Having had all kinds of woods/roots, both in terrariums and in aquariums, I prefer, by far, the fake wood/roots.
These fake woods are certainly expensive (it depends a lot where you buy them),
but after that, they last for decades, and cannot rot. And there's nothing to boil or bake neither, LOL.
Now, we've got plenty of choice concerning the model we'd like to have.
I agree that back to ten-twenty years ago, the fake wood/roots looked
really fake,
but the industry improved a lot,
and it's almost impossible to tell the difference between a true root and a fake one.
:happy:
This is one piece of fake root I've got for two-three years now in an aquarium, it's just great.