Artificial Aquarium Plants
What are artificial aquarium plants?
They are a practical way to decorate your aquarium; they add color and beauty to your little pets’ homes. Plastic underwater plants are safe, they don’t cause any harm to animals. It’s way more easy and convenient to use these types of plants instead of real live plants because you don’t need to take care of them, there’s no need to add any fertilizer and they won’t die; often live plants die and clog the filters of the aquarium.
There are many reasons to buy these plants, there’s no limit to what you can do with them and if you get tired of the way the aquarium looks, you can always move them anywhere you want. They don’t carry any parasites or snails, so there’s another reason not to worry about using them.
Plastic plants in your aquarium can be easily cleaned and they come in a big variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. You can have crazy looking plants that you might never find as live plants; it’s just a matter of imagination and the best part is that they will stay looking the same; they won’t grow or change colors. They can be combined with pebbles gravel and ornaments.
In some cases, depending on the type of fish you have, moving the plants will help reduce their aggressiveness, especially in species that tend to be territorial. There are also some species that like to move the gravel in the aquarium and can often kill live plants. Another advantage to these plants is how easy it is to clean the aquarium; you can just take them outside and clean them.
This type of plants is especially recommended if you don’t have experience with aquariums because live plants need a lot of care. Artificial plants are made of plastic, silk, or other textiles. Silk plants tend to look more real, they move with the water and are very colorful, however, they can sometimes get stained by algae and even though they still last a long time, they last less than plastic plants. Plastic plants last longer and are easier to clean but they look less real when choosing one for your aquarium try not to pick one that is too hard or sharp because that might hurt your fish.
If you want your aquarium to look like as real as possible, you can choose your artificial plants based on the fish you have and the real environment where that species lives, just look for pictures on the internet and try to replicate what you see. You can even make a little jungle for you fish; just make sure to leave it enough space to be comfortable. Some people even customize the plants they buy, cutting the leaves to make them look more original.
Some of the cons of artificial plants are that they don’t absorb nitrates and high levels of nitrate can hurt your fish. They also can’t serve as food or stop the growth of algae. So make sure to keep that in mind.
How to clean fake water plants?
There are ways to sterilize these decor elements as a precaution if you feel like there could be any kind or organism damaging your aquarium, some of the methods are:
Boiling: Boil your plastic plants from 10 to 15 minutes; be careful as some types can melt if you leave them boiling for too long.
Bleaching: Leave your plants soaking in a bucket full of water and chlorine for a day, after that rinse them with water a leave them soaking again for another day but this time in a bucket full of water and dechlorinator, use a lot of it. If you can still smell the chlorine then add more dechlorinator and wait longer.
New plants don’t require sterilization; just rinse them in water before putting them in the aquarium.
Fake aquarium plants can be found online and in pet stores, they are easy to find, it all depends on what you are looking for if you really want to find some unique artificial plants you can spend some time looking at online stores and start picturing the final result you are expecting.
The perfect aquarium is a mix of a good tank, a nice selection of species and beautiful decorations. Everything counts find what makes you and your pets feel good.
