Why real plants rather than plastic plants?

[adriaand]

Hi guys

Why is it nec to have live plants ranther than plastic plants?:wondering:

[Singularity]

Rather do no plants before you put anything plastic in, just looks fake and unnatural

[Slummies]

Plants have been proven to remove nitrates from the water

[adriaand]

But the plants i had in made the tank more dirty.

Is it only for nitrates?

[Rowland]

If your plants are able to thrive, in other words have enough light, micro and macro nutrients and CO2 if thats your route, they will remove harmful nitrate issues to a point while also releasing oxygen. However if they are not thriving and rotting away, they can be the cause of some problems too

[carl p]

how much light should u use per liter of water/per plant

ive got 2 swords in 60L setup and its not going that well with them

theres 1 15W tube in there is that enough

their planted in potting soil under the silica, ive added some flourish excel

some of the leaves are becoming brown and becoming translucent

[lithosza]

Why have live fish ranther than plastic fish?
lol, just kidding. :)

I would rather get Java fern, Java moss and some Anubias barteri var nana plants before I attempt to get plastic plants.
I've got some small tanks with no C02, no light and no plant nutrients added to the water and those plants seem to do fine. Although they grow REALLY slowly.

[rogerrabbit]

Successful plants in a aquarium is for all purposes a completely different ballgame to successful fish in an aquarium. Plants do help keep the natural balance in a tank as they are the only way of getting rid of nitrate, except for dilution(water changes) and anaerobic filtration. But they need special attention, primarily lighting. I agree the java fern, java moss and anubias are most likely to survive in a tank under normal conditions, very hardy and can survive in lower light intensity.
Just a thought, never fertilize your plants in a "fish tank" unless you absolutely know what you are doing.

[Zoom]

Hi Adriaand,

At the end of the day, plants act as a nitrate remover, but only if you have provided enough light for them. The fish will provide the CO2, (assuming you don't go with too much plants.) Plants also help with combatting algae, because they compete with the algae for the nitrates. They also aid with the addition of Oxygen to the water... something you will be eternally grateful when your air pump packs up on a sunday afternoon!!

I innitially didn't have live plants, until the people here talked me into it. I liked the look of the plastic plants, because let's face it, they do bring colour to the tank! So I opted to take half the plastic plants out, and put in 2 live plants.

Not only did my nitrate level decrease, it would 'appear' to me that my fish are a lot more supportive too... they enjoy swimming in and through the real plants. They weren't interested in the fakes, although I do still have them.