Which Are Better???????????

i think you'll get some biased answers when posting that question here.

real, for sure. they add a whole new dimension into fish keeping.

I am definitely with Tyler on that.

Look into it more, you'll be glad you did.

Depends on what you want.

Fake:
Pros -
No maintanence (except replanting them after a gravel vac)
Requires no extra equipement (ie. lights, co2, fertillizer, etc.)
Cons -
Has a fake look (depends on the person, but I personally don't like it)

Real:
Pros -
Good nutrient exporters (ie. absorbs nitrates, phophates, etc. leading to generally healthier tank conditions)
Look great (at least I think so)
Cons -
Requires extra equipment (ie. lights, fertillizer, etc.)
Slightly more maintanence in terms of pruning, fertillizing and such.

Personally, just for the nutrient exporting aspect I'd go with real plants over fake anyday, be it floating plants, or rooted plants. Give plant keeping a good read. Once you get a decent plant tank going, there's no turning back =)

HTH
-Richer

one thing to add to that list

Real plants:
sometimes algae grows on them, sometimes it doesn't. If the plant is growing well, algae (usually) won't grow on it

Fake plants:
algae always seems to grow on them.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say outright that live plants are better.
Why? Because we're trying to keep the fish as happy as possible. Live plants (when healthy and all) improve the water conditions, which is good for the fish. They also give the fishes places to hide, and 'terrain' to play about. Don't ask how, but live plants seem to do this better than fake ones do.

Of course, if you just have a brown thumb, or whatever, then your fish won't suffer for not having live plants as long as you do all the maintenance.
So, don't feel as if you HAVE to have live plants - if it just doesn't work out, or you don't like the look, decorate however you wish!

But, I think you owe it to youself and to the fish to try live plants - they're alot of fun, they look tons better (IMO) and it just adds to that whole 'ecosystem' thing. It's no longer just a glass box with fish, it's a little community.

Having real plants turns your fish tank into a work of art, while fake/no plants makes them just another fish box.

Depends on what fish you have. I had all silk fake plants for about a year because my Green Severum and Silver Dollars pretty much ate any plant I put in-even Java Fern.

Got rid of the fish, now I have lots of plants and the tank looks so much more alive and real.

Actually, I will take a bit of an opposite opinion - and say having both in a tank can work very well.

I like the benefits of live plants - but also enjoy the easy care of fake ones. And if you get the higher quality (IMO Seagarden is the best by far) silk plants, its hard to tell they are not real - if you also mix in some real plants.

The reason I say to mix is that way - you don't have to have the big investment in other equipment to grow certain plants.

I have gone with a low light, low tech approach with my 72 gallon tank - No CO2 added, and just 1.5 watts per gallon of lighting. So thus I have several low to moderate light real plants (Anubias Nana, Anubias Coffeeolia, Java fern, Java Moss, Water Sprite, Anachris, Hornwort). then I also have several very good looking silk plants from Seagarden - that I couldn't grow in a low light, low tech setup.

The mix works really well. I plan to update my pics in the next few days - to show the effect. the existing pics in my link below are many just the fake plants

Well, do you like plastic Christmas trees or the real thing? do you put plastic flowers outside your house?

I like the real thing. I enjoy gardening and watching a plant grow. Not everyone is meant to be a gardener, just like some people shouldn't own pets

Robert H