Live Plants Vs Artificial Plants

So you have a fish tank set up and now you are wondering what type of plants to add to it. In my years of owning and maintaining fish tanks I have had both live and artificial plants. Both types are a wonderful addition to your fish tank, and are essential if you want to breed fish.

Live Plants:

In my experience, I have found that live plants are a great addition to any fish tank. They help with oxygen levels, bio-load, camouflage for babies, color in the tank, and are a great food source for some types of fish. You must be sure that you are aware of any fish you might have that like to eat live plants, so that you can pick plants that they will not eat (unless of course you are buying plants to feed them). When using live plants, I like to have a good variety in my tank, so that all levels of the tank are covered (bottom, middle and top). If you have floating plants, make sure that you have them floating root side down. Briar moss and algae are a great addition to any tank that has small babies.

When you have live plants in a tank, you want to make sure that you have good lighting. If you do not have a fluorescent lighting system, you will not see much growth in your tank. In fact, you might begin to see your plants die. So make sure, that your lighting system is capable of allowing growth for your plants.

You also want to make sure that you have a scrubber (for acrlyic tanks) and a razor blade or something sharp (for glass tanks), so that you can clean the algae growth off the sides of the tank at least once a month. If you put your tank in direct sunlight you can expect to see much more algae growth than a tank that is not in sunlight. Depending on what types of plants you have, the amount of fish in the tank, and the amount of light or sunlight the tank gets you will see variations in the amount of algae growth. For example: I have one tank that is a 55 gallon, it has 24 fish in it and a fairly decent amount of live plants in it. This tank almost always has algae growing on the sides of it. Another tank I have is a 35 gallon, with 10 fish in it and almost the whole tank covered with live plants. This particular tank has not had any algae growth on the sides since I have had it. Both tanks have fluorescent lighting and both get regular feeding (twice daily). So you see, what you have in your tank greatly affects the amount of algae growth you will have.

Artificial Plants:

Artificial plants are also a great addition to any fish tank. What I like about fake plants is that you rarely have to clean the sides of your tank from algae. There are now some types of fake plants that look exactly like live plants. In my 55 gallon tank I used to have a bunch of fake plants, and people would look at it and think they were real (they were silk fake plants).

But one thing that I do not like about fake plants, is that they do not grow. I enjoy seeing my plants that I buy grow and flourish with my fishes, and with artificial plants you will not see that.

Artificial plants, are great if you are not planning on spending alot of money or investing a lot of time to cleaning your tank but they will fade in color (unless plastic), and will often accumulate a lot of algae growth.

As with live plants, when stocking a fish tank with fake plants make sure that you have types of plants for each level in your fish tank. It is often hard to find floating plants though, so you might just stick to plants that stay close to the bottom, and plants that will fill in the middle area of the tank.

Which is better?

I have owned tanks with both live and fake plants in them, and I am partial to both. I think that live plants do look a lot nicer, and make your tank look more natural, but you can also find fake plants that do the same thing, and in some cases look even more real then real plants. So when it comes down to it, you just have to make a decision based on your personal preference. If you are planning on investing a lot of time and money into your tank, then live is the way to go. If you do not want to "break the bank" setting up and maintaining your fish tank, then I would stick with artificial plants. You have to remember that a fish tank is a home to your new pet(s), and like your home it needs to be kept clean. There is a lot of hard work that goes into setting up and maintaining your fish tank, but once you get through the hard part it's very painless and easy to do minor cleanings and adjustments.

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Aquarium Plants - Artificial Vs Real

Nothing makes an aquarium look better then aquarium plants. The big question is should you use artificial or real aquarium plants. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Real aquarium plants absorb fish wastes, making the tank easier to keep clean. They also add extra oxygen to the water as well as cutting down on algae. However fish are likely to either eat or uproot them. This of course gives you more work in maintaining your fish tank. Remember you want to enjoy your tank not work on it. The most important consideration with live aquarium plants is the lighting. Most experts recommend fluorescent lighting A good rule is to multiple your tanks capacity by 1.5 and thus getting the amount of artificial lighting needed giving your proper wattage. For example 10 gallon tank times 1.5 means you need a fifteen watt system. Do not overlook the advantage of indirect lighting from the outside. It is best not to use an under gravel filter with live aquarium plants as these filters can affect plant growth.

Artificial plants on the other hand are handy when your fish would eat your real plants. The fish may still uproot the plants, but this can be helped by buying your artificial plants in mats. These mats look natural and give a very nice look for your aquarium. There are two types of artificial aquarium plants, plastic, which have improved over the years or silk. In my mind the best choice is silk they look more natural in the way they move in the water and many times you can not tell if the plants are real or not. To avoid having to clean off your artificial plants I recommend getting a few algae eating fish such as red tailed black sharks. It is always good to cut down the work that you must do for your tanks, after all you wants to enjoy your fish tanks not to constantly work on them.

