Plastic/silk plants

[Wills]

I’m after some fake plants to help while I move my tank around and can’t seem to find any good ones. I got some Hugo kamishi ones which are quite big but look rubbish - has anyone found any that look any good and if so what make were they?

Wills

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I’m after some fake plants to help while I move my tank around and can’t seem to find any good ones. I got some Hugo kamishi ones which are quite big but look rubbish - has anyone found any that look any good and if so what make were they?

Wills

If you must, then always go silk, 'cos they have the texture closest to the real things.
Fish will prefer to be able to swim amongst and between plants and the plastic will cause injuries, no matter what their manufacturers may claim.

 

[Wills]

If you must, then always go silk, 'cos they have the texture closest to the real things.
Fish will prefer to be able to swim amongst and between plants and the plastic will cause injuries, no matter what their manufacturers may claim.

It’s only temporary for a few weeks - I’m tempted to get some spawning mops? Which feel a bit safer? Or I could just get a big Amazon sword mother plant but I don’t think I’d keep it so don’t want to waste it where as the fake plants I could keep as a back up if I needed in the future

 

[AbbeysDad]

Back in the day, I resisted live plants for a long time but sometimes an ole dog can learn new tricks....

I once had a collection of plastic plants in my 60g display tank and about once a month they went through the dishwasher with either some white vinegar or some bleach. Rinsed well, they went back in 'fresh and new looking.
But artificial plants come with a curse and mine are now locked away harmlessly in a bin somewhere.
First artificial plants just don't look real and I'll bet the fish aren't fooled either. Now if you have colored gravel, Sponge Bob, a deep sea diver, a treasure chest and/or a sunken ship...well maybe it doesn't matter! But if your target is underwater realism, it does.
Second, unlike living plants, they do nothing to improve water quality. Living plants use nutrients (aka pollution) to grow, converting them into plant tissue we later remove by trimming. This is especially true for fast growing stem and floating plants. And the beauty of floating plants is that they tend to do well with almost any lighting while rooted plants may need higher intensity.

So I finally came around, bought a better light and began a planted aquarium. Now it's low tech to be sure although for a time, I toyed with DIY CO2 (sugar water and yeast) and the plants did well, but that got old. I do use some modest fertilizer just to ensure the plants get everything they need.

Okay then, back to artificial plants, if you must, I tend to agree with @Bruce Leyland-Jones that silk plants look better than plastic and because they're softer, are likely more fish friendly (although the fish will probably still know the difference!)

 

[Wills]

Back in the day, I resisted live plants for a long time but sometimes an ole dog can learn new tricks....

I once had a collection of plastic plants in my 60g display tank and about once a month they went through the dishwasher with either some white vinegar or some bleach. Rinsed well, they went back in 'fresh and new looking.
But artificial plants come with a curse and mine are now locked away harmlessly in a bin somewhere.
First artificial plants just don't look real and I'll bet the fish aren't fooled either. Now if you have colored gravel, Sponge Bob, a deep sea diver, a treasure chest and/or a sunken ship...well maybe it doesn't matter! But if your target is underwater realism, it does.
Second, unlike living plants, they do nothing to improve water quality. Living plants use nutrients (aka pollution) to grow, converting them into plant tissue we later remove by trimming. This is especially true for fast growing stem and floating plants. And the beauty of floating plants is that they tend to do well with almost any lighting while rooted plants may need higher intensity.

So I finally came around, bought a better light and began a planted aquarium. Now it's low tech to be sure although for a time, I toyed with DIY CO2 (sugar water and yeast) and the plants did well, but that got old. I do use some modest fertilizer just to ensure the plants get everything they need.

Okay then, back to artificial plants, if you must, I tend to agree with @Bruce Leyland-Jones that silk plants look better than plastic and because they're softer, are likely more fish friendly (although the fish will probably still know the difference!)

Im well past the Spongebob phase haha but my daughter is starting to watch that now lol...

Like I say its just temporary while the tank moves between a couple of rooms. Since I stopped using Co2 in my tank I've taken a lot of plants out and want to start moving out the rocks and soil to replace with some sand in the next few weeks. I think I'm going to go down the spawning mop route though.

Wills

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I use Superfish from ProShrimp

Artificial Aquarium Plants - Made from Silk or Plastic - Pro Shrimp

www.pro-shrimp.co.uk

They have both silk and plastic, very reasonable cost, easy to clean when required....decent selection aswell.

One thing I do like with them is that the weight on the bottom actually is heavy, its a ball, so no more fish digging anything up or anything floating about in the filter flow that is meant to be in/on the substrate

They are perfectly fine imho.....especially for someone like me who kills living plants and isn't a living plant snob (I do have a selection of living floating plants in each aquarium, just to see if they will actually live long enough to look "half decent")

 

[AbbeysDad]

Im well past the Spongebob phase haha but my daughter is starting to watch that now lol...

I'll never forget the time I was 'complaining to a co-worker who at the time (nearly 20 years ago) had a daughter about the same age as Abbey) about how dumb the show was. His response was "Yeah, but every now and then Patrick says something profound." I just lost it laughing!

I think I'm going to go down the spawning mop route though.

You likely know this but if you make your own spawning mops use a nylon yarn as although natural fibers will work, they'll will begin to decay in time.

 

[Sgooosh]

It’s only temporary for a few weeks - I’m tempted to get some spawning mops? Which feel a bit safer? Or I could just get a big Amazon sword mother plant but I don’t think I’d keep it so don’t want to waste it where as the fake plants I could keep as a back up if I needed in the future

spawning mop is easy to make:
get yarn
fold it many times, cut one end
the uncut end use another small yarn to tie that together
make sure the yarn is like water safe or something

 

[Ch4rlie]

I know next to nothing about artificial plants but came across this article from PFK that may be of interest for you -

How to set up an aquarium with plastic plants

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Plastic plants can look great and they do provide a multitude of surfaces for beneficial bacteria, algae and, subsequently, infusoria to grow on.
From experience, they will get brittle (and fish-dangerous) over time and I found that colours will fade. Of course, this isn't too much of an issue, because you can remove them with relative ease and wash them, but they do tend to be expensive if you need to keep replacing them.
That video @Ch4rlie is useful, but please remember than fish cannot swim through packed clumps of plastic as well as they might through clumps of real plants...and they may not know that they're plastic before it is too late.
Whilst they are considerably more expensive, silk ones are far, far safer.

 

[Wills]

Just found these on Facebook and think they actually look pretty good

Handcrafted Artificial Corals, Kelp & Plants 🪸

Buy lifelike artificial aquarium decorations | Handmade and produced in Denmark | Suitable for freshwater and saltwater aquariums | Free delivery for orders above 100€

www.pangeawebshop.com

Wills