Supa Plastic Plant Polybag

Almost every planted tank starts with somebody intending to keep live plants, and a good proportion of them end with a light that was never quite bright enough and a piece of driftwood doing all the work. There is no shame in the plastic ones. A tank with cover in it is a better tank for the fish than a bare one with good intentions in it.

This is Supa's 6 inch plant, supplied in a polybag. Supa say it is made from quality materials so that it stays long lasting, odour free and does not fade. Because it was never alive it introduces no pests and no disease to the tank, which is the argument that matters most in a quarantine or hospital setup. And because plastic does not photosynthesise, it produces neither oxygen nor carbon dioxide, so it will not shift the pH or the water chemistry in either direction.

• 6 inch artificial aquarium plant
• Supplied in a polybag
• Supa state it is long lasting, odour free and does not fade
• Introduces no pests or disease into the tank
• Produces no oxygen or carbon dioxide, so it does not move pH or water chemistry
• Sold as decoration rather than as part of the filtration

What is missing from the listing is the colour and the base. Supa publish a height and nothing else - no colour, no plant species it imitates, no width, and no word on whether there is a weighted base, so be ready to anchor it under substrate. The material is described only as "quality materials", with no polymer named and no statement about marine use. The obvious limitation is worth stating plainly too: a plastic plant does none of the work a live one does. It will not take up nitrate, it will not oxygenate and it will not out-compete an algae problem.

Who it's for: anyone running a low-light tank, setting up a quarantine or hospital tank that needs cover without live material in it, or keeping fish that eat every real plant they are given.