Show me fake can look as good as real plants!

[stephcps]

Who says you have to even have plants.....live or fake? What is wrong with a simple harscape using some nice river/ocean rock and some driftwood. I have 2 of these set-ups as the cichlids I have will decimae any plant. I like them just as much. If you aren't gonna have the live planted showcase....why not just show off the fish?

 

[SMinNC]

Sorry about the waste of my long post. I was just reacting to the Freak out of cost thing.

When I really got into fish, I had a 75g with 70 something fish in it. And wall to wall (fake looking)fake plants and wood.
It had an ugf and a 350 magnum.
One day I brought home one of those plant bulbs(in a box) and stuck it in there. I was pulling out 6 ft long leaves from it in a couple of months. I ended up finding out that I had trained it to only grow to the top and stop, because every one that started to turn, I'd cut off. I ended up with a very big bush.
This was all done with the stock 4ft fixture and a Triton bulb, no co2, no ferts, ect. I done nothing different from what I had already been doing. Except for removing some fake plants because of the way my real one was growing.

Then in a 55g with the two stock 18"(?) bulb fixtures, I grew a very large colony of Java Fern half way across the tank. It took it a year from a small start, but it was growing and required very little of my time. It was run on an ugf and 350 too

I've seen plenty of georgous tanks on here, running no fancy substrate and no co2, with maybe a couple of dollars worth of ferts a month.

I have no problem with you wanting to do a fake plant tank. It was just the Cost thing that got me going.

Next time just ask for the georgous pics and leave out the live plant wine, and most of the replys probably wouldn't be here.

 

[finsNfur]

I've kept fake plants before, and they did not need replacing every 6 months. Also, I realize the start up cost of fake plants, but they still don't need the $150 dollar or more lighting, the CO2 setup, the substrate that costs me $275.00 vs $55.00 for 110 lbs, and that doesn't even get into the fertilizers and other things I have to buy every month. And yes, to everybody else, I KNOW that fake plants don't move and look as real as fake. I don't really need convincing of that. I've kept 3 tanks with live plants. The lighting that comes in the setups I've been looking at is one watt per gallon, often LESS. I don't think even anubias and java fern would be happy with that. Also, I like more variety in plants than that, especially in a 4 foot long tank. So, while I totally appreciate where everyone is coming from, please stop trying to convince me otherwise, and let's just post some more lovely photos, okay? Thank you so much! Especially to the awesome videos and pics I've seen already. Keep them coming! I love inspiration. Also, if anyone knows where to get the fake plants those guys are using in the videos from the first reply, please let me know. They look way better than the stuff I've see online and in my local shops.

Hmm, well, the title says, "show me that fake can look as good as real plants". The reason I didn't post a picture is because I don't think fake plants looks as good as the real thing. As I said earlier (as did someone else) fake plants will eventually develop unsightly algae. Perhaps a tank full of brand new fake plants will look lovely at first, but it just won't last. If it did for you, what is the point of this thread? Just go back to fake plants. And I'll say it again, my java fern/anubias/water sprite/etc. do fine in low light 1 watt per gallon or less), I don't have special substrate, CO2, fertilzers, special lighting, etc. But carry on with your search, I'm sorry I wasted your time.

 

[platytudes]

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=4189
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3753

It's certainly possible to make a tank that looks good with artificial plants. If you use low lighting (such as LED lighting) or even take regular fluorescents and put a thin strip of window tint in between the bulb and the glass, algae problems will be virtually nil.

 

[platytudes]

Oh, and here's one more link
http://www.aquariumdesigngroup.com

Check out "decorative freshwater"...for examples like the stunning aquascape below!

 

[Somervell]

How about a mix? I have a large centerpiece of Java fern on a large piece of volcanic rock. I filled in the rest with 80% fakes and a couple of hearty swords. I am pleased with the results, and Java fern gives you a lot of bang for the buck. Very little mtce, either.

 

[Jannika]

Some fake plants look more realistic than others. I was impressed with LMOUTHBASS's scape, who uses TopFin silk plants only. I downloaded his pic so I can use it for reference.

