Newbie Plant Question

[simon1003]

We're in the process of moving from a 60 litre to 200 litre tank, my wife is insisting on plastic plants as we have recently had a problem with one of the fish (Golden Ram perhaps) uprooting and generally making a mess of the live plants.

My question is this, is it okay to have a 200 litre tank with only plastic plants? Can it be harmful to the fish?

Thanks.

 

[Chubbywubs]

Not really, most fake plants are pretty soft now, so they wont scratch or hurt your fish. Your have to clean them once in a while though, because its a static and constant surface, algae will more than happily set up home on them.


You might also want to keep an eye on your lighting arangements, as the Algae will no longer have the plants to contend with for oxygen and light, so they could grow.

 

[community begginer]

you wont have any problems as far as them being eaten or any attempts to be eaten. teh only thing is, and of coarse i am assuming you have experience in the science of fish keeping is, that the plants being fake will not have the same benifets of real ones... eg) they will not produce any oxygen into the water. (so i suggest you invest in a undergravel filter if you already havent). so as to help keep oxygen circulating in the water.

2nd of all: they wont look as nice. it isnt that hard to tell a real from a fake. (a dead give away nearly all the time would be the slight sway from side to side by real plants due to the water current.
most fake ones are motionles).

if you have changed your mind by now. you could always invest in a few "bad tasting" plants. what i mean by this is that there are some plants that certain fish will not eat or even nibble again after the first bite or two.
i couldnt reall give you an example but i have had some anubias that are thick, hard leaves plants that none of my fish have taken a liking to.
then of coarse there is the up rooting problem. simply invest in a few plants wieghts from your local aquarium.

sorry for the long post. but i hope this has helped you.
regards, community

 

[Chubbywubs]

I've been reading alot that under gravel filters arnt worth the hassle. If you want oxygen in the tank, just buy an airstone/air filter. It looks cool, its cheap and it doesnt block up/or need to be cleaned.

 

[cloudnine]

I agree chubby. Ive had a standard filter for years and it's worked a treat

 

[Chubbywubs]

I've not used an under gravel filter, and so i was reading up on what i was missing, it seems i havent been missing much.



I have the reno air 100, its completly silent and the bubbles rising out of the air stone through my divers helmet looks pretty cool. Unfortunatly i dont have any loopy fish that do cartwheels when they see bubbles.. (but im stilll searching for one )