Kayotic5011
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2018
- Messages
- 209
- Reaction score
- 209
- Location
- Nooga Strong Tn
- What state or country do you live in
- Tennessee
When it comes to the way I feel Its always been Real over Artificial in aquariums, terrariums, and vivariums. I have used both in my yrs of keeping these types of tanks and I have learned a very lot about what happens because of whats in them. I'm not against artificial and will agree that some of it can make tanks and displays look amazing. Where I kind of draw a line is in the Eco system of the tanks themselves. Plastics and other materials that are not natural to the system that you are trying to replicate and do not add benefits except in the case of certain growth upon the artificial objects which can be an eyesore in some cases.
Artificial decor is suppose to in theory make it easier to care for your tank, along with providing you with a easy way to add visual aesthetics and create an appealing piece of eye candy, but without proper care your decor can become a harbor for unwanted algae's or cyno's and other unwanted guests in turn becoming a big mess. Routine maintenance is required to maintain the look you desire. The down side to this maintenance is the constant cleaning doesn't allow anything beneficial to take hold and help fight off the nasty you don't want growing on your decor. That will then in turn just allow the other nasty to take hold causing more frequent maintenance which can farther destroy your Eco system.
Artificial beauty is sometimes important to some, and to others just sound like less work and an easy way out. Here is a scenario Ive seen first hand, lots.....Parent walks into a store with the kid and the kid wants a tank with fish. Lets just skip the part where they have no clue what they want or what goes with what and jump to the part where there picking out what decor goes into the tank. In this process the parent says " I want something low maintenance, I was thinking some fake plants" Mean while the kids grabbing for a big plastic looking center piece......This thought, that fake plants will make the care easier is terribly wrong and in fact causes more care to be needed.
Plastic plants do not mimic real plants in anyway but visibly, and this is bad. Though there are some really beautiful realistic pieces that are made of materials other than hard or soft plastic, this can still be bad for your eco system your trying to build.
Eco System - a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Now I'm not trying to claim you cant create a positive Eco System in your tank with artificial decor, but if you think your going to achieve that with minimum work because your using fake plants and decor your terribly mistaken. Fake decor is for the pros, seriously, if your not spending lots of money and time on your tank on a constant then your bound to have some very harsh growth in your system that will destroy your tank.
Real Plants and Real Decor in the system can add a real benefit to the home aquarium, terrarium, and Vivarium (..specially a vivarium because that is what they are, if you have a vivarium with fake decor you might as well just call it art or a picture). There is a lot more reasons to use real plants and decor than to use fake plants and decor, and I think a good place to start is in explaining why real plants are better than fake.
Plants are alive, just as alive as your fish. They breathe and expel life into your tank, but do it in a kind of backwards way. See People and animals breathe Oxygen and expel carbon dioxide, but plants breathe in that carbon dioxide and expel Oxygen. Both land and water plants are very important for this, as they are what help provide one of the most important life sources for all types of life. In the home aquarium this is where the benefit starts, but in turn for this service your plants will request food which believe it or not is a very good thing.
Feeding your plants or macroalgae is easier than you think. Your plants and macroalgaes get there food from the water around them and adding food for them is as easy as adding fish. The fish use up the O2 and create waste into the water column and that in turn is farther broken down into sugars by the plant for food and energy. The addition of chemical fertilizers may still be needed from time to time to maintain lush growth and vivid plant color, but the over all maintenance of the tank will be a whole lot less. Fake plants can not do this and in turn, all of what the real plants broke down gets left in the water column for something else to get a hold of......ALGAE.
There are good and bad algaes, both of which can be really harsh on a system if left to get out of control. Where plants cant grow there is algae, and it thrives on the same type of nutrients that your plants do, and some thrive on the lack of nutrients in your water. Without the help of live plants to control the amount of nutrients in the water the algae takes over the job and starts doing what the plant does for the eco system. Macroalgae takes the place of the beneficial plants when the plants cant grow in that type of eco system. It helps keep the bad algae at bay, and helps maintain the eco system in a healthy manner. The possibility a algae out break in a live planted tank is very real. If you don't keep your plants happy they stop wanting to work and that is when everything can get bad and you can have the same problems as you do with a fake plastic tank.
Plastic decor can also sometimes be sharp and or unnatural cutting or wounding your tank life. Fish can also see there surroundings and even though may have been tank bread they still know when something looks natural vs something super bright in color which can stress them out making the water even worse in the long run from dieing fish adding to the ammonia and Nitrates again making more work for you.
Natural decor has its perks, not only is it much more real for both the viewer and the fish there is also benefits too. Lets start with wood, when wood is soaked in water it leaches tannin into the water. This creates whats commonly refereed to as black water, and has been shown to have medical properties for the fish helping keep them healthy. Some fish like tetra will only breed in black water conditions. Live rock is also a major benefit whether used in fresh water or salt, depending on your system and rock obtained. Fish constantly feed off live rock a long with the many inhabitants that keep the surface of that decor clean and alive causing you to not have to constantly clean it. Some fish will eat wood as a main diet like the Dwarf Clown Plecostomus for example. So having real wood decor in your tanks will not only provide medical and breeding benefits to your tank but also beauty and a stable food diet for some fish.