 

[dani_starr]

I've kept fake plants before, and they did not need replacing every 6 months. Also, I realize the start up cost of fake plants, but they still don't need the $150 dollar or more lighting, the CO2 setup, the substrate that costs me $275.00 vs $55.00 for 110 lbs, and that doesn't even get into the fertilizers and other things I have to buy every month. And yes, to everybody else, I KNOW that fake plants don't move and look as real as fake. I don't really need convincing of that. I've kept 3 tanks with live plants. The lighting that comes in the setups I've been looking at is one watt per gallon, often LESS. I don't think even anubias and java fern would be happy with that. Also, I like more variety in plants than that, especially in a 4 foot long tank. So, while I totally appreciate where everyone is coming from, please stop trying to convince me otherwise, and let's just post some more lovely photos, okay? Thank you so much! Especially to the awesome videos and pics I've seen already. Keep them coming! I love inspiration. Also, if anyone knows where to get the fake plants those guys are using in the videos from the first reply, please let me know. They look way better than the stuff I've see online and in my local shops.

I was up til the wee hours in the morning trying to figure out where on earth the ADG got their plants, I finally came across on google where one of the men wrote back and said that they "are custom crafted" and if the guy wanted some, to let him know what he was looking for and he could get a custom invoice for him or something like that, with that said, they are NOT cheap plants I'm guessing. (I'd be wary of using anything in a tank from Hobby Lobby or any store like that since they aren't made for aquariums, them may leach toxins into the water.

However, after lots of searching via ebay and amazon I found some pretty good plastic plants (and they seem to be soft plastic, which is very important to me) that are SIMILAR to the ones in the vid, a lot of the ones I found are from Hong Kong (go figure) or the UK (just search "plastic aquarium plant" you get a lot of hits. I personally think the hair grass looking ones that are multi tone look the best!

Here are some more pics, all cichlid tanks, but pretty nice fake plants. http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/topten.php/s_2 http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/top_freshwater_tanks/0/page-

Ohh and MORE pics! (it even talks about what plants they use!
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=4189

Hope this helps! I'll post more pics/links as I find them!

Here's some nice plants from the UK http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/a...plants/sydeco-artificial-plants-and-displays/

And while I know these aren't in an aquarium, (.. 0_o :screwy some of these I recognize from looking up fake aquarium plants http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=9913.0

I haven't looked at the prices though, so they probably aren't cheap.. granted they are pretty though!

 

[platytudes]

Yep, the Rosewood Sydeco brand plants are good stuff...but international shipping gets expensive!

Fake plants don't have to look bad at all. They are a completely acceptable substitute, and if you can't grow plants well, they do look better than plants that aren't thriving and are barely hanging on. I hate those tanks with glaring white substrate and like 2-3 stems of live plants. Ok, I get it you're trying to be a purist...but in the meantime, how about some fake plants so it doesn't look so empty?

Mixing them gives you the best results, IMO, and if it turns out your live plants reproduce like gangbusters, you can always thin out your fake plants.

 

[dani_starr]

Yep, the Rosewood Sydeco brand plants are good stuff...but international shipping gets expensive!

Fake plants don't have to look bad at all. They are a completely acceptable substitute, and if you can't grow plants well, they do look better than plants that aren't thriving and are barely hanging on. I hate those tanks with glaring white substrate and like 2-3 stems of live plants. Ok, I get it you're trying to be a purist...but in the meantime, how about some fake plants so it doesn't look so empty?

Mixing them gives you the best results, IMO, and if it turns out your live plants reproduce like gangbusters, you can always thin out your fake plants.

That's how I feel. Live plants look gorgeous, but when you can't keep them alive (due to lack of funds, time, or experience) then realistic fake plants are better then having semi dead live plants. Especially the nice SOFT plastic ones, like the fluval chi one, which don't fade or start to break down (my large dark purple silk ones I've had for a few months are starting to break down, and they make it look like spider webs are in my tank! gross!)