Artificial Plants

[billy0510]

Well i know alot of my fellow fish keepers don't like or want to use artificial plants, but for some of us certain circumstances keep us from having an beautiful garden on display. Many new plastic and silk plants are looking more and more like the real thing. So i was wondering which brand or which plant (fake of course) looks the best in an aquarium???

I personally don't like silk for some reason they look more fake, if there can be such a thing. In the past six months i have purchased several brands of the same plant to see which i prefer. But since this can get pricey I'm along way away from checking on them all. So i need your help!! Which brand looks the best?? I have found out that swords or larger leaf plants Hagen is my favorite but for Hair grass and club moss Penn plax is the best. What YA think??

 

[doresy]

Hi, from my own experience I have found that most types of artificial plants become dirty with algae etc. very quickly indeed. Then from all the cleaning they either loose colour/detail or fall apart.

Without being nosey, I would be interested in which circumstances prevent the use of real plants.

 

[billy0510]

well right now there are several

1 my twin 2 year old beautiful girls = Time

2 my twin 2 year old beautiful girls = Money (Lighting and other equip.)

3 My wife being pregnant = Might be looking for a new house in a year or 2 so don't want to set up and then move And $$ And TIME

I know it doesn't take allot more time with real plants but I'm a tank maintenance freak, i spend enough time with my 3 tanks

I have found out that the Hagen plants clean easier then the others i tried
This is just more of a fun not a need to know topic

Thanks

 

[doresy]

well right now there are several

1 my twin 2 year old beautiful girls = Time

2 my twin 2 year old beautiful girls = Money (Lighting and other equip.)

3 My wife being pregnant = Might be looking for a new house in a year or 2 so don't want to set up and then move And $$ And TIME

I know it doesn't take allot more time with real plants but I'm a tank maintenance freak, i spend enough time with my 3 tanks

I have found out that the Hagen plants clean easier then the others i tried
This is just more of a fun not a need to know topic

Thanks

Point taken!

Been there done that, my twin 2 year old beautiful girls are now in their 20's, on my 3rd wife and 4th house and had the snip. too much info.....sorry
oh well, back to topic. I still find real plants less hassle. I keep it simple, ordinary hood light, no co2 but a good fertilizer.
each to his/her own.......good luck.
Ps. Enjoy them while they are young and prepare yourself for teenagerhood

 

[8inary]

There is another circumstance in which you would use artificial plants over real ones, and this is my reason for using them, in that I have many cichlids that essentially rip real plants apart within minutes of you carefully planting them lol. I spent a lot of money on real plants but got frustrated by seeing them in bits within the hour of washing my hands after being in the tank.

Whilst I have tropical fish, I have gone with a marine look and therefore opted for the rossa plants, which can be seen in the link below. Unfortunately, these are more costly than real plants at an average price of £7 and I have 19 = £133. That said, this does not end the problem as Doresy says, they do become dirty with algae very soon, even more so when you have 4 T5s like me! It is a hard choice, as the end result looks great.

The video does not show all the plants I have, I will need to up date the vid.

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcC6bF_L0T4

 

[Leedsboi86]

I gotta agree fake plants get that horrible yellow algae thats a pain cause it looks really nasty.
I'd say go with some real ones there not hard to look after they pretty much take care of themselfs once there going

 

[evilchild]

i have just started with real plants, but the fakes one's i have got look quite good, ( i think) i do like the grass types, i like the way the move with the water. this is my tank at the mo it only has 1 real plant in it at the mo (sorry for the bad pic too)

 

[8inary]

I would love real plants, but unfortunately as explained above, I cannot

I think when I bought my first batch of silk (fake I know but very nice looking) plants, it was about 2 months after when I notice the green algae building up. But that said, even the fish chomp on them, which causes them to have tatty edgings.

 

[Davo86]

A company called Rosewood make some of the nicest artificial plants available IMO, They along with Hagen are our main artificial plant suppliers.
They are good quality but do come at a price.

 

[8inary]

I have actually seen those in some shops I go in. Not quite what I want, I have gone with a marine tank look and therefore that limits what plants I put in.

I have spent a lot on these silk plants, although some are now showing tatty edges and have algae on them. Not sure what I will ultimately do.

here is a vid of the tank with them in, although I need to update the vid as I got more plants last night

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcC6bF_L0T4

 

[Davo86]

I think all i can say to that is WOW! It strangely looks very good to see Tropical fish in a marine style set up, Lol
and i think its the first time i've seen such an assortment of fish,

I would have thought that the botias and corys would soon become food to either the polypterus, or the ACF, if the flowerhorns and GT's don't attack them first

 

[8inary]

I get away with conflict and cannot really say how lol

I think I have been lucky when selecting fish, such as the green terror. when i was looking at the lfs in the tank full of them, i noted that
they were all fighting apart from that one, who was just chilling out under a plant, so i ended up getting that one.

i will have to reshoot the video as it does not show the 21" fire eel, which looks stunning

in regard to the corys, i do have to pay that little bit more and get the big ones, as the little ones would be eaten by the polys lol

 

[Davo86]

I must say they all look really healthy, you have done a Great Job with them

 

[8inary]

thanks, unfortunately i need a better way of recording them as ive only used the video on my phone, i have pics on flickr though...


http/www.flickr.com/photos/relphotography/

 

[Davo86]

well if you didn't already know your lobster is a cherax crayfish, your pleco is a very nice gibbiceps, amd your yellow african is probably a Kenyi
Your Photos are all amazing by the way,