# Most realistic fake plants?



## aggriffin3

This is just a thought, but if I can find fake plants that look very realistic, I might go with them, instead of live plants, which I have had problems with lately. 
PM me if you have a brand and store that they are at?

Thank you in advance

Art


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## CjCichlid

When I use fake plants, I always get them at craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michael's. They have a large variety to choose from and you can cut them down to size and ziptie different plants and twigs together to make a more realistic looking plant.

Check out the thread of my tank here. All the plants and twigs I used are fake...
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=237760


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## brijar

Silks are going to be your best bet for realistic looking. There are some plastics out there that look decent but I like the silks a lot better


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## aggriffin3

I assume they have steel wire in them? If so, doesnt that really come into play on the aquarium water after they have been submersed for awhile?

Anyways, your aquarium in that photo looked great. I just bought a really nice piece of Driftwood and now I am looking for two or three nice size rocks for each side of it along with plants. Can't wait to get my aquarium all aquascaped like I want.

Thanks

Art


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## CjCichlid

Yes, most do have wire in them but the wire is not exposed. The majority of plants sold at petstores have wire in them as well. I wouldn't be to concerned about it, unless there is for some reason, a large amount of wire exposed.


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## TrashmanNYC

brijar said:


> Silks are going to be your best bet for realistic looking. There are some plastics out there that look decent but I like the silks a lot better


+1


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## PfunMo

Metal problems are way over done in my experience. While there is some rust, it is pretty slow. With the amount of water changing we do, I see no way it can build up to any kind of pollution problem. Many fish are raised and live in metal stock tanks. Before plastics became so common, many tank items were metal. One of the more common tank brands was Metaframe.


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## aggriffin3

Well, I went to Michaels, and you are right, they have some really nice silk or very realistic plants. Now to figure out the best way to anchor or attach the fake plants. They have the thick plastic area where all the branches come into one (lets call it a root ball), what's your thought on trying to zip tie or insert into a rock with a drilled hole? I am thinking the fake plants will just float out of the sand if you try to just stick the root ball (or whatever you want to call it) into the sand?

Thanks in advance

Art


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## CjCichlid

If your wanting to use the entire plant you can anchor it down with a few rocks around the base. You could also even silicone the "rootball" to a rock. They also make plant weights that are used to anchor down live plants that would probably work well...

Keep in mind you can cut off branches from the "rootball" to make multiple smaller plants out of a single plant. A lot of those plants at craft stores are far to large in my opinion.


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## aggriffin3

I did find on-line those supposedly non toxic weights that you wrap around the stem or Root Ball. Also, I found smaller silver dollar plates that you stick the stem through to give it some anchoring properties under the substrate. So, I am on my way to getting this done with one of those methods, as I am going to have less rocks than plant stems to use as a weight. I actually was quite impressed with those silk plants appearance and price compared to the actual aquarium plastic or silk plants you see in the LFS.

Thanks


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## Mike_G

I agree that silk plants are generally more realistic, largely owing to their color gradation as opposed to the monochromaticity of most plastic plants, however I prefer the plastics for their cleanability- the most realistic ones I've found are Amazon Swords and Jungle Vals, which I also like for their tallness and nice swaying motion.


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## brijar

Personally I don't clean the plants at all, I think they become even more realistic looking with a little algae on them. It's all about what you prefer in your tank though.


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## GOSKN5

I too use craft store plants... look pretty good IMO... I mix them with a few live plants...

one thing I have done was to remove the plastic base from the cheapo plastic plants and then use them with the craft store plants...

chances are most of us have some of the plants laying around with the base... they have holes in them or you can drill more for extra stems... that seems to work well for holding them down especially with sand substrate...


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## Shahlvah

To anchor your plastic plants you can get a small stone, drill a hole, make sure you take the plastic cup in the bottom of the plan off and glue the plant with hot glue to the stone, the stone will give it weight and the plant looks like it naturally grew on the rock....this glue is like the silicone and don't affect the fish.
This will prevent your plant from getting loose and floating on the surface, it will be heavy enough that the fish will not be able to move it or dig it out.
An idea from my art and crafts class...


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## DanniGirl

GOSKN5 said:


> I too use craft store plants... look pretty good IMO... I mix them with a few live plants...
> 
> one thing I have done was to remove the plastic base from the cheapo plastic plants and then use them with the craft store plants...
> 
> chances are most of us have some of the plants laying around with the base... they have holes in them or you can drill more for extra stems... that seems to work well for holding them down especially with sand substrate...


I used to do this years ago when I had purchased plants from Michael's. One of the easiest ways to anchor plants if you have little or no rockwork. :thumb:


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