Live Plants VS Plastic Plants in Aquarium

Here I'll present some pros and cons to using either live or plastic plants. Great aquascapes can be achieved with either.

Let's start with live plants.

Pros:
1. Provides oxygen during daylight hours
2. Fin friendly; won't tear fins
3. Helps filter the water
4. Provides another food source for the fish
5. Grows
6. Helps keep algae in check

Cons:
1. Produces CO2 during nighttime hours
2. Grows - needs regular pruning



Now for plastic plants.


Pros:
1. Doesn't produce CO2
2. No pruning needed
3. Will always look the same, doesn't grow

Cons:
1. Doesn't produce O2
2. Just another surface for algae to grow on
3. Always looks the same, not dynamic
4. Not fin friendly, could possibly tear fins if fish gets too close
5. Doesn't filter water I will leave it at that.

Live plants do require a bit more maintenance and care than plastic plants. I've maintained tanks with all live plants and tanks with a mix and tanks with all plastic or silk plants.
From my fish observations, most fish (the ones that have been bred in captivity in tanks) don't really care one way or the other if the plants are real or not, they just like having something akin to their natural habitat as long as their water is kept in pristine condition. Some fish though really do care and will not do as well in a tank with no real plants.