Real Plants Or Plastic

[malloandson]

Hi to All

Does it matter if I place ornamental plants rather than real plants in my tank with tropical fish.

Thanks to all in advance.

 

[Ren&Stumpy]

Hi to All

Does it matter if I place ornamental plants rather than real plants in my tank with tropical fish.

Thanks to all in advance.

sometimes it better depending on the fish species you wish to stock or have stock.

I've never seen any differences between real or fake in terms of the tank environment.

 

[Colin_T]

not really
real plants will help use some of the nutrients up and keep the water a bit cleaner. However, they need light. If you don't have a light on the tank go for artificial plants. The fish will be happy with either.

 

[aaronnorth]

you could just get some anubias, moss balls & java fern, these will survive with low lighting and just off the fishes waste

 

[bam_emma]

Hey, real plants are good the the tank as they give off oxygen but i've noticed since i've got real ones they do tend to get out of hand a bit if you dont look after them properly.

Mine dont look so nice anymore, i'm going to keep them still but get a few plastic ones to make it look not so crap lol

 

[LauraFrog]

The amount of oxygen produced by live plants does very little to improve the environment, it will not increase the number of fish you can stock. They do remove nitrates from the water but regular water changes will do this just as well. Having live plants can reduce the likelihood of your tank being swamped in disgusting algae, by using up the nutrients the algae needs. however planted tanks can still become algae bombs and many non-planted tanks never do.

Real plants do take more work, most need fertilising, some will not survive without CO2 diffusion (which can harm fish). They need pruning. The plants you buy are usually plump and healthy, but you will find they grow stalky and thin if not very well cared for - they may survive but will look awful. It can also be hard to get true aquatic plants - people sell terrestrial plants that will not survive long underwater. No matter how well you look after them you will not be able to keep them alive in aquaria.

There are some very realistic fake plants which are just as good at sheltering fish as real ones and will not be eaten by your fish. They can be expensive if you choose realistic looking ones. They also need the odd clean or they are covered in algae and look unrealistic.

The other advantage of fake plants is that you can use them in tanks with fish that eat live plants.

 

[K-Holed]

As far as the fish are concerned, most fish won't care whether you use live plants, fake plants or stuff the looks nothing like a real plant. The only thing the fish is bothered about is whether it gives them a means for shelter or somewhere to spawn.

 

[5teady_2012]

Fake plants really do look tacky, get real plants

 

[TheMerovingian]

Fake plants really do look tacky, get real plants

I agree. Even though you can get fake plants in cool colours, they just look nasty.

 

[minxfishy]

Well I started with real plants a long time ago now, eventually no matter what I did, they all died, got dug up or just looked awful - so threw them out.

Then went with silk plants, they dont get dug up so easily, but the algae drove me nuts, althought easy to take out and clean in the end the colour starts to fade and again drove me nuts - so threw them out.

No I have no plants - just wood. Far easier

 

[rhostog]

Nothing against fake plants, but I'd vote for real ones unless you've got a plant-munching/digging fish.

Yes, they do need feeding, but you can either just add a splash of liquid feed every time you do a water change, or use slow release tablet and forget about them for weeks. There's a really useful pinned topic on pruning in the planted tanks forum, which will help you get better results than the 'chop random bits off' technique I was using... Also they can use up nitrate - my tank actually has lower nitrate levels than my tap water. I'd say the main disadvantage for me is that bits of plant get stuck in the sprinkler bar, but it's worth it. Not all plants will thrive for you, but stick several different ones in, see how they get on, and remove any that don't work out. Or even try a mixture, using fake plants to fill any gaps?

 

[aaronnorth]

by using up the nutrients the algae needs.

Only an imbalance, or low amount of nutrients cause algae, if dosed correctly, then they DON'T cause algae.

 

[mikky77]

The amount of oxygen produced by live plants does very little to improve the environment, it will not increase the number of fish you can stock. They do remove nitrates from the water but regular water changes will do this just as well. Having live plants can reduce the likelihood of your tank being swamped in disgusting algae, by using up the nutrients the algae needs. however planted tanks can still become algae bombs and many non-planted tanks never do.

Real plants do take more work, most need fertilising, some will not survive without CO2 diffusion (which can harm fish). They need pruning. The plants you buy are usually plump and healthy, but you will find they grow stalky and thin if not very well cared for - they may survive but will look awful. It can also be hard to get true aquatic plants - people sell terrestrial plants that will not survive long underwater. No matter how well you look after them you will not be able to keep them alive in aquaria.

There are some very realistic fake plants which are just as good at sheltering fish as real ones and will not be eaten by your fish. They can be expensive if you choose realistic looking ones. They also need the odd clean or they are covered in algae and look unrealistic.

The other advantage of fake plants is that you can use them in tanks with fish that eat live plants.

Hi,I recentley bought a Nutrafin Co2 diffuser ( canister ) You say Co2 diffusion can harm fish,is this so.Thanks

 

[jonny_dw]

I always go for real plants and recommend them if you have a light

 

[aaronnorth]

You say Co2 diffusion can harm fish

only at high amounts, (above 35ppm) but some people have run it at 40ppm. ou can measure the levels by testing kh & Ph and then reffering to the table in my sig, or for a permanent test gt a drop checker.