Thats all I have is artificial plants. When my bass gets involved in a chase with the feeder fish, the plants end up all over the tank. It (The Bass) would distroy a live plant in no time at all. Very violent sometimes! I went plastic due to they are easy to clean and are more rugged. The silk plants in my book look the realest of all artificial but tend to collect algie more quickly, that is also hard to remove due to collecting in between the cross threads. Second Nature and FancyPlants in my opinion look decent. I tried to get a overall view of each manufactors, while seeing them under water. This is the closest I could get. There may be better, This was all further I could get with my own opinion. Sounds like you've got a nice looking tank in the making!