planted vs un planted

[joemomma456]

I just wanted some info on the advantages of planting and not planting

 

[philipraposo198]

Planted, more fun, better for fish and water quality, better looking, more natural environment.

More money, more work, more time.

 

[agrasyuk]

better looking aquarium, yet to see artificial plants that look good enough. as mentioned better water and more natural environment for fish. disadvantages - little bit more work and knowledge. IMHO aquarium is incomplete without live plants so for me this is not even a question of "is it worth it?"

 

[sabrinarichard]

I have both, I was once an only planted kind of girl (I have over 20 plants in my 30g) but then decided to put snails in my 55 (Peruvian and apples) so the plants were no longer an option.. I now LOVE my fake plant tank, but it cost me a pretty penny.. Like 100$ for under 10 plants.. I think it gives different looks and it's nice to have both and my snails lol
Edit : I have exactly 6 plants for 100$ :/ but they are so life like! And have some nice colours I couldn't have in live! I'll try and post a picture later!

 

[Pleco1415]

Having live plants in your tank will look really pretty but you have to remember plants are vary fragile and will fall apart if handled. I had Cabomba plants in my tank and after a week they started falling apart from the fish hiding in them and brushing up against them. If you do get live plants I would personally keep smaller species. It was my fault the plants were falling apart because a keep larger catfish species like Raphael striped catfish and plecos.

 

[azmodan]

The biggest advantage real plants offer (aside from their obvious superior aesthetic) is that they can range from very easy to very challenging, thus opening a whole different element to the hobby. Similar to how one would enjoy spending a lot of time landscaping their property into something beautiful planted tanks can be similarly rewarding. With fake plants you just plop them into the tank and you're done. That's great if you want to keep the hobby very simple (and definitely nothing wrong with that at all), but if you're looking for new challenges and much more depth then aquatic plants can lead to endless hours learning the intricacies of growing difficult (but beautiful) plants and how to properly aquascape with them. Ultimately it all just depends on how far you want to take the hobby.

 

[philipraposo198]

Not to mention you can take your cuttings and trade or sell them to other hobbiest for more plants or money. I really enjoy adding another layer to the hobbies and how you can watch them developed very quickly. In my low tech med light tank I can see growth day to day. My cabomba is my best grower, growth of 5 inches in a week.

 

[joemomma456]

I have a quick question could real and fake plants be mixed?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[philipraposo198]

Of course

 

[gilpi]

Real plants are always nicer but now you're stepping into a different world. It does require more work, balanced lighting, fertilizing, fighting off algae etc.
I would start off with low maintenance plants and see how that goes, I have a low tech tank and it gets a bit frustrating at times when things just don't go as expected.

 

[joemomma456]

Any suggestions for my first plant?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[philipraposo198]

Tell us about lighting substrate tank dimensions and ferts if you plan the use em.

 

[agrasyuk]

I would say it can be as difficult or as easy task as one wants to make it. At work I have a run of the mil 10 gallon top fin kit with its tiny 6 LEDs for lighting. No CO2 and fertilizer above what single gourami and one Chinese algea eater make. Going since last October and the easy low light plants doing just fine. As the matter of fact one of the swords completely outgrew the tank so i took it home , and since one of the other swords split I still have the same amount of plants

 

[gilpi]

Off the top of my head, Anubias, Ferns, Amazon Swords, there are many others, you can do a Google search for lots of more information.
I am keeping only Amazons and ferns with low lighting and they do fine.

 

[philipraposo198]

mosses are always a favorite as they almost always grow well. Christmas moss is my favorite atm.

 

[ScotJudd]

Real plants are more work than fake but real have lots of advantages.
Water seems more stable.
Fish love them and are less likely to injure themselves on real plant.
The tank evolves like a garden rather than a painting.
Having said that, my small tank has plastic plant with Java moss (trimmings from the main tank) entangled and growing well. It doesn't look as artificial as just plastic and has some of the advantages of all real.

 

[Coursair]

My 10g with screw in Mini CFLs weekly PWCs and weekly liquid ferts. My first heavily planted tank.

Just an example of easy low light low stress tanks

Old vid btw. Need to do a rescape before taking new ones. Tank is heavily planted and heavily stocked. I'm new to plants, but NOT new to fish. I don't recommend this many fish.

http://youtu.be/aptmdICahvM


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