I am starting out a coldwater tank soon and i want to know whether plastic or alive plants are best ?

Thanks

both have their advantages, but its really a personal preferance.

live advantages: reduces nitrates, fish snack, more natural, reduces algae, less chances of fish getting hurt on sharp points on plastic plants

live disadvantages: fish can snack too much, some snails eat em, have to care for them, may die, may look crappy sometimes

plastic advantages: always look good, cheap, large variety of colors, types, etc, tank stays how you set it up, whereas live grows and changes, dont get eaten, no special care

plastic disadvantages: algae grows on em, bases can trap junk under your gravel, dont help nitrates at all, dont reduce algae, fish can tear fins on shapr points,

its really your choice, most people start out with plastic, then switch to live if they want, its up to you

Well, I personally like live plants... Like smack said, its more of a person choice, and how much effort and money you want to put into it.

I had plastic plants for a couple of years, and finally decided it was time to go with live plants... and I ended up spending alot more then i thought on getting my live plants set up.

I had to buy special lights to keep them healthy (I think i went over board, and bought a $250 lighting system, but I really like it). then you need the right substrate and/or fertilizers. Also, like smack said, the goldfish may make snacks out of your plants. When I planted my tanks, my goldies snacked on them for the first week or two, and then stopped. They destroyed a few plants, but after that, they havent really touched any of my others, and all are going about 2 or more inches a week!

Good Luck, and let us know what you decide!!!