Fake vs. Live Fish Tank Plants

[CraigHardy]

I am looking to get into aquascaping and am very excited about the prospect of creating a beautiful under-the-water world that I can be proud of and show off to friends. I'm in my 40s and am very patient, so planting and waiting for plants to grow is no problem at all. I've seen so many videos and photos and have joined a few aquascaping groups on Facebook. I absolutely love the way some of the tanks look. My only hesitation is that this hobby may be too much for me. What I mean is that the tank may need too much maintenance. Also, when I first began thinking of getting into live plants, I had no idea that the plants would need CO2 introduced into the water. I'm not looking forward to buying that every few months. I can do the gravel and the plants, driftwood and rocks, but I just don't want to get sucked into something I may regret down the road.

In the past, I've owned pretty nice fish tanks that have focused much more on the fish themselves. I actually never gave the plants much thought. I bought all fake ones and while they weren't the greatest in the world, they weren't bad.

Basically, what I'd like is a crystal clear tank that looks very good. I really don't want to have to deal with cloudy water and live plants that need fertilizing and all that. I'm looking for your opinion on this. Are live plants the way to go? Is it really that difficult to own this type of a tank? Should I just go the fake plant route and try to make that look as good as possible? Any and all opinions are welcome.

 

[WendyMay]

Here's a video for you that might help.

 

[CraigHardy]

Here's a video for you that might help.

Thank you for the video. That helped a lot. I've been giving those whole thing some thought and I have to admit that it's kind of maddening. At first, I was going to buy a 29 gallon tank because I wanted to start small. Then, just last night I decided that I want to get a 75 gallon. I've had this size in the past and love it. So that's what I think I'm going to do. You never know - maybe I'll get a 29 gallon as well. I'll start off with some fake plants and then go from there, once I figure things out. I think jumping right into a brand new tank, new fish, and live plants will be too much for me. I need to ease into this.

I did want to mention that I found a bunch of great resources for aquascaping. Here are the Facebook groups I joined:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/493795474131120/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1674832626069438/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/342068286211749/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/590928041093081/
Each group is very helpful and I've learned a lot over just the past few days. I love all the different scapes and designs that people put together.

I also found a few books that I like. This one is called "Sunken Gardens." It's highly rated and looks very good.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604695927/?tag=leegnet-20
And finally, I found a really great aquascaping tutorial Youtube channel last night. It's called "The Green Machine" and it looks awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_r2NYCo35CKai3ZMfXyASw
Here's one of their very good videos. I find it inspirational.

The people who put this channel together also offer a book for sale. I may purchase it.

https://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/aquascaping-book/
Take care!