# Fake or Real plants in Cichlid tank?



## leopartner123 (Jun 29, 2009)

So got my 30g tank up and cycling, but i feel its missing something. Right now all i have are River rocks stacked and went with white sand. Feels like i need to add some "greenery" to the tank. I wanna go with a few Africans in the tank. In my last cichlid tank i had fake plants and they dug a few up so not sure if they will kill the real ones. :-?


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

I had real plants in my Afr. tank. A few got uprooted, but not too bad. Too bad the snail in the tank eat all the plants....


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## brobson75 (Jul 6, 2009)

I read in a magazine that you can tie a large fishing sinker to live or plastic plaints to keep fish from uprooting them. The fish can still pull them out but they wont float to the top. You can also tie the plaints to a rock using fishing string. Cichlids like to move things around the tank so this would be the only problem I can see with live plaints.


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

It depends on which African cichlids you are stocking your tank with.
Some will dig, some will rip and eat at the plants and some will leave plants alone.


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## leopartner123 (Jun 29, 2009)

probably a smaller one like Ps. Saulosi or Cynotilapia or maybe some rock/shell dwellers. Think any of those would be a problem with live plants? Ill probably anchor the plant down with my river rocks


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

IMO, if you put plants in the tank during it's cycle, with no fish, you would stand a better chance of success with live plants.
The plants will have a chance to get established before fish arrive.

When the fish are introduced to a tank with plants already, especially as juvies, they are more likely to
ignore them as part of the environment.

You may have greater luck with plants that you don't put in the substrate, but 
that are anchored, attached to the rocks or gently wedged between rocks, like anubia and java fern.

If live plants don't work, I don't see why you couldn't use the fake ones.

Live plants are definately worth trying, will give you something to look at and "play with" while waiting for the cycle to complete
and could actually help the cycle along faster.
hth,


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## football mom (Feb 19, 2006)

My Metriaclima species both dig up and munch on plants. The Rusties dig them up. The A. latifasciata and yellow labs don't mess with them at all. The demasoni will munch but not destroy. The tangs only dig them up where they are digging their nest. 
Give them a try. Plants like java fern, and Borneo fern that you can tie to something do well.


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## JerseyGiant88 (Jun 17, 2009)

*** got live plants in both of my tanks and i definitely think they make the tank look nicer. also, i think they reduce stress and make the fish feel more at home. as long as ur willing to stick ur hand in the tank every couple of days to replant them they're certainly worth it. i definitely agree with what alicem said as well, if you put them in early they won't messs with them as much.

i strongly recommend live plants


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## vaypourus (May 20, 2008)

I like live plants for two reasons:

1. Fake plants look like @#%$
2. Live plants help cut down on algae by removing phosphates, and naturally remove nitrate from the water.

I recently removed the live plants from my tank and regret doing so. As soon as I rebuild my hood, I'm ordering a fresh batch of Vallisneria (indigenous to the rift lakes) for the tank.


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## BurgerKing (Jul 1, 2008)

I'd say get a couple of plants like Java fern or Anubia, as stated earlier, for all the reasons stated earlier. They're pretty tough plants and should be able to take a beating, so I say go for it.

Best of luck.


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## cichlidsandmore (Jul 14, 2009)

I have tall 18" artificial grasses along the back and sides of a 180. In front, the real stuff. Dense groups of Hornwort under heavy rocks and buried in the substrate. I also tie groups together to float as surface cover. The fish nibble lightly on it and otherwise make good use of it as cover both buried and floating. Hornwort doesn't root - but it's exceptionally tough and continues to look very good. Separate each plant to be sure they're all positioned upright to look better before grouping together.

Placing real plants in front actually made the taller artificial grass background appear much more real.


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