JUst wondering if live plantys help? If so how? I am new to this, with a new tank that is close to being fully cycled. Will live plants help to complete the cycle faster? Will it be okay to add them, or should I have started the tank with live ones in it? What plants are the best? We have some fake pastic things in there that my wife kinda liked, but I am open to suggestions! THANKS!

Live plants provide extra O2 to the tank and look more natural, but you have to maintain them to keep them growing, also they provide food for the goldfish if the like the plants.

Live plants will use up the nitrates in the tank that the goldfish produce and will help keep the levels of waste down, this doesn't mean you don't need to do water changes though.

Fake plants are allot easier to take care of, unless you have allot of algae in the tank, in that case the fake plants will get covered in algae fast.


The interesting thing about plants is trying to find ones that goldfish wont eat. some goldfish will eat any plant you place in there others don't bother plants.

You can add plants in an already existing tank, most of my tanks I have substrate to them, but the lower easier to take care of plants listed on this site don't really need a special kind of substrate.

Hmmmm...sounds like it's time to go shopping for a book, or look around a little and scope out the plant types and what you need to get them going and keep them healthy.

Well,one good thing is that thru the years,fake plants have gotten better and better looking so that they are more natural than ever. I have always bought an occasional "live" plant here and there,but they never seemed to make it. I finally got a computer in the last 6 months ,and it's amazing what I have missed out on! Anyway-long story short,I have slowly turned most or all of each of my bigger tanks into planted tanks and I love them! I'm new at that part,so I have no fancy substrates,or nothing besides the standard lighting that comes with the tanks. I've done homework though,and started picking the correct plants,and hey ,they are actually staying alive for me! That is a good feeling,let me tell you. And I allready know that somewhere in the future,I will be tempted to change the substrate & lighting,and try those harder plants! I have "red" plants that are actually doing okay for me.Any one thats read up on plants knows that those types are usually harder and more light demanding-It's all about homework!

live plant produce oxygen, a source of food as snack, reduce nitrAte..

fake plant doesnt rot, and fishes may choke on them (when they manage to tear and swallow a leaf of the fake plant) and they dun mess up the water for my fish left soooo much loose leaves around everyday and it choke up my filters..

fake plant can be washed, but live plant are more sensitive when washing lest you kill the plant if HOT water is used or strong solution is used.. and lastly, the look of fake plant last, while live plants may grow out of shape or over grown that makes it look undesirable..

but watever it is, I chose live plants for its benefit for food n oxygen n reduce nitrAte.. fake plant can pose as a danger as fish may choke on it and might get scratch if the fake stem or branches are too hard n sharp...

go with live plants, my fish love the snack off the leaves, the reduction of the chemicals is a plus too.

Okay, well, maybe the next question is - WHAT PLANTS shoudl I start out with??

With "stock" lighting, and goldfish...

Anubias (almost any variety)
Java moss and java fern (best attached to driftwood or similar)
Banana plant
Crypts (lots of varieties, expect it to look terrible for a few weeks after you get it, they don't like change)
Onion Plant
Anacharis

You *may* have luck with things like Madagascar Lace, Compact or Amazon swordplants, Wisteria, Water Sprite, etc. These are a bit more light demanding and look a bit tastier to some goldfish though.

Stay away from: Mondo Grass, Brazilian Sword, Scarlet Hygro, and Purple Waffle. These are non aquatic plants very frequently sold by pet stores as aquatic (there are a few others). If you see a plant you think just doesn't look like it's really aquatic, check online before you buy it.

I myself love the anubias,and the crypts! They always seem to grow very well for me,and look great!

NOT TRUE! i found a package at the pet-center of aquaplants, just throw them in they float at the surface and grow by themselves after they grow they move to the bottom and the fish might eat them if they are hungry. they die, float to the surface, and start all over. i bought a package of 5 and they lasted almost 3 years!
and for only 3.50 a package i always buy them.

I have bamboo in my tank and the fish don't eat it, they refuge inside the roots, and the plants grow faster from the goldfish.

my two goldfish are definitely enjoying the watersprite, I really want to add more love plants, can't believe how much clearer the water is...

B) I like the silk plants rather than the plastic ones. The silk are easier to clean off the algea, you can scrub them. The plastics fall apart during cleaning. As far as real plants, too much money. I'd rather spend the money on fish or something really needed for the tank, like filter pads, meds, etc.

I didn't see it mentioned, plastic plants can sometimes cause tiny sores on a GF's mouth which can lead to columnaris. That's another reason to use silk or real.

Anachris are really easy to keep alive. GF's generally don't eat them and they grow like crazy. I guess I would only recommend them for larger tanks, however.

The way you guys talk about your live plants makes me want some. I'm so scared to do it though. I really don't have money to waste if they keep dying or get eaten. Also I like my tank to look a certain way, and with live plants I'm not sure it would.

Hhhmmmm maybe I'll think about it.......
Laurie

I got an achachris bunch of 6 for $1.99 at Petsmart. ...tempting, isn't it....

Ooohhhh yeah, What do they look like?

