Nothing makes an aquarium look better then aquarium plants. The big question is should you use artificial or real aquarium plants. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Real aquarium plants absorb fish wastes, making the tank easier to keep clean. They also add extra oxygen to the water as well as cutting down on algae. However fish are likely to either eat or uproot them. This of course gives you more work in maintaining your fish tank. Remember you want to enjoy your tank not work on it. The most important consideration with live aquarium plants is the lighting. Most experts recommend fluorescent lighting A good rule is to multiple your tanks capacity by 1.5 and thus getting the amount of artificial lighting needed giving your proper wattage. For example 10 gallon tank times 1.5 means you need a fifteen watt system. Do not overlook the advantage of indirect lighting from the outside. It is best not to use an under gravel filter with live aquarium plants as these filters can affect plant growth.
Artificial plants on the other hand are handy when your fish would eat your real plants. The fish may still uproot the plants, but this can be helped by buying your artificial plants in mats. These mats look natural and give a very nice look for your aquarium. There are two types of artificial aquarium plants, plastic, which have improved over the years or silk. In my mind the best choice is silk they look more natural in the way they move in the water and many times you can not tell if the plants are real or not. To avoid having to clean off your artificial plants I recommend getting a few algae eating fish such as red tailed black sharks. It is always good to cut down the work that you must do for your tanks, after all you wants to enjoy your fish tanks not to constantly work on them.
Which ever type of plants you choose remember that you want to able to view the tank as a whole as well as seeing the fish clearly. So be sure to put your taller plants at the back medium plants in the middle and your short plants in front.
Willis Kennedy
[http://www.aquariumpride.com]
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