IMO, having live plants in a freshwater tank is like having a fuge. They are the best thing going for nutrient export ect...Just make sure you keep them pruned as they grow. If you leave any dying parts of them in the tank, you will see a nitrate spike for sure, maybe even ammonia depending how much biological filtration you have & if it can keep up. When I used to keep freshwater tanks, I would run an oversized filter(ie:xp3 on a 55gal) with lots of biological media and lots of plants. My tanks were always low maintenence, they almost took care of themselves. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make my reef that easy!
