# Artificial plant aquascape...



## FelixAvery (Jan 11, 2007)

it looks really nice, but u do know that plastic plants cost more than real ones
an they dont really need that much maintenance

defo a good way to practice but your obvious scaping talents are wasted, im only 16 and i use real plants, some people such as resguy are younger!


----------



## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Nice but live plants will be much better. Great way to practice scaping though.


----------



## SlukBunWalla (Sep 9, 2006)

I have several planted tanks of my own, I'm all about live plants...but for mothers day I couldn't afford to get her all the lights, plants, CO2, etc and it would certainly be more than the $60 spend.


----------



## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

I think it looks very nice and a nice gesture on your part. I know everyone here is all about live plants,including me, but some people like the look but not the price and maintenance. Im sure yoour mother is very happy.


----------



## awrieger (May 12, 2005)

Very nice! Can't ever go wrong with a Buddha if you ask me. It just has that 'tranquility' thing about it. The curving substrate is a really nice touch, drawing the eye along from the statue to the palm fronds on the right.

You know, a non-aquarium person would probably look at that and think 'wow!' more than if they saw a real planted tank. 

Have you added any ramshorn snails in there? The micro-rough surfaces of plastic plants are a magnet for algae and very hard to clean I've heard, so recruiting some help may be a good idea.


----------



## IceH2O (Sep 29, 2006)

I was going to say the same thing. Fake plants seem to attract brown algae pretty easily. I would look into ottos over snails though. They don't reproduce nearly as fast lol.


----------



## stepheus (Sep 9, 2004)

Best looking fake plants tank I have ever seen. Congrats.


----------



## FelixAvery (Jan 11, 2007)

this guys the takashi amano of fake plants


----------



## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

if you limit yourself to the fake plants they sell in pet stores then yeah, your tank is gonna look like crap. if you integrate many of the plastic and silk plants they sell in craft stores, then the possibilities are endless as long as you don't get carried away and start "growing" underwater tea roses :biggrin: besides good filtration and avoiding over feeding, a way to reduce the brown gunk from forming on plastic and silk plant parts is to dose your tank Monthly with Chemiclean red slime cyano bacteria remover which may be an "off label" solution, but it works!


----------



## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Doesn't look bad at all. Not feeling the plastic Buddha, but to each his own....

For some cool plastic plant scapes, check out www.aquariumdesigngroup.com's gallery.


----------



## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

mrbelvedere said:


> check out www.aquariumdesigngroup.com gallery


I Vote this Stupid Design of the Year :iamwithst 
Guy's got a view of his porch and pool
and he blocks it with a clear back tank,
that makes his fireplace look ridiculous.


----------



## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

NIce scape with the fakes.
they are making it easier, the people who make plastic plants.
they now have hairgrass, you should do a foreground.


----------



## CampCreekTexas (Feb 28, 2007)

Wow! I would have never believed that plastic plants could actually make a tank look good. I'll bet your mom loves it!


----------



## AnneRiceBowl (May 18, 2006)

I love this tank! Great job!

Not everyone can keep live plants, and I think this is a great example of what can be done with silk plants.


----------



## Badcopnofishtank (Jan 20, 2004)

plastic or real, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well done.


----------



## mrbman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

I think it's a great idea and executed superbly. 

Aquariums in hospitals and such take this same approach. It's too much trouble to always be doing maintenance on a tank in a place like that. But it does really add quite a bit to the look of a tank to have some plants in it, real or fake. 

Great job


----------



## ruki (May 28, 2007)

Looks suprisingly pretty good. Two problems with the design. The fan leafed plant looks very fake to me. Also, the green/white varegated plant is probably a simmulation of Dracena sanderiana which doesn't grow underwater. It's a house plant that takes a few months to rot when placed underwater. Everything else is OK. 

I used to use fake plants in my goldfish tank. They would eat real plants and I wanted to have a place for them to hide out if they wanted to. The weakness was that the goldfish still managed to yank out the plastic plants, even if I weighted them down with heavy, iron washers!

The other problem is that algae will coat the surfaces of these, so you will want to get an algae eater or three to keep them clean. It's the coating of crud on the fake plants that will also look very different from a like plant tank. Let us know how this aspect works out for you.

It's possible that easy-to-grow plants could work out better in the long term though.


----------



## screename (Dec 8, 2004)

As soon as you get some algae on them, you wont be able to tell they are fake. Nice job!!!!


----------



## LeapingGnome (Apr 15, 2007)

Very nice tank, fake or not it looks great!


----------



## Jessica (Mar 1, 2007)

I think this is awesome!

Where did you get the Buddha?


----------



## Got Fish? (Apr 25, 2007)

your tank looks great, i have a 10 gallon with a mix of live and plastic plants, but your tank, i think looks better than some live planted ones, i also like the budhha statue it looks cool, where did u get it???


----------



## knuggs (Mar 5, 2007)

Great look. True Artistry.


----------



## SlukBunWalla (Sep 9, 2006)

The buddha statue was one my mom already had in her office. I think she got it at a local arts and crafts store...Hobby Lobby I think. I don't know if that store is all over, or just here in the midwest. 

She is a massage therapist and her office has a very japanese, zen feel to it, so I tried to work a japanese garden motif into the tank.


----------



## melissa3 (Apr 18, 2007)

Awsome!!

I love the "neat and clean" look and I think you did an amazing job with fake plants. I've just switched from fake and I had a hard time making them look even presentable. I give you huge credit for making that tank look fabulous!


----------



## aldrickjose (Apr 16, 2012)

Really your tank looks very beautiful. You did great job. All the things seem genuine & realistic. For decoration beautiful, maintenance-free custom artificial tree is the perfect way to bring the beauty.


----------



## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Zombie thread alert.


----------



## leviathan0 (Oct 6, 2007)

Sig spam cares not for post dates.


----------

