Live Plants Or Fake Plants -- Which Is Best in Your Tropical Aquarium?

When setting up an aquarium one of many considerations is "do I use fake plants or real ones?" The corollary of course is "Which one is better?" They both have "good" points and "bad" points.
Fake plants are either plastic or fabric ("silk"). Some have weighted bases, and can be either realistic or fantastic in appearance.

Pros:

• You can have an ocean type plant in a freshwater aquarium.
• You don't need a plant friendly light or plant food.
• You give your fish places to hide in and swim around, thus creating a more natural and less stressful setting.
• You can pick some really wild colors in plastic plants including: pearl white, pink, gold, blue, purple or black. They also come in green :-)
• You can have "silk" plants which have more natural colors and a wide variety of leaf shapes. As they are softer, they will move more naturally in any current you create with a bubbler or powerhead.
• You can coordinate the plant colors with your home decor.

Cons:

• Since they don't die off, you can get bored with your decor.
• If you do not have an algae eater fish, they need manual cleaning -- use an old toothbrush, and rinse it in water.
• Even with an algae eater fish, they may need manual cleaning.
• Often more expensive than live plants.
• You can only use aquarium safe plants from a pet store. Never buy fake plants from a craft store and put it in water. The dyes may be toxic to your fish.
  

Real plants, like outdoor garden plants, can be grown from bulbs. Some have runners or bare roots, some self-propagate. Some species will flower!

Pros:

• You can create an amazing natural habitat.
• If you love to garden, this is a great way to do so, especially in the winter months. :-)
• Your fish can nibble on the plants, augmenting their diet.
• Live plants provide oxygen.
• Live plants use up some of the fish waste as their food.
• Live plants inhibit algae growth, by using up that part of the ecosystem the algae would use.
• Live plants turn an incomplete ecosystem into a more complete one.
• Live plants reproduce more leaves, grow taller, less boring.
• You give your fish places to hide in and swim around, thus creating a more natural and less stressful setting.
• Live plants are various luxurious shades of green, including variegated greens, purple, and reds.

Cons:

• You must have plant friendly lighting (replace the bulb(s) every 6 months!), planting media, and aquatic plant food.
• You have to prune the dead or damaged leaves.
• Your fish will eat your plants, so you will have to buy new ones from time to time.
• You have to plan out a planted aquarium as carefully as you would a garden.
• For example: if you use fluorite (a great growing medium) you must rinse very thoroughly, and put a 3 inch layer of gravel on top to keep the fluorite from floating around.
• Or you can use fine aquarium sand to root your plants into, avoid gravel vacuuming (most of the time), and still need weekly plant feedings.

For those who want their aquariums to be part of their overall home decor and design, try:

The Inspired Aquarium: Ideas and Instruction for Living with Aquariums

Here are a few other good books to get you started in planning your aquarium. Several of them cover using both fake and real plants in an aquarium habitat:

Setting up a Tropical Aquarium Week by Week

Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants

Creating a Natural Aquarium (Onterpet Handbooks)

The Simple Guide To Planted Aquariums

Aquarium Plants (Mini Encyclopedia Series for Aquarium Hobbyists)

A Few Pet Store Phrases Translated :-)

• Tropical: they need a heater and water temperature of about 76 to 80 Degrees F. So you must buy a heater with the correct wattage for your aquarium and a thermometer.
• Livebearer: if you buy one male, your need at least two females and they will have babies!
• Community: you must have a school or shoal (i.e. at least 3 or more of the same type or species) to ease fish stress and increase survival chances. Yes, the occasional neon tetra can live alone, but this is the exception, not the rule. Neons do best (and are nicest to watch) in a group of at least six to eight.
• Aggressive: they need a lot of living space. They are territorial, will often feed in a frenzy and will sometimes fight other fish. It also means they grow larger (anywhere from 6 inches to 3 feet!) However, almost any type of fish can exhibit aggressive behavior. Even a red minor tetra. For those fish that grow to at least 6 inches assume you need at least 2 gallons of water for every one inch of adult fish -- so find out how big they get before you buy!
• Requires Aquarium Salt: see my blog entry "Why Aquarium Salt?"
• Algae Eater: there are many species. Some grow to be 2 inches, others 2 feet! For which type to get for your aquarium see my blog Lights! Water! Algae!
• Bottom Feeder: is often confused with an algae eater. These are usually catfish that eat food which falls to the bottom of an aquarium. Except to be really healthy they require food of their own such as sinking shrimp pellets.
  

