LOL...yes, they are real. I hammered them open, they were already scored as to where they would break. Then I worked for an hour getting the meat out. I rinsed them and then boiled them 15 minutes, three times, to get all of the tannin out. Then I let them set in water over night, rinsed them off and plopped them into my tank. One thing though, be sure to get as much of the loose fibers off as you can, they are algae magnets!. I have a bunch of Java moss tied to the top of one, and Java fern on the top of another.