Fake plants or no fake plants?

[Jexnell]

FYI ..... It's called Java wood, and requires a ton of pre-soaking before it can go in a tank. While presoaking it smells like horse piss. Make sure to read all of my comments in the following past thread, before you try this at home.

Java Wood for aquarium driftwood?

Have you used it? What were the results? I've googled the crap out of "java wood in aquariums" and any iteration of that with little results. LFS says its aquarium/pond safe. I've known the owner for 15 years and trust him but would like others experience. I have a few pieces...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

While they had that there as well, its not what I was talking about. They have a bunch of hardwood branches meant to be used in the cage.
See like the ones here. They have them in 36 to 48in in length.

 

[RD.]

While they had that there as well, its not what I was talking about. They have a bunch of hardwood branches meant to be used in the cage.
See like the ones here. They have them in 36 to 48in in length.

Java wood is probably the #1 wood used in Parrot cages, displays, etc, although I understand that other more local hardwoods are used as well. The beauty of Java is that it comes in various shapes, and curves, including stumps, knotted up pieces etc, not just straight branches, and some of those would fit in the openings of an acrylic tank. IMO straight pieces of wood, such as those cage pieces, would not look very natural in an aquarium setting.

 

[Rass]

If you want nitrate absorption I would recommend a method for pothos, some rotala cuttings if you fish will leave them rooted, or floating hornwort. Rotala can take some abuse and replanting from time to time without too many negative effects.
Hornwort has been insane for me and my dovii growouts completely leave it alone. I have to throw it away periodically because I have more of it than i can use. I have tried to go with as many plants as I can get away with in all my setups.

 

[Rass]

My flowerhorn setup with some rotala indica cuttings from my other planted tank, and some snow queen pothos and wandering jew plant growing above. Surprisingly enough the fish leaves the plants alone and appreciates hiding in them.

 

[Rass]

This is my growout for my Nandopsis haitiensis. The crypt wendtii and amazon swords are durable plants, but the swords need roots tabs to thrive since they're mostly root feeders. The rotala will throw lots of aerial roots to feed from the water column even if you have inert substrate. And the dwarf sagitarria will carpet nicely all through the open area if you have lighter substrate like sand.

 

[Wharf]

I have grown pothos in other tanks with great success. My only issue with this tank is it is acrylic so the top has two decent sized holes in the top for maintenance etc., but the rest is covered and part of its support. Now I do have 4-5 inches along the back for the built in wet-to-dry however a long segment each side for the drip trays that probably won't work, and I could use the overflows on the side, but the sponge maintenance would be kind of cumbersome...then there is the return compartment in the middle of the back...which has a fluctuating water level. So it is not that ideal for top growing plants having such little access along the back...and I do not want to cut holes in the top because the floor is ever so slightly uneven so I do not want to put any more stress on the structural integrity.

 

[Rass]

Oh ok, yeah I would stick with plants in the tank for sure then. Even if you did plants in the sump eventually the roots would be a problem. Not sure what the sump area looks like but hornwort pretty much floats in place so you may be able to use a grow light over the sump at night and it wouldn't try to root down into your bio media. And as far as the fish go you could just try some anubis or java ferns in the tank, super glued to rock or driftwood at first and see how it goes. Both are durable, don't require much light, and may generally be ignored by the fish.

 

[Wharf]

Do you think I should lose the Manzanita wood? I mean I really like the look of it; however, there is always the possibility that a fish will scrape or impale themselves with it, but nothing like that so far. It is widely used in a lot of tanks around here....mostly planted with smaller fish though. I have a friend with a ton of it in his tanks with large fish and has never had problems; however I do not want a debilitating injury...end of story.

 

[Jexnell]

Just keep an eye on the fish. When you notice scrapes or what have you. You can brake off parts to make it better.

You can see how these were when I first got them here.


These are the same branches 2 years later

 

[RD.]

I think that the only risk of injury to a large fish, is if the fish gets spooked and blindly bolts into something sharp or pointed. It's always a possibility ....