Do i have to?...

I plan on getting a 29 gal soon and was wondering about live plants.

For years have just used fake plastic plants in my two 10gals.

Is it better and do i have to use live plants? What fish NEED to have live plants. I was thinking of getting a Bristlenose, and i read thay like/need to have live plants?

Ill most likely be going with a rock bottom. How really hard are plants to manage? What else will i need for the tank if i do get and need plants?

Thanx,
Wolf

You really don't have to have live plants, but when I first got some I removed all of the fake plants and put in the live ones and my fish were just happy. You could tell-they would swim in and out of the plants over and over, where before they never even went near the fake ones.

The only "work" I have to do so far is occasional pruning (and I replant the prunings) and removing dead leaves every so often. Also my plants do have algae on them so I got some ghost shrimp and they spend tons of time on the leaves picking off the algae.

What else will i need for the tank if i do get and need plants?

Click to expand...

the basics really, enough watts per gallon, (2-4) nutrients, Co2. But if you just want to grow a few plants, you can just do low light plants like java fern, java moss, water sprite, cryptocorynes, anubias. In this case, the internet is your best friend, as is the public library. I would do some research on the web on planted tank basics, they might be a little more thorough than us.
HTH!
Robin

Maybe ill just do this tank mixed with a some live plants and some fake

Wolf

it's really not that hard honest..

My 40G (Juwel Rio180) was planted as an after thought....

I have plain gravel substrate, no flourite or fancy stuff, 2 foot long airstones buried under all the bogwood (not being used and cant be ar**d to take them out.)

After my original set up looked so pants i decided to try out live plants. At first I changed nothing and just stuck them in to see what happened. Some lived, some died. Since then i have upgraded my tubes but still using the original ballast, no major cost (£18 each tube), added 2 reflectors (£10 each) to bump the light up a bit and bought 2 hagen co2 kits (£20 each).

Total cost to set up for plants = £96 (ohh i have never added that up before, never mind)

after doing a bit of research into what plants will survive on 1.5WPG i have the set up you see in the pic below.

The first live plant went in just after Christmas so this is after just 7 weeks and theyre all growing. My Vallis (reeds) double in length in 4 days, the hardest bit is pruning which i enjoy anyway as it proves i'm getting something right..

i'm not saying it even comes close to some of the tanks these guys have, but to be honest they know what theyre doing and I er.. dont

good luck whatever you decide

Plants aren't a necessity but they do act as water purifiers if you plant heavily enough. It down to personal choice and depends on how much time/effort/money you want to spend. I have spent hundreds of pounds on mine over the last two years, most of it through trial and error. If you do decide to go the planted route then my best advice would be to do your research and buy the best equipment you can afford all at once and setup well from the start, rather than upgrading slowly.