is it possible to have a good aquarium?

Yes. But most of us here would say it's just not the same. :-)

Whenever I had artificial plants I always got algae problems. With live
plants I don't, however, I haven't had the best of luck with plants.
Cabomba do the best but after 2-3 months they start to get really thinned
out and bad looking. I have high light of 4 watts per gallon, good
biowheel 125 filtration, so I thought plants would be okay for me.

Do you fertilize and inject CO2? You have to, with 4 wpg of light.

Also, Cabomba tends to get straggly if you keep "topping" it (cutting the tops
off). Cabomba should be pruned by tossing the bottoms and re-planting the
tops.

Why don't you post your tank parameters? I'm sure people would have some
suggestions for you. We need to know what size your tank is, how much light
you have over it, what your pH and KH are what kind of fertlizers you use, and
how often, what kind of plants you've tried, what kind of fish you have, etc.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/