# fake Vs. Real plants. Which is better?



## melly mel (Jan 1, 2004)

Is it better to have real plants in the tank or fake ones?


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## mr_meanor (Nov 5, 2003)

real if you want to breed, fake if you could care less


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## LaZy (Jun 17, 2003)

Both are the same
real plants tend to move
fake plants just sit still
but P's will still bite both


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## tinyteeth (Mar 12, 2003)

if you have good lights, meaning over 3 watts per gallon, then get real, cause they will grow pretty fast, so it wont matter if the Ps eat a few leaves. fake plants dont die, cheaper, and look like crap.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

LaZy said:


> Both are the same
> real plants tend to move
> fake plants just sit still
> but P's will still bite both


 Both are by no means the same: real plants convert CO2 into oxygen, and also use up small amounts of nitrAtes...
I'm yet to see the first fake plant that does the same.

*_Moved to Equipment Questions_*


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## Hareball (Jul 6, 2003)

real plants are better for the reasons judazzz just mentioned

fake plants are easy and pretty much maintenance free.


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## Noble (Nov 9, 2003)

Make sure you hae good lighting for teh plants though because they use up O2 when teh lights are out.

Not alot but as long as they are well lit during the day you will have no problem.

Also remove leaves that are dying because if you have too many Brown algea can form on the dead leaves.

I have both real and fake plants.

The real ones are where the baby piranhas like to hang out the best.


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## StuartDanger (Aug 7, 2003)

real plants are more pretty, they require more attention but they give off oxygen and use nitrate as a fertilizer


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## Void (Aug 24, 2003)

i dont like fake plants because my fish try to eat them and ... the last thing i need is a fish choking a piece of plastic plant


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## Chunkis (Nov 2, 2003)

well, i would have a mix of both. real plants help with water chemistry stuff. there good for the tank and fish like them. also get fake ones. thre cheaper somthimes..... and they requir no maintianing. a lush forest is all you need. a mixture of both


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## Chunkis (Nov 2, 2003)

dont plantes use up nitrItes? i thought nitrAtes are good. to a certain level


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Chunkis said:


> dont plantes use up nitrItes? i thought nitrAtes are good. to a certain level


Plants use up nitrAtes.
Slight amounts of nitrAtes isn't that much of a problem, and easy to take care of (water change). NitrIte levels should always be at zero, since it's very harmful to fish.


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## BanditBrother (Nov 8, 2003)

I recently removed all m crappy plastic plants and replaced them for real 1s! Looks alot better and realistic!! Plus the plastic 1s dnt gro new leaves when they get eaten!! LOL!


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## Chunkis (Nov 2, 2003)

Keep ur plastic ones just incase snails start to eat ur plants. They swarm in Huge numbers. U cannever kill them. Once i had thought i had kill them all by squishing them whenever i saw them. it worked for a while. then they came back. I wondered where they came from. I opend up my filter and there inside was a breeding ground full of snails.


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

I've never heard of snails breeding in a filter... how often do you clean that filter out, Chunkis?

Also... Snails usually come into a tank through plants at the pet store. What I would recommend doing is dunking the plants in a bucket of ice cold water for about a half hour or so before putting them in the tank. I was told this and a good shake afterwards will cause the lil' snails to fall off and any eggs on the leaves to die.


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## killer piranha (Jan 23, 2004)

> Keep ur plastic ones just incase snails start to eat ur plants. They swarm in Huge numbers. U cannever kill them. Once i had thought i had kill them all by squishing them whenever i saw them. it worked for a while. then they came back. I wondered where they came from. I opend up my filter and there inside was a breeding ground full of snails
> :that is why you wash them of befor you put them in the tank


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

I have always liked real plants, plastic are just so un-natural


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## BanditBrother (Nov 8, 2003)

real plants are healthier for the Ps when they eat em!!!!!


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

spiderman2099uk said:


> real plants are more pretty, they require more attention but they give off oxygen and use nitrate as a fertilizer


cool picture


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## eiji (Sep 16, 2006)

real plants are great especially those low maintenance ones..


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