Plastic plants

So, here's the question:
What does everyone think of only using plastic plants in the tank.
So much easier to get an instant 'show'
I saw a friends tank that he set up 3 weeks ago, with only plastic plants, driftwood and rock, and it looks amazing to say the least.
The great advantage I guess is that there is no maintenance needed and no additives or special(expensive) substrate and all the headaches that go with that.
Have also seen tanks with a combination of plastic and live plants - nothing wrong with that as far as I can see.
I know that there are obvious advantages to using live plants.
I have NO DOUBT that the purists here will snap my head off immediately for even mentioning the word 'plastic'
I wait to hear the response

:worried::bigsmile:
Ok before I get my head bitten off I AM NOT REFERRING TO AQUASCAPING and that side of of our hobby !!!
Just in general fish display tanks

 

Righteo....

Whilst people claim plastic means less maintenance, in practice, I found this to be completely false.

Fish excrete waste, and left over food turns to waste. This waste is the primary fertilizers for 2 living organisms.... plants and algae. If there is no plants to absorb the nutrients (ex waste), then you guessed it, algae will use it and bloom.

 

Also you dont need to spend a fortune on expensive substrate for the plants to be able to grow, i have a planted tank that just has normal silica sand and nothing fansy at all, just takes alot more time for the plants to grow but still its alot better long term than plastic plants in my opinion.

also they add to some degree a bit of filtration, i think....

 

Plastic plants gets dirty and for me doesnt have a feaction of thw effect that real plants give. I also started with plastiv and soon found my way to real plants and will never look back

 

If you are not really into real plants, plastic is the way to go.:bigsmile:

 

+1

 

@eros111 Saw the thread of your tank...Very Nice...

You used the combinations and numbers of each "species" of plastic plants very well. Now there is nothing wrong with plastic plants and as far as aesthetics are concerned they look very much like real plants if yyou do your layout correctly...like you did with your 1000l tank.

Over a year ago I started out with plastic plants. Maintenance was fairly easy and it gave me a chance to concentrate on other things like water parameters, etc. The problem for me was, I found it very rewarding to see my fish grow and change, etc., but I found the environment that the fish were living in, was too static (I got bored with plants staying the same size) So I changed over to real planst and although it has been a long, expensive, and frustrating venture (because I live in Bloemfontein and didn't know about this forum), I have never looked back.

So in short, there is nothing wrong with plastic plants or using a mix of plastic and real, but you may soon find that plastic plants are just not enough...

 

I was SCARED of that Neels !!!

 

a big con for plastic plants is that the initial outlay is expensive, you can pay + R100 for 1 fake vallis for example, or R15 for the real thing and it multiplies very quickly, befor you know it you have a whole tank full of the stuff, and it looks good too

 

I have to go with @Neels on this one. A tank scape continuously changes when you have real plants. I think I would get quite bored staring at the same tank I had 9 months ago.

 

Right - I am starting the 'real plants' thing slowly.
The biggest trouble is that I cannot get to the bottom of my tank - unless I remove the lid and all the wires that go with it. BIG JOB !!! That is the only drawback of having a deep tank !!
But I will make a start

 

You can always start with some low light plants (anubias, java ferns, etc) that must be attached to objects (stones, driftwood). They grow slowly, which gives you more time to get your nutrients, etc. correct and you may NOT need to upgrade your lights, as these plants can grow with about 0.4w/l.

 

I dont think it is great idea

 

I buy a dense plastic plant matte amout 60cm x 30 cm for R20ea. Two of these back to back with some polistyrene blocks in between makes a terrific hideout for young fish. (Livebearers, Rainbows, White clouds and killis.) Now how many floating plants can I buy for R20? Also how many babies do I need to save extra to pay for the R20? I'm converted to plastic.

 

Personally I don't like plastic plants, but i guess they are good for fish that shred your live plants - so there is a definite market for them.

 

Do not forget all the free diseases. :laugh:

 

+1

 

There's just one thing wrong about this, and that because it isn't a headache at all! Or atleast for me it isn't, I love doing maintenance on my tank. :bigsmile: And in at the end of the day you can say "woow i grew these plants". But with plastic plants there's nothing really to do, sure you can buy your fish and stuff but then what? Water changes and filter cleaning is what you have left. It's lovely to watch fish swimming around in a tank, but it's amazing to see them swimming around in a proper planted tank! :nuts: Maybe it's just me? :laugh:

 

Wait until you get infected with MTS. After a while you start making plans.

 

i was with plastic plants... i got irritated how dirty they got and covered in algae , i prefer the whole jungle type theme real plants create in a tank and when i took my plastics out all my fish suddenly spread all over the tank and take great delight swimming in the leaves reals FTW !