Does anyone have live plants vs. plastic? I would love to have live plants, but have not read much about the maintenance and care of them. We currently have a 30 gallon of community fish. (6 fish) I really enjoy having fish and think live plants would be a nice addition.

We have plastic plants, but did have a live plant once. I don't know too much about them, though. Dh is the one to take care of all that stuff. I just watch the fish!

I had real plants in my single days but not I have fake.

It is a light and water issue with live plants. Once you find plants for your light level, or move the tank to get the right light. The water is the picky part. You need to test and adjust the ph. The larger the tank the easier it is since it fluctuates less. ANd once you do get it right it is easier to keep it right.

We used to have a 30 gallon, hex aquarium. I loved that thing, but after a zillion years got tired of it. We had live plants for a long time and once you get em going they are soooooo easy to care for. They also help oxygenate the water. What kind of fish do you have Sara? We had angels. I had one that was as big as my hand, from thumb to little finger with my hand all spread out. It was gorgeous. I added some new fish and killed it:( . Be careful about those new fish if you have any other ones that you are attached to.

We have a 10 gallon aquarium with live plants... 3 of them. THey are growing like mad... I have already had to trim them once. I don't do anything special, they just grow. *shrug*

We have fake for now, we figure once the kids are past the stages of tossing unusual things into the water, then we will get live ones...for now i have enough to deal with with them dropping things in (there is a lid, ds knows how to lift it and how to unlatch the locking thing we have for it) *sigh* somedaay though i would like to have a bunch of live plants for it. :)

Melissa,
Zachary has tossed sponge bob in our aquarium a few too many times. LOL
He also loves to feed them. I can't believe they are still alive.

We had angels, but not anymore. :( Right now we have some fish that could live through anything. LOL (albino catfish, neons, and I already forgot the name of the others. hehe) We used to have some pretty fancy fish, but a couple died during our move and I think some couldn't quite handle all of Zachary's love. LOL

I'm going to just take the plunge and try some fresh plants.

Our turtle-Ricky-he eats any live plant that is put in, didn't realize he would until I made the initial investment.:paw:

We have three tanks. All of them have real plants. That is what we prefer. The other thing that you want to look at is what kind of fish would you prefer to have? If you wanted a tankful- I would purchase some Elodea (Plant) and some mollies-male and female. If the conditions are right they will breed with sucess. The babies live in the plant and yes it does grow. The plant I strongly recommend that you do not get is Duck Weed. Weed being the operative word. It will clog your tank. My husband is an advid fish lover (as so am I) he prefers ciclids. They can be a hardy fish. He is trying to breed some firemouths right now. Anymore questions let me know, if I don't know I will ask my husband.

Beth

Beth - we love ciclids here. Unfortunately, ours are too rough on live plants. Our big guy even moved the whole plant around the aqarium once. Now they have a castle instead.

Better sponge bob then dryer sheets.

Fish really don't like dryer sheets..

I have a 50 gal. i have fake plants because my fish are mean and eat plants and tore them up. but if you have nice fish you shouldn't have anyproblem other than eating the plant. GOOD LUCK>