Plastic vs. fabric/silk plants

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


ChristinaBug2890
 
Posts: 299
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:15 pm

Plastic vs. fabric/silk plants

by ChristinaBug2890

Hello all!

I was just wondering if there is any advantage to using fabric or silk plants over the plastic ones in my aquarium. Is either harder to clean? Which do the fish prefer? Any additional information would be greately appreciated. :)

(My tank is currently quite sparse, im looking forward to the decorating process...suggestions are welcome)


gumbii
 
Posts: 1695
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:31 am

by gumbii

silks are prettier... lol...

it's all personal preference... if you're going to keep up with either, any of those two is fine... silks usually fall apart in my tanks... cichlids love to chew on plants...

i would go for live plants... some are very low maintanance like anubias or java fern... fish don't eat java fern because it's disgusting...


ChristinaBug2890
 
Posts: 299
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:15 pm

by ChristinaBug2890

Thankyou so much. From what I'v seen and read online the Java fern seems like a good choice in my case...I tend to shy away from live plants because my only experience with them resulted in a huge rotten mess...but I will give it a try. I'v seen that the java fern can grow on wood. Is there a special technique to making it stick? I'm also not too sure about using real driftwood in my aquarium because I dont want it to rott and pollute the water...is there any special extra maitenance when using real driftwood? I bought some thinking it would look wonderful but now I am not too sure how the water will handle it. And I havnt been able to find any real good looking artificial wood around here either.

Should i introduce the live plant before or after i put in the fish?


gumbii
 
Posts: 1695
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:31 am

by gumbii

the introduction of the plant isn't important... you could have them in there right now... the waste from the fish benefits the plants but isn't needed...


just boil the driftwood so it doesn't leak tannins all in your tank, and you keep crystal clear water... boil it in a huge pot for a couple of hours... if not days... i've never had problems with driftwood rotting... i would just keep it on the surface of the gravel... i would think it would rott if it's burried in the substrate...


spongebob4460
 
Posts: 603
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:37 am

by spongebob4460

I personally like plastic plants, and my previous fabric plants got all stringy and algae infested very fast and they were difficult to clean, so I opted for the plastic ones. They work jsut great and look just as natural to me, but everyone has their preference. If you want to grow plants, Peterkarig can give you the best advice, look him up if he doesn't find this thread soon. As for the java... i've seen people take string and tie it down to the wood, the java then grows over the wood and u can remove the string later or just let it be as it gets covered. hope this helps


gumbii
 
Posts: 1695
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:31 am

by gumbii

Oops... i forgot to say how to make it grow onto the wood...

yeah... like spongebob said you tie the root stalk onto the wood with some string... sometimes the leaves will die off, but will give off little java fern babies... peter told me to tie those down to the wood too, and the baby plants will spread and grow on the wood...


Zambize4899
 
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 am

by Zambize4899

I prefer the silk, or silk-like, plants because the hard plastic ones 1) aren't as attractive and 2) tear at the fish's fins.

I love the decorating process as well. I prefer a natural look so I stick with dark green primarily, grouping like plants together, highlighting with light green here and there and the occasional red or yellow, maybe even a dark purple. This has worked out to look quite natural with a good sized piece of artificial rock or driftwood as the centerpiece. For really densely planted tanks I like the 36" floaters, they look great. Oh, and be sure to add some "creepers" or ground cover, again grouping like plants together as opposed to putting one on one end, one in the middle, and one on the other end. That doesn't look natural.

Have fun!


Zambize4899
 
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 am

by Zambize4899

Wow, boiling the driftwood actually works? The only real driftwood tanks I've seen were yellow even though the people claimed they soaked or boiled the wood, I don't remember which. I have artificial driftwood, which actually looks real, no one knows! But I'd like real stuff if this seems to work and really keep crystal clear water!

Thanks.


spongebob4460
 
Posts: 603
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:37 am

by spongebob4460

Boiling the driftwood also allows the trapped air within the wood to release, letting the wood naturally sink to your substrate rather than float in the tank. And I have been using wood from the lfs that was in their tank, so i have never had any yellow tannin leak into my water.... i'm sure they treated it with boiled water before putting it into their show tanks. But take a look at my tank, you'll see natural driftwood and plastic plants.... they hold up very well.

Plastic vs. fabric/silk plants

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