I know that the lions share of folks on the forums are big into planted aquariums, but a few of us stick with the plastics. I was wondering amongst our fake plant community if anyone else has seen this particular issue crop up in their tank:
A few of my plants, either through nibbles taken by some of the fish (I've narrowed down culprits to Silver Dollars and maybe a panda cory or two) or through just plain age, have started to crumble- I see tiny plastic bits floating around the tank.
Typically I will try and get as much of this out of the tank as possible during cleanings, but its pretty persistent material.
The fish appear to ignore it- nobody's gotten sick or had any problems that I can see, but its rather annoying to see the stuff floating around, even if it appears not to have any adverse effects on the animals.
With plastics I find that the below plants with very intricate, tiny branches break up and get nibbled over time:
The plants I'm referring to are the willowy tall ones that reach up to the waterline.
The more full-leaf plastic plants are more durable and tend not to get bothered and broken:
The bright red plant just left of center is what I'm referring to- the leaves are solid and don't present much to bite nor are they as delicate. I've replaced most of the nibbled plants with either cloth or a newer version that is more rubbery and has give to it so it can take more punishment. (I'm referring to the green treelike plant just under the aforementioned red leafed plant- the material is really nice and its quickly become my favorite fake in the tank)
The cloth plants I have can fray here and there, but are overall much better than the plastics- I only replace them when algae and time have bleached them beyond their original look. I am working to replace most of my plastics with cloth as you can see in the pics.
So has anyone else encountered this problem with their plastics?
A few of my plants, either through nibbles taken by some of the fish (I've narrowed down culprits to Silver Dollars and maybe a panda cory or two) or through just plain age, have started to crumble- I see tiny plastic bits floating around the tank.
Typically I will try and get as much of this out of the tank as possible during cleanings, but its pretty persistent material.
The fish appear to ignore it- nobody's gotten sick or had any problems that I can see, but its rather annoying to see the stuff floating around, even if it appears not to have any adverse effects on the animals.
With plastics I find that the below plants with very intricate, tiny branches break up and get nibbled over time:
The plants I'm referring to are the willowy tall ones that reach up to the waterline.
The more full-leaf plastic plants are more durable and tend not to get bothered and broken:
The bright red plant just left of center is what I'm referring to- the leaves are solid and don't present much to bite nor are they as delicate. I've replaced most of the nibbled plants with either cloth or a newer version that is more rubbery and has give to it so it can take more punishment. (I'm referring to the green treelike plant just under the aforementioned red leafed plant- the material is really nice and its quickly become my favorite fake in the tank)
The cloth plants I have can fray here and there, but are overall much better than the plastics- I only replace them when algae and time have bleached them beyond their original look. I am working to replace most of my plastics with cloth as you can see in the pics.
So has anyone else encountered this problem with their plastics?
