Fresh or Plastic Plants: Choosing Aquarium Plants

A cleverly decorated aquarium has the ability to enhance the attractiveness of any room in your home or office. Your choice of decorations doesn’t just depend on aesthetic values but also on its effect on your fish. Aquarium plants would be a good choice because not only do they add color to your aquarium, they also bring comfort to the fish by providing hiding spots for them.

There are two types of plants that you can put in an aquarium: real plants or the fake variety. Real plants will naturally require more care and maintenance than plastic plants. The process of choosing what real plant to put in is also be a lot more complicated than just choosing plastic ones.

Plastic plants are long lasting and very easy to clean. You only need to take them out of the aquarium and wash with soap and water. The colors are varied and sometimes even more vivid than real plants. Although you have to be careful about the too bright colors or it might stress your fish. Some of them will adjust their colors to a less vibrant color in order to be less conspicuous to predators. Better stick to the more natural marine tones to bring out the natural bright colors of your fish.

Another kind of fake plant that you can buy is the silk plant. They are more realistic but admittedly, more expensive than plastic plants. Just be sure to buy those designed for aquarium use and not the ordinary craft store variety, which might be unsafe to put in aquariums.

Fresh plants are the most realistic, but they also require the most care. Like certain varieties of fish, certain varieties of plants require specific water temperatures or pH levels. Consider the needs of your fish, and then choose a compatible plant variety.

Besides being more realistic, there are additional benefits to using real plants. Some fish will only breed in a planted tank. Fresh plants also help in the nitrogen cycle by using nitrates, and add oxygen to the water. Live plants are eaten by many fish varieties, and for these herbivores, fresh plants are the most natural food source.

All these advantages are sometimes overshadowed by the extra effort you have to put in to take care of fresh plants. Fresh plants require light for photosynthesis, the same way that your ordinary garden plants do. The amount of light will depend on what type of plants you have. You also need to take care of the fertilizer needs of some of them. They do not grow on just your ordinary plant fertilizer but with special aquarium type of fertilizer. Do not attempt to put ordinary fertilizer on them for they might kill not just the plants but the fish as well.

Unlike fake plants, cleaning fresh plants must be done in the aquarium where they are planted. Over time, dead and decaying leaves will accumulate on the bottom of your tank and will reduce water quality. You can prevent this by pruning the dying parts of your plant and by using a special product like EcoBio-Block. This product can provide the beneficial bacteria needed to convert the organic wastes, such as decaying plants, into safer by-products that will keep your water clean and healthy. With proper care and maintenance, real live plants will really give your aquarium the ideal natural habitat that your fish need.