I could go on all day about Real VS Artificial and why you should consider your eco system when setting up a tank and not stuff it full and dress it up like a doll, ill just end it with this....
"There is real life there and it should be treated like such. We have taken to the art of aquarium keeping as a skill for a way to master keeping the beauty of nature in a visible manner with in our homes, why not treat it that way instead of going commercial with fake pet store shelf decor."
Artificial decor is suppose to in theory make it easier to care for your tank, along with providing you with a easy way to add visual aesthetics and create an appealing piece of eye candy, but without proper care your decor can become a harbor for unwanted algae's or cyno's and other unwanted guests in turn becoming a big mess. Routine maintenance is required to maintain the look you desire. The down side to this maintenance is the constant cleaning doesn't allow anything beneficial to take hold and help fight off the nasty you don't want growing on your decor. That will then in turn just allow the other nasty to take hold causing more frequent maintenance which can farther destroy your Eco system.
Artificial beauty is sometimes important to some, and to others just sound like less work and an easy way out. Here is a scenario Ive seen first hand, lots.....Parent walks into a store with the kid and the kid wants a tank with fish. Lets just skip the part where they have no clue what they want or what goes with what and jump to the part where there picking out what decor goes into the tank. In this process the parent says " I want something low maintenance, I was thinking some fake plants" Mean while the kids grabbing for a big plastic looking center piece......This thought, that fake plants will make the care easier is terribly wrong and in fact causes more care to be needed.
Plastic plants do not mimic real plants in anyway but visibly, and this is bad. Though there are some really beautiful realistic pieces that are made of materials other than hard or soft plastic, this can still be bad for your eco system your trying to build.
Eco System - a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
Now I'm not trying to claim you cant create a positive Eco System in your tank with artificial decor, but if you think your going to achieve that with minimum work because your using fake plants and decor your terribly mistaken. Fake decor is for the pros, seriously, if your not spending lots of money and time on your tank on a constant then your bound to have some very harsh growth in your system that will destroy your tank.
Real Plants and Real Decor in the system can add a real benefit to the home aquarium, terrarium, and Vivarium (..specially a vivarium because that is what they are, if you have a vivarium with fake decor you might as well just call it art or a picture). There is a lot more reasons to use real plants and decor than to use fake plants and decor, and I think a good place to start is in explaining why real plants are better than fake.
Plants are alive, just as alive as your fish. They breathe and expel life into your tank, but do it in a kind of backwards way. See People and animals breathe Oxygen and expel carbon dioxide, but plants breathe in that carbon dioxide and expel Oxygen. Both land and water plants are very important for this, as they are what help provide one of the most important life sources for all types of life. In the home aquarium this is where the benefit starts, but in turn for this service your plants will request food which believe it or not is a very good thing.
Feeding your plants or macroalgae is easier than you think. Your plants and macroalgaes get there food from the water around them and adding food for them is as easy as adding fish. The fish use up the O2 and create waste into the water column and that in turn is farther broken down into sugars by the plant for food and energy. The addition of chemical fertilizers may still be needed from time to time to maintain lush growth and vivid plant color, but the over all maintenance of the tank will be a whole lot less. Fake plants can not do this and in turn, all of what the real plants broke down gets left in the water column for something else to get a hold of......ALGAE.
There are good and bad algaes, both of which can be really harsh on a system if left to get out of control. Where plants cant grow there is algae, and it thrives on the same type of nutrients that your plants do, and some thrive on the lack of nutrients in your water. Without the help of live plants to control the amount of nutrients in the water the algae takes over the job and starts doing what the plant does for the eco system. Macroalgae takes the place of the beneficial plants when the plants cant grow in that type of eco system. It helps keep the bad algae at bay, and helps maintain the eco system in a healthy manner. The possibility a algae out break in a live planted tank is very real. If you don't keep your plants happy they stop wanting to work and that is when everything can get bad and you can have the same problems as you do with a fake plastic tank.
Plastic decor can also sometimes be sharp and or unnatural cutting or wounding your tank life. Fish can also see there surroundings and even though may have been tank bread they still know when something looks natural vs something super bright in color which can stress them out making the water even worse in the long run from dieing fish adding to the ammonia and Nitrates again making more work for you.
Natural decor has its perks, not only is it much more real for both the viewer and the fish there is also benefits too. Lets start with wood, when wood is soaked in water it leaches tannin into the water. This creates whats commonly refereed to as black water, and has been shown to have medical properties for the fish helping keep them healthy. Some fish like tetra will only breed in black water conditions. Live rock is also a major benefit whether used in fresh water or salt, depending on your system and rock obtained. Fish constantly feed off live rock a long with the many inhabitants that keep the surface of that decor clean and alive causing you to not have to constantly clean it. Some fish will eat wood as a main diet like the Dwarf Clown Plecostomus for example. So having real wood decor in your tanks will not only provide medical and breeding benefits to your tank but also beauty and a stable food diet for some fish.
I could go on all day about Real VS Artificial and why you should consider your eco system when setting up a tank and not stuff it full and dress it up like a doll, ill just end it with this....
"There is real life there and it should be treated like such. We have taken to the art of aquarium keeping as a skill for a way to master keeping the beauty of nature in a visible manner with in our homes, why not treat it that way instead of going commercial with fake pet store shelf decor."
