How Does This Look?

[Graeme Edwards]

Fair point, but to your

Look at most of the tanks larger than 130 gallons and you will see very little plants, more than 200 gallons and there will be close to 0 plants as the larger fish require conditions that make plants a great struggle.

Take a look at this

 

[andywg]

Wow, you've dug up a post of Takeshi Amano. Hardly a standard fishkeeper, and a number of people would say that is a waste of such a large tank (I count myself among the previous statement).

Note that I said almost 0. I am willing to wager that for every 200 gallon tank with plants there are at least 40 where the people have no interest in the plants. Head to a forum dedicated to larger fish and you will see 240+ gallon tanks with bare bottoms to ensure the tank is spotless for the fish.

Live plants is all about personal preference. In a planted forum everyone will say you have to have live plants. In a forum for people who want to keep fish (preferably lots of large ones) they will say not to bother with the plants and keep the tank nice and bare to spot any possible nitrate factories before they can start to break down.

Plants are not integral to the nitrogen cycle. To get them to effectively cut down nitrates takes a lot of work, and some would argue more work than regular water changes. In most circumstances they should be chosen for their asthetics above their filtration properties. They can complete the nitrogen cycle, but that takes a fair amount of work, dedication, and often sacrifices on what other livestock to keep.

It tends to boild down to whether you want a tank full of fish, or a tank full of plants.