euphiesman

hi

fletch

real, all the way. totally. I cant stand fake plants. I realy want to keep crabs but I value my real plants too much. Id definately have real plants in there over anything.

onelovie

Yep, I second that!

Gunnie

I love real plants! They not only make your tank beautiful, but they also help with nitrates!

tennhound

real plant and nothing else here. I think they make the tank look better nad they are better for the fish. plants also help keep the levels down with less maintanance.

MARIE

Butterfly

I like live plants much better. although I do have fake plants in my breeder/fry tanks. The angels like to move their eggs and fry around quite alot and they destroy live plants doing that soooo I gave them some fake plants and they love them. There are live floating plants to suck up the nitrates though.
Carol

0morrokh

I only have fake plants in my 10-gallon. However, I agree that real ones are much better. They take a little more work, but they look sooooooo much more beautiful. Someday I want a 55-gallon planted Amazon aquarium. But for now, I'll stick to fake ones while I'm learning to care for the fish.

Jessie_Lynn

I have real plants because I love the way they move in the water but I do have a couple of fake plants in my other tank because my other fish love to destroy the real ones...bummer

newbie101

I would like to have real platns but they are so much extra time and work. I know they are so beautiful and help w nitrates and stuff but I just wouldn't have the time and my mom would probably be against it anyway.

Jason

You dont really have to put that much effort if you get plants that can survive in low light. Visit that Plant Geek website for further info on low light plants. These usually have minimal requirements.

Craig

i use alot of fake plants but i would LOVE 2 use real plants but the proper pH 7.0 stuff i use from aqarium pharmaceuticals says on the bak DO NOT USE THIS pH BUFFER WITH LIVE AQUARIUM PLANTS so that sucks!!!! i said!! actually any ideas on this guys and girls?? could i hav live plants?

CHEERS

C W

Butterfly

My minds gone dead I can't remember why your're burrerin g to change your ph. My water is 7.4 and plants grow great. But don't know about the chemicals.

Jason

Craig, I say you go and try some of the tougher varieties. Should be ok

Craig

well i've takin a bit of a bashin about usin the pH 7.0 stuff so im goin 2 stop usin it 4 and i'll c how i get on lol

C W

Jason

Butterfly

J-Man I guess you've learned to read my mis-typing. I said burring instead of buffering. But evidently you knew what I meant Thanks. There are plants that will grow in just about any PH. Just have to do some research. If you will post your Ph we could have some fun and make plant suggestions for you :P But lets start a new thread for that since we're hyjacking this one
Now as far as the chemical, if theres a big difference in your natural ph (before chemical) and after buffering you might want to stop using it a little at a time so theres not a big ph fluctuation. This fluctuation* might make your fish uncomfortable. Just some thoughts.
Carol

fish_r_friend

i have fake plants

Isabella

Fake plants are not bad and they can look as nice as real plants do, but if one can, it's best for his/her tank's ecology to have live plants. Live plants help keep the water clean and stable. They oxygenate water which is great for fish. They also help keep the pH stable and they remove heavy metals that are toxic to fish. If a tank is planted very heavily, the plants prevent algal blooms and they keep nitrate very low or non-existent. They get rid of ammonia and nitrite. So in these respects, live plants are far better than fake ones. Not only do live plants look better, but they actually contribute to the maintenance of tank by helping in keeping it clean.