Wow. $30+ For A Decoration? Rediculous.

[steppy104]

Yeah, no matter where I got, even ebay with shipping and all, prices are rediculous for tank decorations. Flippin rip offs if ya ask me.

Anyway, I know there are lots of creative things you can do to make decorations...But I don't know what they are.

Me and Tom are thinking about decorating the live-bearer section of our new tank with clay pots. They sell them at Meijers in all kinds of shapes. We stood there for about 20 minutes stacking pots on top of eachorth, seeing how different things looked.

Finally we came up with the idea to just have a big pot at the bottom, and a smaller one on top of that. Then we're thinking of chipping entry holes into the pots.

That's the only thing either of us could come up with, seeing as ceramic things could be dangerous with the paint n all.

Where I work, we're selling some very nifty bird houses, which I think would be cool for the fish, seeing as they're small, and have a few holes to enter in. But I don't know how craft wood would react in the water, and they're glued together, and have fake grass on it...And who knows if they coated the wood with junk to make it look good. @_@

So, are there any other safe ways to make tank decor?

I suppose rock, but I'm not to fond of them.

The area the decor is going in will be about 18" wide, 17" tall, and 18" front to back- Approx.

Maybe material suggestions would help....Types of glass? plastic things? I'm not sure what all is safe to go in a tank. All replies appreciated, thanks. =)

 

[Neal]

Plexi-glass is safe to use, also pottery is safe to use. You may already know that, but i'm just trying to help. Maybe even some Coconut caves?(Sorry the pictures aren't up to date, but it tells you what to do and what you need. They are funky, but I'm not sure about live-bearers, if they like caves or not. You could also make a Java moss wall, they are pretty nice. These are just a few suggestions that I personally like, you don't have to use them, i'm just giving you a rough idea.

Neal

 

[Mithlondwen]

We have some neat pieces of pvc pipes and joints in ours. You can take a walk down the plumbing isle of your local home improvement store, and see lots of ideas!

 

[pica_nuttalli]

yeah, skip on the painted wood bird houses--there's no telling what horrible chemicals they might leach.

 

[barbiedoll]

Hi
Rex Cogidubnus - (CT Betta) has a black framed and lidded tank with black gravel, some pieces of obsidian which is a glass like rock I happened to have picked up along the way and his cave is a black glazed teacup on its side half buried in the gravel. Apart from some valisinaria planted in the gravel he has a 'tree' which is a neat little plant still in its black plastic mesh pot. if I had a camera I'd show you... He likes to swim in and out of the cup handle and sit in his 'tree'. Now I'm looking in charity shops(thrift stores in USA?) for a black saucer or a small plate to break in half and put vertically into the gravel

 

[guppy_man]

what about slate?
its cheap and you can form any type of creation you wish, i have some in my community tank my pleco loves it.

those clay pots you were talking about, i bought 1 for 80p, when i got home the pot didnt look right, looked to big so i took it to my back garden and by carefully knocking the pot on the corner of the wall it should split in half, now i have 2 caves which my other plecos and cories love

ive never tried pvc pipes, i dont think they look very good
erm.... what else could you use............. i used to have pebbles piled around my bogwood that looked pretty effective

thas all in know hope i helped a little bit

 

[impmonkey]

Rocks I know it sounds dumb put cheap ( if not free) and look very natural. Not sure if you live in the city at all but if you live out in the country or near a farm, ask the farmer if you can pick through his rock pile. I'm sure he won't mind. All farmers that farm crops pull the stones out of their fields every year so they have massive rock piles laying around and usually are more then happy to let you dig through em and find some cool ones.

what about slate?
its cheap and you can form any type of creation you wish, i have some in my community tank my pleco loves it.

those clay pots you were talking about, i bought 1 for 80p, when i got home the pot didnt look right, looked to big so i took it to my back garden and by carefully knocking the pot on the corner of the wall it should split in half, now i have 2 caves which my other plecos and cories love

ive never tried pvc pipes, i dont think they look very good
erm.... what else could you use............. i used to have pebbles piled around my bogwood that looked pretty effective

thas all in know hope i helped a little bit

 

[steppy104]

"You could also make a Java moss wall, they are pretty nice."

Definetly going to check out that thread. Just got back from a fish store that used JM in nearly all their tanks, and it looks like it'd be great for baby fish to play in or to use to decorate chinsey looking things.

"We have some neat pieces of pvc pipes and joints in ours. You can take a walk down the plumbing isle of your local home improvement store, and see lots of ideas!"

Not attractive, but fish would probably love it. I mean, this tank isn't going to be for attracting anyone, it's in the basement. lol. I'll check up on prices of this.

somethingfishie- That sounds like a neat getup you got there! Yeah, I wish I could see a pic of it. Good luck finding your saucer. One mans junk is another fishes home.

"what about slate?"

Not too sure I can come across slate easily....I can't think of any places that would have it cheap offhand.

impmonkey- I live in a city-like area, but along the side of my house theres tons of decor rocks just there to look good. I suppose I could look for a fancy piece some day if it dries up here.

OOooooh. I just seen this VERY large (but holdable) half of a hollow rock, where the inside was nothing but amethyst gems, so it was like a cave, and I'm thinking 'WOW that would look sweet in a tank!' and the price was frikkin $90. Haha. That's one expensive fish tank.

That coconut thing also looks pretty nifty, I noticed that thread while I was wandering the DIY section earlier for some ideas. Might be thinking about that.