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So let this be a warning to anyone who thinks big ornaments in their tank are a good idea. So my first 10 gal I had a Parthanon Ornament that I couldnt clean under. BAD IDEA. So you would of thought I learned my lesson...nope! So my next ten gal I had an artifical tree trunk ornament (looked great...in theory). It was hollow so I stuck rocks in it to weigh it down and it was great until this week. I noticed that there was green floating stuff on the surface and a BAD smell. My A.T.O. had A LOT of hair algae on it and I realized the water inside the A.T.O. could not be gotten to. So I took it out during a cleaning and it solved the problem.

SO in conclusion dont buy ornaments unless they are really really small.

Nothing like anoxic smells to wake one up...

There's nothing wrong with NON-hollow fake ornaments, but anything that makes any sort of anoxic pocket like that is bad, even sand or gravel that's too deep.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I started out the same way and tried several plastic rocks and stuff and they all did that even when I drilled them full of holes. Real rocks , bogwood , and real plants only now, certainly nothing that traps water. Keep things moving

There's nothing wrong with hollow ones either if you place a few strategically positioned drill holes at their highest points and whack a tiny UGF under them to keep the water moving BTDT

The UGF is the key, you gotta keep that water circulating. I have one designed for a bowl that works really well

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Yeah I have never delt with the UGF I only have delt with the HOB filters. But I think a key is water circulation. The way mine were set up the water was not able to circulate properly. Oh well live an learn. I am glad there is a way to modify ornaments in order to get proper circulation. I am sticking with Live plants and smaller rock formations.