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Voted for Live only
Although @one time there were fakes in one of the tanks.
*shrug* they just look better and make the addiction that much more annoying and frustrati......errr wait, I mean enjoyable of course .
*mutters*

^_^[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

Live Only! I used to have fake plants when I VERY first started, but that did not last long enough to even open all the fake plants. *looks to the top of the closet and sees packages of unopened fake plants* The live plants are FAR more interesting. The environment is not static and boring when you have plants growing and changing constantly. The fish have really appreciated the switch to live plants as well. I am VERY into the natural look in my aquariums, and let's face it, plastic just isn't all that natural. I have enjoyed the challenges of learning the care the plants require as well. There is nothing better than looking at a beautiful slice of ecosystem right in your home. Only one problem... it keeps making me want to push the limits to see what I can make possible in my tanks! LOL!

I started with fake plastic- then went to silk, then live.

I understand the plant of the day thing, my dojos, love to uproot sections of my tank every evening, and its taking a toll on my plants. There are days I just say the heck with it and let them float for a few days!

I like the look of the real plants, and the fish seem to enjoy them more, and it helps keep the tank running smoother ( the ecosystem thing).

I mix as i have never been too sucessful with live plants except hornwort and java moss.

Gibson SG you know you want one!!

My personal view is that live plants have a place in the majority of aquaria. Because they help make an aquarium a more complete ecosystem, or at least, help to make an aquarium as near to complete an ecosystem as it can be. However, there are obvious exceptions to this rule. Aquaria containing large Barbs and other herbivores that would devour the plants is one such exception. Aquaria containing big Cichlids that would dig the plants up and destroy them is another. Also, The Rift Lakes are bodies of water in which the principal biotopes are rocky screes and sand flats devoid of higher plant life, and in which the principal plant life comprises Aufwuchs, and so Rift Lake aquaria are similarly an exception. But, aquaria containing fishes such as South American Characins, Rasboras, Labyrinth Fishes and killies from rainforest stream biotopes should be planted. If the happy condition of my own fishes in planted aquaria is an indication of their utility value, then I would opt for live plants every time.



Last edited by Calilasseia at 10-Mar-2005 09:45

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Voted for: I mix both.

My 55g, 5g and 2.5g all have live plants only. My 4 1g betta tanks have 1 small fake plant only. I am considering switching them to live as well, though. My jave ferns are growing like crazy, so I could put new sprouts in each

><>Dani<><

[hr width='40%']I don't want another pretty face
I don't want just anyone to hold
I don't want my love to go to waste
I want you and your beautiful soul

I have only fake mostly because I keep large cichlids and I have seen what they'll do to plants

Fake.

Live plants are too hard to care for, and the fake plants in my 55 gallon tanks look real (and have even been mistaken for real from online pictures)

I'm new with Live Plants & so still very very green.



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Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

While writing this I'm also working on another plant order

I kind of jumped into plants without too much research, but I've had excellent luck with two tanks in particular and I'm working on improving the rest.

One of my cichlid tanks poses a particular challenge. My mystery cichlid takes out his agression on the Amazon swords, which are the only plants in the tank. It tends to be a plant-of-the-week situation...he decides he doesn't like one, tears up some leaves, then uproots it It's actually funny and when I replant my 29g all the swords from that tank will be moved to his.

I just think live plants look so much nicer and I like the whole ecosystem idea.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I use live because they look nicer in my opinion and they reduce nitrates. They are also not very hard to keep as I have to trim mine every few weeks and they keep growing and growing. I only use fake plants in my quarantine tank as I don't have gravel and medicine can kill them.

But my only real success with plants has been with java moss.

I have recently switched to live. My 55 has all sorts and my 125(cichlids) have a few large amazons. I guess it doesnt matter to me, but my wife likes them. Hopin they add to filtration(dont really need as all tanks are overfiltered), just hate cleaning intakes every 3-4 days with dead floating plants. Otherwise its way more natural. I need to learn to clip them.

love live plants..as much of a challenge as fish are.. any ideas on plants for a 90 gallon with a 12 inch oscar,8 inch dempsey a sev and 2 blood parrots.. I think they will tear anything I put in there to shreds........

But my only real success with plants has been with java moss.

Really? When I started with live plants, I didn't know anything about them. The only thing I knew was that I needed to get low light plants, so that's what I did. They all did very well, except for one that died but that was because it was a terrestrial plant being sold as an aquarium plant (chain stores don't tell you that).

I liked the way the plants looked and the fish loved them as well, before long I spent $250 on a lighting system that gives me a good 3WPG. Then I was trying harder plants, and they still did really well.

Since I started adding fertilizer and blackwater extract, my Hygrophilia has been growing 2-4" per day.

My only guess is that water in different cities and areas have slight chemical differences that either inhibit or encourage plant growth...

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

We have a little bit of both all over the place... We have two tanks (75g and 40g) that have nothing but live plants...the rest for the most part are fake, with some java fern and/or hornwart just for the heck of it.

id like live but I dont have the money 4 a tank light,so I voted fake

i love real plants n that is what is in most of my tanks except my rift lake tanks
they love when i add real plants in but they last bout an hour at which time there reduced to jsut a mere few stalks/stems
so they get a few fake plants to break up the upper rock work
but live plants for anyother tank is the only way to go

I totally dislike all artifical plants weather in a tank or not. They are lifeless, and have no character.
I call them "indoorisplastatorris"

I know some Aquarium fish require plastic plants and I think this is for convenience only.


Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I only use live, because I feel that it makess my tank more than just an aquarium, but a miniature functioning ecosystem.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.