Why Aquarium Salt?

No, you are not turning your tropical aquarium into a marine habitat. Aquarium salt is sea salt -- not table salt (iodides are toxic to freshwater fish). Hardware stores call it Solar Salt and sell it in 50 lb. sacks. Most pet stores carry it, in much smaller quantities. :-)

Aquarium salt is a water conditioner (one of many!) that reduces outbreaks of Ick (a parasite), helps prevent bacterial and fungal infections, enables a fish's gills to work better and puts back some of the natural electrolytes our water treatment plants remove. When my Black Ghost Knifefish became ill and was losing his slime coat, the first thing I did after gravel vacuuming was to add salt.

The usual dose is 1 tablespoon (15ml) of this salt for every five gallons. Assuming I perform a water change by gravel vacuuming my aquariums every week, I probably add more salt once every two months.

Oscars Redux or Oscar! Oscar! Updated

I finally released my baby one-eyed albino Oscar into the main aquarium. He (she?) is dwarfed by the other inhabitants. He will probably have to be moved to another aquarium when larger.
Both the albino and the almost full grown Tiger Oscar are happily eating almost anything I give them. Like frozen krill, bloodworms and brine shrimp. Or cichlid pellets and shrimp pellets. Even algae wafers. The Tiger Oscar gets feeder fish as a treat, too. All the Tiger's wounds have healed nicely. So it's almost time to name them! :-)

I Want a Blue Fish, is There Such a Thing?

Yes, there is. In order of difficulty to keep alive:

The easiest to keep is a Betta fish. They come in various shades and mixtures of blue, red, purple, greenish, gold, yellow and even pink. Each one is unique. Almost every pet store carries them. Just have a 1/2 gallon bowl, water conditioner or dechlorinator, and feed 3-4 Betta pellets a day. See my previous post Betta Versus Goldfish.

For an aquarium of at least 20 gallons, there are Gouramis which can be blue, pale blue, gold and striped.

For South American cichlid fans, there is the new Electric Blue Dempsey, and the Turquoise Severum. Just get a 60+ gallon (or larger) aquarium with very good filtration.Or plan on one fish in a 30 gallon aquarium. A powerhead to create a current and add to the oxygenation is also very helpful. In my experience, allocating 2 gallons for every inch of full grown fish keeps the tank cleaner and the inhabitants less aggressive. By way of example: a 6 inch Severum needs 12 gallons all to himself. And a twelve gallon tank would be barely big enough for him to swim in. BTW, my Severum (a female, I think) not only has a brilliant turquoise coloring, red/gold bottom fins, and black strips and spots that appear or disappear depending on her mood.

For African Cichlid fans, there are a wide variety of blue species. Keep in mind they need very high water quality, aquarium salt, fantastic filtration and a pH of 7.4 to 8.2 depending on what lake their ancestors came from. Not to mention a really big aquarium.

Betta versus Goldfish

No, not a duel to the death or even a prime time fight. Lots of people want to know which of these two fish is the best "starter fish" for a child (or themselves). The answer is "It depends on what you want".

Both can live in a bowl or an aquarium. Both can live alone. For the Betta this is essential (most of the time). Both require weekly water changes, water conditioner or dechlorinator, and daily feedings.

If you want lots of movement: choose a goldfish

If you want a variety of colors to choose from, you want a Betta fish

If you like live plants, so will these fish. The goldfish will devour live plants, the Betta will nibble on and hide in them.

If you want to perform more water changes, get goldfish. They are messier and the ammonia they produce can kill them, if you don't change their water every 5-7 days.

Betta fish live alone. The only exception is the female, which in groups of three, with lots of plants can usually live in harmony. When a male Betta blows tiny bubbles to create a nest, only then is it safe to try introducing a female. Bettas can live with some other fish in a tropical community tank. Just no other fish with big fancy fins. Neon tetras (and many others) are OK.

For everything you wanted to know about keeping and breeding Betta fish see BettaTalk.com. What she doesn't know, isn't worth knowing.

Goldfish can only live with other goldfish -- they produce more ammonia than other fish, and they will nip and bump other fish. Besides, neon tetras look like a good snack to a goldfish.

The Two Most Asked Questions at Fish Pet Stores

1. Why are my new fish dying?

2. Why is my water murky/bad smelling?

Why Aquarium Water Changes and Water Testing Are Important

Each of my aquariums is a closed but incomplete ecosystem. Sure, I have a heater, thermometer, great filtration, plant and fish friendly lighting, and I add dechlorinater, aquarium salt and Cycle as needed. My fish eat the live plants.