Which ever type of plants you choose remember that you want to able to view the tank as a whole as well as seeing the fish clearly. So be sure to put your taller plants at the back medium plants in the middle and your short plants in front.

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Aquatic Plants - Java Moss

Many fish species from all over the world likes to spawn among Java moss plants in the aquarium even when Java moss can not be found in their native habitat. Java moss will also provide fry with an ideal hiding place where they can avoid being eaten by adult fish. Since infusoria appreciate the moss as a home, really small fry will have access to tiny food that they can feed on until they are large enough to eat bigger food types. Java moss does not have to be planted in the substrate; you can simply tie it to a piece of aquarium decoration or leave it floating around in the aquarium. A free-floating piece of Java moss can however be sucked into the filter, so most aquarists prefer to attach the Java moss to something or plant it in the substrate. It can actually do well even above surface as long as the air is moist. It is therefore a great plant for open aquariums and paludariums.

When you attach the Java moss to rock, wood or any other type of aquarium decoration you can for instance use fishing wire. Be careful not to use materials that can pollute the water, e.g. cupper wire. The moss will instantly start growing small roots (so called rhizoids) and try to attach it self to the surface. After a while, the fishing wire is no longer needed since the plant will be secured by the rhizoids.

The moss is a very fast growing plant, and when you have purchased one plant you can easily use it to create new plants for other parts of the aquarium. It can be propagated by simply splitting the plant and moving one of the parts to another place. The moss will often propagate itself in the aquarium since small pieces will fall of the main plant and drift around in the water until they find a new place where they can attach themselves. The moss will also form red-brown sporocarps.

The moss will endure a wide range of different water conditions and temperatures. It is native to warm waters and the preferred temperature range is therefore 64°-86° F (18°-30° C). It will also appreciate a pH between 5.8 and 8.0 but can sometimes adapt to more acidic conditions. Unlike many other tropical plants, this moss does not require strong light and it will actually do best in low or medium strong light. Algae can be a problem for the moss since excessive algae growth on the leaves can harm and even kill the plant.

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The advanced plant aquarium, Tropica Aquarium Plants

Establishing an advanced planted aquarium step for step using more demanding plants in terms of light, CO2 and subsequent maintenance. Produced by Tropica Aquarium Plants in collaboration with aquadesigner Oliver Knott.

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Aquarium Plants

Keeping plants in the aquarium can require just as much patience and care as the fish in your aquarium. Keeping a planted aquarium will pose many new challenges for you to keep track of and manage. Many people chose fake plants for their aquarium, but they do not get the full experience out of these. In this article I will going through the various things you need to consider when picking out the proper plants for the aquarium.

The first thing you want to do, is find out what type of plants best simulate your fish's natural habitat. Of course you could always mix it up as long as it will pose no harm to your plant or your fish. Many fish require plenty of plant cover in their natural habitat so it is good to provide it in the aquarium. You should also make sure to not add real plants to aquariums where the fish you are keeping tend to eat that plant type. You should also make sure to house any plants in an aquarium of at least 10 gallons in size. It is better to have an aquarium of 30 gallons, but for starting out 10 gallon should work just fine.

As far as lighting conditions for your planted aquarium, you should provide an adequate amount of lighting for the plants. You should make sure that you do not use lights that can cause additional heat to be transferred to your aquarium. Lighting arrangements can work out if there is plenty of plant cover for this fish to hide under, but you should also definitely take into account the fish's own lighting needs. It is best to include plants and fish with similar lighting requirements to make adjusting the levels that much easier.

When you are putting plants in your planted aquarium, you should provide a suitable substrate for the plants to get their roots in. A substrate of at least 1-3mm in size is normally recommended, but you should check your plans specific needs to find out exactly what would be the best for it. Most planted aquariums are freshwater, so just be sure to properly condition and de-chlorinate the water so your plants aren't damaged. Different species of plants have different water conditions so just make sure you know the exact water parameters to properly care for the plant.

I have tried to show you a couple of things to take into consideration when you are thinking out the details for your planted aquarium. I always recommend you take it a bit slow when starting out your planted aquarium. Haste definitely makes waste, and it is great to have a bit of patience. You can purchase your aquarium plants from many retailers all over the web, you can always ask a helpful sales representative if you have any problems or questions when selecting the plants. Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope I was able to provide you with a bit of useful information. An informed decision on a planted aquarium is always the best kind.