My axies absolutely love real plants, I will never go back to fake plants. They really make the tank look great.. They love sitting on big leaves, swimming through soft plants like cabomba (however you spell it). I adore this plant so much as it's so pretty but my little babies love pulling it up. I'm still yet to find how to keep the plants alive. My Anubis and "sword" plant have lasted months without decaying, however some plants haven't quite worked for me even though they are " low light cold water " and I'm very hesitant to put in fertilizers as I've heard they're toxic to axolotls... I think it's just trial and error.. Just remember to quarantine the plants to prevent nasties coming in and hurting your axolotls.