It is incomplete because it is a sealed ecosystem, unlike Nature.

In the wild these fish would have fresh moving water, constantly changing the micro environment in which they live. Thus is true even for lake-dwelling fish, like African Cichlids, since streams feed into their lake habitats, and rainfall (however intermittent) replenishes evaporated water.

I tell all my customers that the first line of defense against poor water quality issues are regular water testing and water changes via gravel vacuuming.

The Solution: Weekly quality tests and weekly aquarium cleaning.

There are three methods for water testing:

1. Bring a water sample in a clean container or even a ziplock bag to your nearest fish store -- after you call to see if they will perform free water testing. Be sure they explain the results to you and help you find any solutions you need. The best places will give you a form with the test results written down. The form explains what is being measured, why, and the normal parameters. Even if they don't have such a form, the really good salespeople explain this to you and even show you how to read the test strip, as well as what products can help if there is a problem. Typically, you get the 6 in 1 test, but can also have ammonia or chlorine tested if you ask for it. Sometimes they will even test your salt level, if you ask nicely.

2. Buy and use dip sticks such as Jungle's 6-in-1 Quick Dip Test Kit. I scoop out water from my aquarium in a container I use just for this purpose. Dip the stick in, then remove quickly. Only an ammonia test strip has to be gently waved in the water. Don't shake! Compare colors on the strip to the paper chart on (or in) the bottle. Nitrate and Nitrite results take a few seconds to develop.

3. The test tube kit (aka Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit). You have test tubes, reagents, and lots of directions and charts -- OK it is a little like Chemistry 101. But the results are the most accurate of all.

NEVER put any of the test water back in your aquarium -- the chemicals from the tests are not good for fish.

The Genteel Art of Gravel Vacuuming a Fish Tank

WHY?
The purpose is to vacuum up the fish waste and uneaten food (you haven't been overfeeding have you?*) so it does not pollute your incomplete ecosystem aquarium. If you don't do this, the nitrates lead to nitrates which in turn causes ammonia, which stresses fish and can kill them. Fish that have been living in an uncleaned aquarium become used to the gradually deteriorating water conditions. Newly purchased fish are less able to tolerate a drastic change from a shop tank to poor water quality in a home tank and so are more likely to gasp for oxygen, drop listlessly to the bottom, and even die.

WHAT?
OK, there is the manual siphon and the tap or faucet driven siphon such as Python No-Spill Clean and Fill Aquarium Kits. There is also the non-water removing sludge extractor, the more expensive continuously working waste removal system, and an inexpensive battery powered waterless gravel cleaner. I have only used the first two products, and they both work well for me. I have the 20 foot extension for the Python so I can thoroughly clean and replenish the water in all four of my current aquariums in less than 30 minutes.

HOW?
First, 1 inch = 10% of your tank's water volume. Change 30% or 3 inches at one time. Follow this rule, and you won't risk temperature-shocking your fish when you add clean dechlorinated water. Having said that, here are the two simple steps to avoiding temperature shock:

a. Prepare water and let stand at room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours
b. For larger (or very dirty) aquariums, mentally divide your aquarium into halves and gravel vacuum the left half of the tank bottom today and the right half in about 3 to 4 days from now. You can even "divide" your aquarium into thirds, so long as you only siphon out about 30% of the water with the fish waste at a time.

I wield the rigid tubing which remains in the fish tank like a cookie cutter. Push down on one spot gently, wait until the cloud of waste rises from the gaps in the gravel, moving high into the tubing, then lift slightly and move the tube to the next spot, gradually going over the entire bottom of the tank. No fish are removed, but decorations can be moved as waste tends to accumulate around their bases. Live plants can be gently gravel vacuumed around.

Each product has its own usage explanations. While you are removing fish waste (which is grey, brown, blackish in color, while uneaten food is pale) you are (usually) also removing water. After using the gravel vacuuming products that remove water, you must of course replace the water with clean, dechlorinated water. Be sure to add dechlorinator/water conditioner to the fresh water either before or as you add it to the cleaned tank.

*N.B. As a general rule feed fish once a day, and only what they can consume in 3 to 5 minutes. If possible, turn off the filter while feeding. It teaches the fish to recognize feeding time, and keeps your filter from grabbing up the food before the fish do. As an added bonus, this extends the life of your filter media by not plugging up the micro pores with uneaten food.