Laurie

Hard to describe. Here's a pic:

http://www.aqua-mart.com/show.pl?cmd=shows...ats&subcatid=11

My fish eat every live plant I have ever put in the tank - I fill and it's gone in a week. The plants aren't expensive around here, but I gave up and went to plastic - those aren't cheap!

I must say live plants,they look really nice in Aquariums
and looks REAL.
Yes they could get expensive but i do fidn it is worth the money,if your
fish/snails won't eat them.

Hhhhmmmm.... still thinking. I liked that anacharis though. To tell you the truth I also like the amazon sword too.
Thanks for the pics.


Laurie

Live plants can make your aquarium more interesting, they also provide shelter, food, and oxygen.

Goldfish moslty find live plants a great snack! They will be eaten by your goldfish, and dead or uneaten food will end up at the bottom causing dirty water, or high Ph. Also live plants might create more alerge then you already have if any. Many Plastic plants or silk plants look realistic and can be easily washed in warm water when a bit dirty.

Some safe live plants are;

THE JAVA FERN
WATER SPRITE
APONOGETON UNDULATUS
THE AMAZON SWORDPLANT
VALLISNERIA SPIRALIS
ANACHARIS DENSA
MYRIOPHYLLUM HIPPUROIDES
HYGROPHILA POLYSPERMA
MYRIOPHYLUM AQUATICUM
CRYPTOCORYNE BECKETTI
LUDWIGA
BANANA PLANT
ANACHARIS
CABOMBA
MYRIOPHYLLUM

I hate redoing plant layouts so I stick with fake ones. I can't find any silk ones here that won't just shread so I use plastic ones. No issues ever. I only buy the ones that don't have sharp edges or fall apart easily. I have hornwort, amazon sword, and some odd looking kind all fake in there and my fish just sleep beneath them. They don't really get algae coated since where I keep the tank gets little to no natural light.

some of those plants are really pretty and unexpensive too!

Exept when some plants that you like get eaten...

add dwarf hairgrass to the list... theyre beautiful.

Hey, what about moneywort? Is that ok?

I perfer live plants to plastic mainly because it looks somuch nicer and they're healthier for your fish. No offence to anyone but i cant stand plastic tanks with loads of sculptures and plaggy plants everwhere

Well i like a combo of both live AND plastic. Because plastic can be cleaned and so you always have some nice greenery in your tank also fish dont eat plastic- i hope! And fresh well the fish CAN eat these to add to a nice healthy diet but because they do eat it you will probably have to get some new stuff every 2 weeks or so. (I know i have too!)

Girl Nerd

yeap combo of live & plastic is good. gives more freedom to redecorate and sometimes you can only find plastic versions of desired plants. plastic plants nowadays are very life-like & safe for gf (maybe not for bubble eyes though) but silk plants looks pretty fake to me. so yeah combo of plastic & live is good, at least for me

I loved the look of fake plants in my tank, see below, thats it back in july



However, my fish were always getting their fins caught, so i switched to a planted tank and i dont have torn fins and my goldies are much happier. There is minimal maintenance as far as floating parts goes. And when they pull up a plant i simply pop it into my quarantine tank until friday when i can rebundle it and replant them:

i prefer live plants, after haveing a very bad experiance in the past with plastic plants. my fish decided to eat half a branch, it got stuck and he choked to death while i was asleep. so now i refuse to add plastic to my tanks.

also. plastic plants may look the same constantly./ but to me that can look very bland and boring, i prefer to watch the tank. i like the movement of the plants with the flow of water,

it is very relaxing to watch, also the fish are much happier and safer

anyone know which plants that fish won't eat?
I have an aliminium plant that my fish won't eat...well they eat all the other plants first and pick at the aliminium one but i don't think they like to eat it much.

Click here to go to a listing of live plants that are safe for goldies.

Hygrophila Augustifolia........ in my tank they are thriving...

Anacharis are what we used to have in the tank, they seem to not last more than about 3 weeks before dying though and sometimes they grow so much that the fish food doesn't get to the fish!

At the moment we have a pair of (apparently) Red Ludwegia which I picked up because there weren't any Anacharis available at the time. They seem to be much more survivable but not as pretty in my opinion.

The fish seem to like them for hiding behind although they don't like to nibble them (I am a devil for giving them generous amounts to eat because I am a softie) so I think that we may add another Anacharis to the tank in the near future.

We decided to try live plants because of problems with the oxygenation of the water (this was later found to be the fault of the gravel supplied with the starter tank- it was literally spewing nitrites and other nasties into the water which killed 4 fish before we realised that it wasn't our unbelievable incompetance. That starter kit has been taken off the market since for probably that reason.) they have greatly helped and look much nicer than the plastic plants we had. The fish love to hide in the plants as I'm sure it's instinctively a safe spot so it's nice to see them snuggle in with the real plants rather than the nasty plastic ones.

What about marimo moss balls (chladophora aegagropila)? They are very attractive I think, but will they be okay for goldfish?

Yes moss balls are fine for goldies some may eat them though.

i like elodia the best