When a person gets started in aquarium goldfish rearing
hobby, the first question that often comes in question is on whether it should
be better adding real plants or artificial plastic plants. When it comes to the
discussion on this topic, there is no telling on which camp is right or which
opinion is wrong because generally there are pros and cons to each option.
Buying live plants and putting it into your goldfish tank produces a lot of
positive effect over having artificial ones. The green leaves natural plants
not only look beautiful but the underlying fact is that it helps in the
biological process of providing precious nutrients and oxygen for the survival
of your pet goldfish. Although some people will argue that plastic plants will
look almost the same and helps to beautify the tank, but however, there is no
natural benefit whatsoever from putting these artificial setup.
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| Java Fern makes great addition |
Live aquarium plants not only provide important nutrition
but it also acts as a natural filter just like the plants in an ecosystem to
help clean and filter the water. Upon maintaining a healthy plant setup, you
will notice that nitrate and nitrite level will start to drop and basically how
low these numbers go will depend on how many bunch of live plants you have in
the tank. Some things you will need to know though, gold are notorious plant
eaters! Thus, if you want to see your plant propagate, grow and produce fresh
leaves, make sure that your pets are well fed or else, they will make these
soft leaves become their meal. Presence of these aquatic species also helps to provide
security for your fish especially those smaller size goldfish. Plants other
than generating useful oxygen can sometimes become a place for growth of small
live worms which in turn providing a valuable food source for your pets. Plants
that absorb the nutrient from the water also make it difficult for algae to
grow and therefore, indirectly help to clean the tank.
The bad points however about natural live plants is that,
they will need strong lighting in wide spectrum range to survive and if you
have a tank located at dark areas/corners of your home or having fluorescent
lamp which doesn’t offer benefit to the plants, they will start to whittle and
disintegrate. The leaves will die off and instead of providing oxygen; they
will consume oxygen during the degradation process. Dying plants will also make
the tank look ugly and unattractive and the worst thing that could happen is
detached leaves getting stuck in the filter inlet and then jammed the whole
filtration system. Beware, they look nice with all the benefits but without the
proper care given, things could turn disastrous. Some plants bought from fish
stores also carry with them parasites and larvae of unwanted aquatic organisms
so it will be your duty to ensure they are properly cleaned before added to the
goldfish tank. The last thing that you want is some diseases infecting all your
goldfish community and killing your precious loved ones.
Because of these, some people instead opt for artificial
plant to avoid all these hassles. First, they do not need maintenance to add
fertilizer or trim the leaves, second, it can be practically safe to add it to
the tank because you can be sure it won’t carry with it parasites. If you are
beginner who only wants to concentrate on giving the best to your pet fish,
then I would suggest getting the artificial aquatic addition and then only go
for the actual ones once you are ready. Always remember, planning and gaining
valuable experience are the key to success.
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