Fake vs. Real?

[inspiringmind]

Hello...Me, so full of questions as it is my first day on the forum!

I have a 10 gallon tank and right now I have 5 fake plants and a cave that has some fake plants on it. I have the cave to the right, towards the back and then a empty space and then the 5 other fake plants to the left, kind of in a circle. My ? is, should I get rid of a few of the fake plants in lue of a real one? What would a real plant do for my tank and the fish?

Thanks!

Mary
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10 Gallon Tank:

2 Small Mollies
2 Fancy Mollies
1 Male Betta

 

[Tiffi]

Real plants would make the water quality better and might save you from algae overtake.
they take nutrients like Nitrate etc. out of the tank that might be a quick meal for algae otherwise. The will also produce CO2 for your fishes, look more like a real biotope/little ecosystem. Yes, one of the main points to me have always been the looks. It's more tranquilizing.

How much light (watts) do you have over your tank?

You could also go to the main page of the forum and look in the gallery pictures for nicely planted tanks.

 

[inspiringmind]

50 watts of light over the tank. I have seen at my LFS some plants I can buy but wasn't sure about what kind or what size for my tank. Although I have this feling my one fancy mollie (spot) would enjoy a live plant cause I see him/her (not sure!) picking at the fake plants and the heater.

Mary
-----------
10 Gallon tank:
2 small Mollies
2 Fancy Mollies
1 Male Betta

 

[Jchillin]

Hi again Mary!

I, like Tiffi, enjoy the look and "feel" of a planted tank. You can go to the planted tank forum which has tons of info on plants.

For plant suggestions (other than those at the LFS), check http://www.plantgeek.net.

For the biotope effect, take a look at my clickys

 

[wierdkid]

50 watts seems unusually high for that size tank. anyways that gives you 5wpg so you can use just about anything. however, i would suggest co2 injection or some other suppplementary carbon

 

[greenmaji]

Is your light incandescent or fluorescent?

 

[inspiringmind]

huh? You lost me at co2 and supplementtary carbon. Can you tell how new I am to this?
And I could be wrong about the wattage...Two medium lights on the top..if I had to guess I would say 20 watts total.

Mary
--------
10 Gallon Tank
2 Small Mollies
2 Fancy Mollies
1 Male Betta

 

[inspiringmind]

Incandescent

 

[An t-iasg]

I also like the look of a planted tank over the "fake" plants. The fish will notice the difference also. My fish love to perch right on the leaves or hide among the bottom stems.

There are a number of stickys at the top of this Planted Tank forum, on the index page, that will give you an introduction to planted tank care. The lighting that you have will determine what plants you can get and what your fertilization dosing will be. Tank size is also a factor - most sword plants will outgrow a 10 gallon tank quickly. At 5 wpg, you have very high light, so like wierdkid says, CO2 injection will be a necessity. A pressurized system will be the easiest method for you with this much light. You'll have to dose fertilizers accordingly for this much light too. Again, the stickys can help guide you, as well as the other links that Jchillin pointed out.

 

[An t-iasg]

We posted at the same time, lol!

An incandescent light will not grow plants very well. Normal Output or Power Compact fluorescent lighting is what most of us have. Look at your bulbs when they are cool - either first thing in the morning before you turn them on, or at night when they've been off for a few hours. See if the bulb says anything to indicate what wattage they are. One of my bulbs says FL 15, meaning NO fluorescent , 15 watts.

 

[malkore]

A lot of 10gal tanks come with dual screw-in sockets for incandescents. As was already stated, these are very useless for growing plants. For $10-$20 you can invest in Daylight spectrum screw-in Power compact bulbs.

Make sure you read the stickies at the top of the forum here. Lots of good starter information there.