# Can I get a fake Java Moss or Java Fern plant?



## GuppyNGoldfish

Does anybody know where i can get some fake plants that look like Java Fern or Java Moss. I don't want to get live plants because as far as I know you have to setup a tank with just plants in it and let them grow for so many months before fish can be added. Something that looks like this plant.


----------



## Gizmo

I suppose there are fake ground cover mats like that. However, as to a tank needing to be left unpopulated due to the use of live plants, nothing could be further from the truth.

A tank needs to be left vacant so it can properly establish a nitrogen cycle, otherwise adding fish will generate decomposing stuff like fish poop, which generates ammonia, which will kill your fish. Colonies of bacteria need to be established to convert the ammonia into less-harmful nitrate, which can build up in the tank for quite some time before you need to do periodic water changes to lower the nitrate concentration.

Live plants actually love and consume ammonia, nitrate, and their intermediate nitrite. So in reality, the incorporation of live plants to the tank means you can add fish SOONER than without live plants. Not only that, but enough live plants means you could add fish right away and not worry about ammonia killing them, as the plants will consume all of it. Live plants also bring other things to the table, like improving water clarity and smell and addition of already established bacteria populations on the plants and especially in the substrate clinging to their roots. If handled properly, a tank with live plants can supersede the necessity of a filter, and can even rid you of the necessity of water changes.


----------



## majerah1

You can add fish when you add plants.The only thing you have to worry about are plant eating fish like goldies.I think you can get some fake mats but they wont look near as good as live would.Live plants have so many more benefits than fish only tanks.They help consume the ammonia and stuff left by the fish,and the fish will feel more secure knowing they have a lush place to hide.Not to mention the pure clarity of water in a planted tank.My cats drink my tank water if they can.


----------



## GuppyNGoldfish

Can you plant in basic gravel? Or do you need sand? Anything special you have to do with plants before or after you add them?


----------



## Gizmo

You can plant in plain gravel, but I would suggest NOT vacuuming the gravel, and adding some root fertilizer tablets occasionally (most pet stores with a fish department sell root tabs). And you might want to wash the plants in a weak solution of potassium permangenate to sterilize them a little and get rid of any hitchhikers, but me personally I encourage hitchhikers like snails to come into my tank because they help keep the tank walls and substrate clean and algae free. Otherwise, the only special thing I would do to plant plants is to remove the rock wool or gel they came in, drain half the water in your tank so you can get your hands in there easier to plant, bury the roots, and presto - live plants.


----------



## GuppyNGoldfish

How do you clean the gravel then? I vacuum all my tanks right now, since I don't have live plants or under gravel filters.


----------



## Gizmo

To put it plainly, you don't clean the gravel. Just let it sit and get dirty, your plants will thank you and their root systems will do the dirty work for you. A bit of advice though - Earth-colored and darker gravels look better dirty than some of the lighter and white gravels.


----------

