overplanting?

I think too many 'fake' plants is not good. When a fish is startled, he/she scurries off at an incredible rate and may run into the plastic plants. Have you felt some of the edges on the 'plants'? Some seem very sharp and offer no flex, and don't bend like a natural live plant would.

(by the way, the "scurrying off" with speed does not apply to "fancy goldfish"...) :eek:
 
::has a vision of a tank where the fish can't swim for the plants::

Well yeah, of course its possible, I mean, if you bought 40 fake plants and stuffed them in a ten gallon tank... But that kind of extreme situation aside, I guess it most depends on your fish and the kind of plants you use.

If you have a fish that likes a lot of swimming room, you should use less plants, but if you have very nervous fish who like to hide a lot, more plants would make them feel safer. I also agree with Joe about the edges on some fake plants. I've had some issue with the sharper ones tearing betta fins, so I try to stick to plants that are softer and have some give like real ones would.

Another concern is getting at the gravel, a nice part about fake plants is you can take them up to clean around them, but it can be a pain to do that, so consider maintenance when you set them up.

Basically, as long as you and the fish are happy, things are good. =)
 
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