Floral Dept Plastic plants

[MamaPish]

I have found some very inexpensive plastic and silk type plants at dollar stores, I had my tank filled up with them....looked great....but my fish started dying and couldn't figure out why, so I took all precauctions and removed all the plants till I could find out what was going on.

Has anyone else used these types of plants in their aquarium?
If so....expierence any problems?
I would love to put mine back in.

Oh yea.....a couple of them had metal wire incasted in the green plasic stem, and I removed all the wire before I used them...also washed them very well.
Thanks,
Trish

 

[cherrylt04]

ALot of silk and plastic plants have chemical coating on them, so it might not be to wise to put them in there, also even if you wash plastics ever well, it is very hard to get the chemicals out of the plastic, my advice it to leave the plants out of the tank, and spend the extra money to get plastic plants that are made for aquariums, or buy some live plants (which I've found normally cost less than the plastic ones anyway if your fish don't eat them). I hoped i helped,


Peace,
DPS B)

 

[Great Lakes]

I agree with Cherry completely.....

 

[EddieW]

MamaPish,

A lot of silk plants and some plastic intended for decorative use are coated with dust repellent chemicals to make them look nicer for longer - I used to work for a store that sold them and it saved me a load of work keeping the displays tidy

This is more than likely what your fish didn't like.

Plastic or silk plants intended for aquarium use would not have these chemical treatments.

HTH, Eddie

 

[aquamaniac2003]

I have always used plastic/silk plants in my tanks and never had any problems.

I always soak them in several hot water baths, changing the water in between. This was to remove any excess die in the case of silk plants, but I do the same with plastic.

You can see a pic of my tank in the users tank pic area. The tank in the pic has been up and running for 18 months now and the plants were new additions for my new tank.

I prefer artificial plants to real one and will continue to use them.

The discission is yours........

Happy fish keeping.

 

[MamaPish]

aquamaniac

Your aquarium looks great........I actually saw it earlier today when I was browsing around and saw some plants just like I had!

Question:
Do any of your plants have wire in them?

Mine did....but I pulled all the wire out before using them, and I washed them very well several times.

I got this idea from a friend who did the same thing but she covered all the wire parts with silicone...........she has had no trouble with hers either.

thanks for the input guys!
Trish da mamapish

 

[aquamaniac2003]

Some of the plants from hobby shops do have wire in them, but so do the ones you buy from aquarium stores. I checked the quality of the hobby bought plants and they are better than the ones I have bought from aqaurium stores and not to mention CHEAPER. Some of the plants I have cost me US$3-6!!

The biggest problem some one may have is keeping the plants down. I have wedged mine under rocks which works just fine.

The only plants that are looking like they need replacing due to the wire starting to rust is the expensive aquarium ones!!!

I will take some pics of the plants in my tank so you can see what I have.

Happy fish keeping All.

 

[MamaPish]

OK
I decided to put my cheap plastic plants back in..........as I was washing a new one in hot water, I noticed some white stuff in the joints of the plant....all over....I'm sure it is some sort of glue, who knows if it is toxic to the fish......can't be good for them, especially if they eat it...so that one went in the trash along with some that I couldn't get the wire out of....I had a few left that seems fine, so I am going with that.
Trish

 

[bakedfish57]

My two cents is I used plastic plants that was a wreath and silk leaves to decorate spawning mops. No ill effect noted.More concerned about whats in the mop material.