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What are your favorite fish tank decorations? Includes anything that you can add to the tank and not kill your fish! lol Such as: backgrounds, gravel, rocks, driftwood, Ornaments and special light effects, ect...
I thought this thread would be a good place for ppl to get ideas on how to set up their tank and get the look they want.
Feel free to post pics of your tanks!
lata,
BL


Last edited by bettalife at 26-Oct-2005 23:19

Everyone has a different take on what makes their tank for them. For me, I like DW, big rocks, natural gravel, and live plants.

For some fun lighting I put some blue LED lights in my light fictures that come on at night for a couple of hours. It is a pretty cool moon light effect that lets me watch my nocturnal fish.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wingsdlc, that sounds awesome I'd like to see pics especially when the blue lights are on!
BL

I have tryed to take some pictures of it up and running but They are not bright enough. Here is a link of what I have going on. Sorry no actual blue lighted tank.....

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Being old fashioned I prefer the natural look, rocks all shapes and sizes but they must be within the main plan, and Drift wood covered with live plants.

One thing I do not like at all are the artifical gadgets same are so bad and tastless, yet again some like them but that is their choice. Please note I said "Some".

Also I am not a lover of fake plants I have never seen fish living in fake plants in the wild.

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I like using rocks to create swim throughs for the fish and lots of live plants.

I was never into the artificial gadgets either. My boyfriend wanted us to buy a plastic whale whose head lifted when connected to an air pump - I said no! Then my Mum and Dad sent me a plastic diver which shoots bubbles out of his head. I wasn't really keen but my parents spent a lot of time looking for it, sent it to me from England and thought I'd love it because I'm a diver. So I put it in my tank and I now I wouldn't have it any other way. The diver is called Bob and is almost as important as the fish!

(He's dressed in blue behind the Anubias)


fishymama attached this image:




Last edited by fishymama at 27-Oct-2005 00:44[/font]

I like my tanks to have themes... I have one that is heavlily planted and natural looking, I have another that has a TON of bogwood, and I have one that is decorated with glazed flowerpots. I even hope to set up a 45 gallon tank with a bunch of tacky novelty decorations and fluorescent colored fake plants. I think that if you have a theme and stick to it, the tank will look "right."

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Pretty tank fishymama. I think the diver story was sweet. I like the all natural thing too. Dont like colors like blue or purple. I only use green plants. I do use the plastic ones but am veryyyy picky about them. I like the theme thing too. I have one with a piece of fake driftwood but I put java moss around it and it looks really neat. Am going to fix a real driftwood one. I have also bought a shipwreck and achor Ill put in another. I didnt want them all to have the driftwood look. Took me a long time to decide on the ship. But all my gravel will be white, cream, brown, tan. My backgrounds have to match my gravel....plants have to look like whats in the background....everything has to have the same colors. Im already not liking having a creek looking background with the shipwreck theme. My real driftwood tank will have a background with it that had driftwood in it.



Last edited by ladiejl at 30-Oct-2005 00:27

heres the fake driftwood tank

ladiejl attached this image:

I have one with a large fake driftwood I got at petsmart, along with several fake plants. Another smaller tank with a clay pot (fake) I got also at petsmart with a few plastic plants. I tried to do the live plant thing but it just doesn't work for me. low light plants are just too hard to find here, good healthy specimins anyway. Had a few tacky fake decorations. To me it's all about the plastic. I'm sorry I just like them. Some day when I grow up(50 or 60)I may try live plants again. Oh, and a healthy sprig of hornwort in both that grows well.

I like to do everything 'all natural' looking

I like my tanks heavily planted with a variety of plants, and a decent amount of driftwood (and plants on the driftwood). Big rocks look nice in some situations, but not all.

I use REAL plants, REAL drftwood, and REAL rocks. Sorry, but I really don't see the point in fake driftwood... it's expensive, fake looking, and not really much less work than real driftwood (especially for the money)

Meh, I like natural as well. I do have a chunk of fake driftwood in one of my tanks, and if I ever find a piece of the real stuff that has a similar shape (my fish love it), I'd replace it. But, heh... why mess with a good thing?

I've tried doing a colorful, fantasy tank and... meh, just didn't last long. The only thing that is less than natural are my betta tanks, and even they aren't really over the top.

I think one of my favorite item that isn't an aquatic decoration has to be terra cotta pots. Make great caves. I've used glass votive holders as caves, and one of my tanks has a nice chunk of amethyst crystal in it.

I think the one unnatural piece in my tanks right now is in the ten gallon... my sister bought me this cartoony shark decoration (the type where you put an airline in it and bubbles come out his mouth) that was just too cute. It's got a sign that says "bite me" which is just kind of appropriate. I have to laugh when the cory juvies climb INTO his mouth, looking for food. It's the one spot of whimsy in an otherwise natural tank.

Edit: ladiejl... I love your av!

Last edited by Kitten at 03-Nov-2005 14:14

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

The more rocks the better........

johnnyav attached this image:

I really like the tank johnnyav, how did u create it the different levels of rock? are those real plants and if they are what kinds are they?
thanks
BL

The plants are fake. I buy the Sea Garden and Fancy Plant brands. They're made of silk so they sway with the water movement. They look realistic. The rocks are all put in by hand. I start with bigger ones on the bottom and they get smaller as I move up. They're really not up against the glass (well one or two might be touching)but the weight load is independent. I got the rocks here - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=66793&item=3982915943 + a few I bought in the LFS.

When I do a water change I take them all out and then put them back in one at a time. I've been thinking of siliconing a few groups together, but I kinda like a different setup each time (which is inevitable).

Thankyou for the feedback and any other questions are welcome.............

Last edited by johnnyav at 11-Nov-2005 08:28