ARTIFICIAL plants!?!?!?

[corcguy]

Despite there being quite a number of discus keepers that seem to be sucsessful in careing for their animals in planted tanks there are about as many who have failed. At my age (75) I am really into KISS so no plants. BUT maybe I can have my cake and eat it too. In all my reading through the forums etc. I find no mention of the use of artificial plants. Is there some basic problem with their use that escapes me. These days they are difficult to tell from the real thing they are so realisticly made, IMHO.

I would sure like to hear from any of you who can fill me in on the practicality of using these plants in a discus tank.


corcguy.

[Tazalanche]

First off, welcome to Simply! :wave:

I had a bare bottom tank with driftwood & artificial plants when I started. The discus would scratch themselves up on the sharp edges of the plants more than they would do so on the driftwood. Since we have nitrate issues with our source water, our discus tanks are now pool filter sand substrate & lightly planted.

[camuth8]

Live plants look much better, too.:p

[flexo248]

I use fake plant in my tank and no issue.... my fish use it for shelter..... just make sure is not tie down to anything.... mine is bare bottom with some light weight to hold the plant down that should be simple enough... good luck

[corcguy]

Thanks for your quick reply, David. I will have to closely examine the artificial plants I find attractive for rough surfaces and sharp edges. Your tip is just the kind of info I was looking for.
Enjoy your sunday.
Dick.

[corcguy]

Thank you also for your reply, Flexo.

[GrayLadyPat]

There are a few types of "new" artificial plants that are a softer type of plastic as well. They move, and feel somewhat like rubber to the touch. You might check into some of those as well.

[Disgirl]

Artificial plants will work just fine, just look for ones that are soft. The fish sure won't care if they are real or not, but you will enjoy the greens in the tank. Good luck and welcome to the forum!
Barb

[Keith Perkins]

I've used fake plants in the past without problem, it can definitely be done. I personally just used ones with the plastic V type base made to bury in gravel. I tore off the base and siliconed a group onto a piece(s) of slate to achieve the plant groupings I wanted. Welcome to SD.

[afriend]

Artificial plants are made from either plastic or silk. IMHO, the silk ones look nicer, but they cost more. Also, they are softer and move with the motion of the water. Never had any problem with the fish scratching on either type.

Unless precautions are taken to reduce nitrates in the tank water, they will need cleaning. With my bio load and water exchanges the nitrates in my tank ranged from 5 to 10 ppm, and this resulted in my cleaning them about once a month. Cleaning them is fairly easy by removing them from the tank and soaking them in a solution of hydrogen peroxide.

By the way, as a fellow senior citizen myself (74), welcome to Simply Discus.

Paul

[Keith Perkins]

I used silk as well now that you mentioned it Paul. Personally for cleaning I wait until my wife leaves and run them through the dishwasher without any soap.

[afriend]

Never tried the dishwasher, might give it a try. How well does it work for you?

Of course, I would have to wait until the wife leaves. She likes the fish, but my guess is that she might not be too fond of the idea. Like you, I might have to sneak one in on her.

[Keith Perkins]

As I remember, the dishwasher worked extremely well. It's been a couple two three 3 years since I've had any silk plants in the tank, that's about the time all the breeding started.

[strawberryblonde]

I used silk as well now that you mentioned it Paul. Personally for cleaning I wait until my wife leaves and run them through the dishwasher without any soap.

Oh my gosh...I'm telling!!! LOL

Actually, I'll keep your secret so long as you promise to keep mine. I do stuff that my husband definitely doesn't and WILL not ever know about. He's the squeamish type. =)

[marrythomas]

Artificial plants increase the beauty, but live plants are better as they look natural.

[pcdebb]

I have fake plants in my tank with a couple of mopani pieces. no issues so far. real plants look so much nicer, but it was a bit of work for me.

[musicmarn1]

For older discus plants are fine real, planted tank.net makes me a great aqua Gardner now! I put a bit of organic topsoil under the pool filter sand which is easy to clean for discus, for younger discus nothing beats bare and soft fake plants are fine...but I now do amazon swords in basket pots (aquaculture pots) and pebbles holding them in, the filter nitrate and ammonia and look better to my eye. Love to see pics of your tank

[BODYDUB]

I would recommend silk plants. They move better with water movement that plastic, look better and are extremely soft to the touch. Here is a pic of my tank when I had silk plants in it that I bought off of EBAY................
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/my_little_srt/Tanks/P1050708.jpg (http://s54.photobucket.com/user/my_little_srt/media/Tanks/P1050708.jpg.html)