Habitat - Indoor :: Fake Plants

[BlackSheep]

Hi everyone,

I apologize if this has been discussed before, but a quick search and I couldn't find much on the topic of fake plants. I have two RES in my tank, they're almost a year old now. They recently got put into their new tank which is quite a bit bigger than their old one, and the first thing I did is put quite a few live plants in with them and it looked fantastic, but as usual they have reduced the live plants to nothing more than empty pots in no time at all, replacing them is going to get expensive. I'm interested in putting fake plants in the tank but I am worried if they try to eat them and ingest some of the material, the last thing that I want is for them to get sick. Are there any recommendations on what kind of fake plants, silk or plastic etc, or would it be best to just leave them out altogether?

Thanks for any help, it's really appreciated!

[steve]

I don't use any fake plants at the moment, but I think the plastic variety is more popular and easier to clean. My turtle had a hard time biting through them, though he would still re-arrange them. If you think they are actually able to rip or break parts off, then I'd skip it.

[BlackSheep]

Hi Steve, thanks for the reply. I don't think my little guys are powerful enough to rip or break parts off to be honest, but they continue surprising me on a daily basis. The reason that I was thinking of the silk variety is because of the more natural look in the water as opposed to the hard plastic, but that might be a better option if they decide to try have a taste. I'm going to do a little more research before I decide what I want to do,

[steve]

You'd be surprised at how aggressive they can be. My RES actually chipped his beak from biting on a resin platform and he's slowly chipping away his second cork bark platform. I guess you can try the silk ones and see what happens, just make sure you make any necessary changes. I think some have smaller pieces that can come off.