# tank coming on nicely



## marc89

can any one think of what extra decor will look nice in here i think it looks little plain


----------



## jeaninel

I think I would put a tall plant (fake or real, doesn't matter) on the left side behind the skull to kind of hide the airstone.


----------



## kitten_penang

agreed.a few more plants would fill in the space nicely


----------



## marc89

air stone is temporary while waiting for air curtain in post but think plants will be gettin purchased tomorow


----------



## tanker

Yes, something tall about where your airstone line is. If you could find an upright tall piece of driftwood, that might work, as well.


----------



## cmc29

i love the idea of plants in there to fill in some space. Keep in mind if you are purchasing live plants over fake ones, you should NOT use an airstone with the live plants, in m opinion. If you are purchasing fake plants, than the airstone is all good.


----------



## MukiTheFish

cmc29 said:


> i love the idea of plants in there to fill in some space. Keep in mind if you are purchasing live plants over fake ones, you should NOT use an airstone with the live plants, in m opinion. If you are purchasing fake plants, than the airstone is all good.



Why not use an airstone? I don't think it's a definite no-no.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but airstone in a planted tank can be beneficial if used at night. 

During the day, the airstone will drive out the CO2 needed by the plants, so yes keep it off during day, but at night when plants also need O2, an airstone will help oxygenate water trough agitating the water surface.

Oh but do keep the live plants away from direct contact with the air outlet as it tends to break the tender leafs.


----------



## marc89

i had live plants before and they died off and infested my tank with snails i thought it was because of my sand substrate being a bit too compact for root growth.do you think it maybe because of the lack of co2. think i will just go with fake this time. as nice as the real plants look they seem to take more looking after than i thought.or is there anyway of adding more co2 to the water


----------



## jsenske

Friends- this tank is not in any way set up to appropriately keep live plants. They will last for a while but ultimately end up making more of a mess and neither beautifying the tank nor helping the fish. Learn the basics of successful fish/aquarium-keeping first, then learn about AQUASCAPING. Plastic plant aquariums (I prefer to call the style "Decorative Freshwater") can be very beautiful and make superb long-term homes for the fish that inhabit them. The key is COMPOSITION. Mostly I think hobbyists just need access to the right visual inspiration and great materials (both of which are VERY hard to come by in the freshwater world, it seems. 

One of my plastic plant layouts:


----------



## tanker

Jsenske, that looks great. Yes, you can have a nice tank with artificial plants and you don't have to fish out bits of plants so there is less to do when you do your tank maintenance. I've had both (I've still got silk plants in with my bettas). My opinion? Personal choice. Go with what YOU want. You're the one with the tank in your house, you're the one who gets to look at it every day, so pick what suits you. 

As for your question about adding CO2, I really don't think it's necessary. Byron doesn't use it and his plants are spectacular. I don't have it, and the plants in my big tanks are growing well (to the extent that I've had to chop fronds off the water sprite and I think I'll have to pull the whole bit out and plant a baby in its place). Although it's more work, I enjoy it. 

For someone who would find netting out baby plants and bits of detritus a chore and who wouldn't like to see dead leaves that need pulling off, artificial is easier. For someone who wants a landscape that maintains its proportion and doesn't change - like in Jsenske's picture, artificial is the way to achieve that. 

I like the way my tank is constantly different as the plants grow - my 250-litre went from a kind of desert-y look to a shadowed rainforest-y sort of look. For me, it's been interesting watching the landscape change. My melon sword has now grown a bit, and it'll change how things look in the tank. You get a changing landscape. 

Also, it's not all-or-nothing. I had artifical plants, and then added a brazilian pennywort and some java moss tied to a piece of driftwood. All but one of my bettas have silk plants - one also has a hygrophilia, two have some ambulia, a third has all living plants. You can add just one plant to see how it does. Take it out if you don't like it or it doesn't do well. 

YOU decide which way you want to go.


----------



## jeaninel

jsenske - that is a stunning tank! Amazing that those are fake plants. 

tanker - I agree. It really is a personal choice whether to go real or artificial. I, too, have tanks that are a mix of real and fake.


----------

