Aquarium Decorations
Aquarium Decorations
Tropical aquarium fish don’t have much to say in regards to what you put into their home and will adapt to their needs whatever they find in aquarium. Any aquarium decorations can be utilized by some fish as home or hiding place regardless of what it looks like.
In certain setups or for some species it is not possible to use natural decor so the only way is to substitute them with artificial decorations.
Aquarium decor is often used to hide or disguise equipment and should not be able to float. To recreate a natural look of fish habitats it may not be possible to purchase natural rock, wood or plants from that area, the only way is to substitute them with their counterparts.
Safe Aquarium Ornaments
Safe means non-toxic. Decorations can’t be made out of materials which would change water chemistry by for example increasing the pH. Safe also means no sharp edges that could hurt the fish.
Artificial Rocks
Quite often the better alternative for real rock is a fake one especially if it resembles the real one. Artificial rocks weigh very little comparing to real and will not put so much pressure on the bottom glass in the tank. Mixing real and fake rocks also works.
Specialized retailers store a good choice of artificial decorations and the real plus is that this decorations will not react with the water as the natural ones would.
Artificial Wood
Fake wood is a good replacement for a real one as it will never decompose or release tan color into the water. On the other hand it can’t be used as a place for plants that need real wood for rooting into.
It’s possible to find artificial planting rocks or wood with holes for root system, plants can be placed and removed from these decorations without damaging root system.
Artificial Plants
Some tropical fish species feed on any plan they encounter in their environment, making impossible to keep them in the fish tank with real plants. Fake plants can very accurately mimic the real ones in shape and colors.
There are two basic types of fake aquarium plants: plastic and silk. Silk aquarium plants tend to be more expensive but look more natural than plastic. Their leaves also move better with the water flow so for an untrained eye it can be difficult to distinguish which plant is real.
Mixing real plants and artificial aquarium plants works really well. The other advantage is that the algae or dirt can be easily removed from a fake plant without damaging it.
The other plus for fake plants is that they would never rot or die with any change in the aquarium setup. Besides occasional cleaning artificial plants are almost maintenance free. They should come with a heavy base or a suction cup so they can’t be easily uprooted by fish.
Artificial aquarium plants come in all shapes and sizes even smallest ones placed on plant mats and resembling carpet plants.
Fish Tank Ornaments
Retailers stock multitude of interesting aquarium ornaments like: shipwrecks, bridges, houses, sunk war airplanes, weird and funny characters, cartoon characters, miniature replicas of castles etc. There is something there for everyone.
[warning]The paint can come off after some time especially when washed to hard. Old tooth brush is a good tool to remove algae from crevices while cleaning.
Fish like algae eaters can digest or scrape off loose paint from the decor. [/warning]
Aquarium Backgrounds
Aquarium backgrounds serve a few purposes. They cover the back glass to hide equipment, they can create depth and three dimensional look to any tank, they can expose fish’ colors, and generally make fish at ease when they know that nothing can approach them from that side of the tank.
Most basic approach is to use blue or black on the back glass, but more interesting photo background would add another dimension to the tank. There is a variety of images available as a background in various sizes to fit small and bigger fish tanks. Laminated backgrounds can be easily attached and removed if necessary.
Also available are three dimensional backgrounds resembling rock walls. These require some more space to be installed behind the aquarium and will make the tank appear to have more depth. It is a good visual trick for narrow or tall aquaria.
Often fish keepers will create home-made structured backgrounds using available materials and creativity.
