fake or real plants

[saffa-man]

i currently have fake plants in my tank. i was wondering if real plants are a lot more effort and wich are the easiest and least expensive to have.

thanks

 

[maxwellag]

The easiest and least expensive are definitely fake plants. Least expensive because you already have them. Easy because you don't have to feed them. I like having live plants in my 10 gallon tank because a) They help biologically filter the tank b) their natural green color looks nice c) after they grow, you can trim them to whatever shape, height, or width that you want.

 

[AquaOne]

And... I don't feed my plants, in a well established aquarium they seem to do okay anyway. I couldn't possibly tell you names of plants, but I have two varieties that you can almost watch them grow! One is long thin leaves about ½inch width & grows in a bunch of around 20 leaves, the other is like a string of florets and about every 4inch has a new branch. The latter you can snip off and stick the cut end into substrate, less than a week later it's rooted and growing. Someone at AA is bound to know the correct names. If you go for live plant (I think it's better all round) you can get plant-feed sticks that you put into substrate near roots, but I prefer not. Maybe I have managed without because the plants I have are so easy to grow.

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

IMO live plants are so much better because they cut down on algae and release more oxygen for the fishies to have. Some nice looking cheap plants IMO are "Moneywort", "Hornwort", and "Anacharis." With all of these besides "Anacharis" u can cut a part of it off and it will grow to be a whole new stem.

Here are pictures of all of them.

MONEYWORT-Moneywort Plant - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart

HORNWORT-Hornwort Plant - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart

ANACHARIS-Anacharis Plant - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart

 

[GoneFishing]

i currently have fake plants in my tank. i was wondering if real plants are a lot more effort and wich are the easiest and least expensive to have.

thanks

To the OP, The fake plants you have are def cheaper like Max said. One reason I went with live is for the extra feeling that not only are my fish growing but I'm also a green thumb with aquatic plants. Silk plants are better than plastic and live plants are better than both. It really depends on if you want to spend the money on live plants and also spending extra time caring for them. I will say I think the amazon sword is one of the most common and easier to keep (mine have been through a lot!). Another one I see a lot is the Anacharis (Egeria densa)

And... I don't feed my plants, in a well established aquarium they seem to do okay anyway. I couldn't possibly tell you names of plants, but I have two varieties that you can almost watch them grow! One is long thin leaves about ½inch width & grows in a bunch of around 20 leaves, the other is like a string of florets and about every 4inch has a new branch. The latter you can snip off and stick the cut end into substrate, less than a week later it's rooted and growing. Someone at AA is bound to know the correct names. If you go for live plant (I think it's better all round) you can get plant-feed sticks that you put into substrate near roots, but I prefer not. Maybe I have managed without because the plants I have are so easy to grow.

The first one sounds like an Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus), the second one sounds like Idk maybe Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides), but not sure.

 

[AquaOne]

Hey GF, I still don't know. I was probably told when I bought it, but forgotten ! My kid's (use the tewrm loosely, 20 & 24) say its 'weed' (too wet to smoke !!).