Real plants or fake plants?

Question

which one is better to put in the tank? and if i use real plants will i have to put them in soil or will they just root in the gravel? if i do have to use soil wont it just make the tank dirtier?

Answer 1

I've recently been dealing with this issue myself. I've decided to go with plastic plants becuase of the difficulty of keeping real plants alive and looking nice. It's true that real plants help keep the algae off of glass and other decorations. But, even with real plants you will have algae grow on other surfaces and you will have to clean that algae. It's also true that real plants help the natural cycle of your fish tank - but in all honesty, they don't help THAT much. You'll still have to change the water in your tank every two weeks. I can tell you from personal experience that they do not help a new tank cycle any more than plastic plants. The main reasons I've decided to forego real for plastic is that fish will eat real plants and real plants also leave debris as leaves die. They look nice for the first couple of weeks, but in a month's time you have brown dying leaves here and there (just like you would with a house plant only they get slimey and disgusting looking) and fish will nibble on them making them look like half the plant as when you bought them. You can also have the snail problem with real plants unless you spend a ton of money to buy the kind in plastic containers.

You don't have to have dirt in your tank for real plants. They can root in regular gravel. You will probably want a little more gravel though to keep the roots burried. You will need to make sure you have apppropriate wattage lightbulbs.You don't necessarily have to fertilize so long as you're putting the plants in an established tank. If it's a new tank, you'll probably want to add some food. You can buy tablets that dissolve that work just fine fairly inexpensively. But, you'd only want to use these until your tank has cycled and there's enough fish waste for the plants to feed off of. If you continue to use them they will throw off the water chemical levels in your tank and you'll have dead fish in a few weeks time and a water problem you'll have to fix before adding more.

Hope some of that helps.

Answer 2

It depends on the fish you have. For example, if you have cichlids, you can't have plants. For most fish, however, real plants are great. They keep the ammonia and nitrate down in the aquarium and add a moderate amount of oxygen. Plus, most fish prefer to graze a little in addition to the food you provide them (just make sure you don't have fish that will feast on your plants until they are gone). Most will root in gravel just fine, and don't need any sort of special substrate. With your first planted aquarium, I would go with low-light plants that don't need added CO2. Get a few rooted and a few floating. If you are expecting fry, java moss is a great addition as well. Java fern is easy to keep, and even easier if you tie the roots to a rock instead of burying them in gravel. Vallis is also an easy plant but needs more light. I've had good luck with basic sword plants and hornwort as well.

Answer 3

soil doesn't make the tank dirtier as long as you dont stir it up. You really don't need soil thoigh, a thick layer of gravel will be fine I would start with java fern they are really easy to keep and hardy plants. live plants are healthier for the tank and help to filter out deadly chemicals created by the fish. You need to make sure you have sufficient lighting about 1 watt per gallon, java ferns are easy to grow though and can take a real beating.

Answer 4

I love real plants! They help the water maintain quality and they do root into gravel. Some come potted....I leave them that way and just bury under gravel! They make plant fertilizer for aquariums that's liquid! If you have snails watch out cause some of them eat plants. Also make sure you get easy to grow plants like java moss. Some plants require special lighting.

Answer 5

It does not matter much but some fish will eat live plants. If you choose live plants you don't need soil--the plants will root in your your substrate, ie, gravel, rocks, etc. Whatever you have on the bottom. Just don't put dirt in there. I use river gravel in mine from "Home Depot". Been using it for many years and no problem. Artificial plants mostly just provide cover--hiding places for fish and to add beauty to your tank. I think you need to invest in a book or books to eliminate trouble down the road. Buy some mags or subscribe to. Cheaper to subscribe.

Answer 6

Real plants are better and look nicer, but fake plants are more easy to manage. Especially if you can't seem to keep a real plant alive or your fish just eat or destroy the plant.

Answer 7

real plants do not require soil and the gravel is good rooting. They get fertilized from the fish. I think the fish like real better. The fish seem to nudge them with their mouth.

Answer 8

Do you have fish that won't eat or destroy plants (such as African cichlids)? Do you have a fluorescent light bulb? If so, then you can get some real plants. Plants need at least 1 wat per gallon (so, if you have a 10gallon tank with a 15watt fluorescent bulb, that 1.5watts/gallon, and you can grow most plants decently).

The fish, they don't care either way (although small fish or fry may hide in the plants and eat the infusoria [micro-organisms] growing on them). Plants do help keep the water clean, but if you're doing weekly water changes, it won't matter. It's just about the aesthetics :)

You don't need special gravel. They make stuff like eco-complete, which is plant-specific, but it's not necessary. Most plants will grow readily in plain ol' gravel. The addition of fertilizers can help (macro / micro trace elements for plants), but aren't necessary, as your fishes' waste will provide adequate fertilizer.

Some fool-proof plants include:
anubias: http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/People/h-anubias.jpg (there should not be burried, but tied to a piece of driftwood or rock)
java fern: http://www.neptuneaquatics.com/images/Java%20Fern.jpg (again, tie to water driftwood)
java moss: http://www.aquamoss.net/Java-Moss/images/Java-Moss-01.jpg
pennywort: http://www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/00%20John%20Somerville/Pennywort,%20Floating%202.jpg (a great floating plant)
amazon frogbit: http://www.gantschnigg.net/paludarium/pflanzen/mp-limnobium-laevigatum0310.jpg (floating plant)
Valisneria: http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Plantdir/Plantpic/val-str1.jpg
amazon sword: http://naturalaquariums.com/plants/echbleheri.JPG
moss ball: http://www.tropical-aquarium-plants.co.uk/images/moss%20ball.jpg

If you fertilize, don't do so TOO much, and don't leave the fluorescent light on for more than 10 hours per day, or algae will grow.

If you really enjoy growing the plants, you can dry a DIY CO2. This puts CO2 into your tank, helping your plants grow.

Consult www.fishforums.com for lots more info, and feel free to ask questions.

Oh! A really good added benifit to plants is... SHRIMP! You can put awesome shrimp in your tank, like cherry shrimp (these are smallish, and shouldn't be kept with fish with big mouths!) ghost shrimp, fan/banana shrimp, amano shrimp...

Answer 9

real plants are best, they help with algae, with oxigen, and with the cleaning of the tank in general, you dont need soil, all you need is gravel or sand and if you have an undergravel filter take it out because it will not work with your plants

Answer 10

If you are fickle and whimsical like I am, you might like plastic decor so that you can move them around whenever you want to change the look of your aquarium and do a "remodeling". And you don't have to worry about the proper amount of lighting except to make your fish look nicer.