want to decorate my fish tank but dont like any decorations that are sold in stores. any suggestions ?

Answer 1

Forget the old standard sunk ship and treasure chest, go for something a little more modern.

Build a mafia crime scene fish tank. Go to your local craft and toy stores. Buy a large plastic car and put a body in it, maybe take a small drill and give the car some bullet holes. Get a plastic man, or maybe a skeleton, and give him cement shoes. Add a couple of guns, a bicycle and some tires for the finishing touch.

Answer 2

you could but some items from a craft store, just steer away from flex metal inside as the rust will seep into the tank and harm the fish..

Stay away from items that may decompose, or pollute the water easily.. Possible if you are into ceramics you could make a few decorations and paint them..

Live plants are great if you do not care for the fakes.. Live plants also keep down the Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonia levels making for a lot of years for your fish..

Also some people choose to put up those little backgrounds and decorate very little to make it look more like a realistic underwater world..

hope this helps some.. If you have any specifics you're going for and not sure if you should, post it here..

Answer 3

I put crystals in my fish tank with just a couple of bright plants. I love how it looks. Make sure you wash everything really well in warm tap water that has fish salts in it before adding to your tank.

Anything ceramic that is glazed is also safe.

Answer 4

Check ebay or craigslist, they might have some things you are looking for.
I dont care for the cheesy decorations at the stores either. My tank is more natural. I have drift wood, and slate, and monteray beach sand. Its really nice~

Answer 5

it kind of depends. if you have a saltwater fish only, you could get a few small pieces of live rock and put some animals on them. but if you have a freshwater, i would suggest planting your aquarium. most pet stores(that sell fish) also sell aquatic plants. plants really help to make your fishtank interesting. or you could try making your own ornaments for your tank. you could go to one of those places where you can paint ceramics and they fire them for you and you can go and pick them up and put them in your tank, usually those are ok for fishtanks.

Answer 6

Try a garden landscape place. They usually sell various rocks, slate is usefull for making caves and structures in your fish tank. Ian

Answer 7

i went to the asian markets and got sushi plates and rice bowls and sake bottles. i use asian tea cups for betta homes. some of them like them some of them can't be bothered. i have bettas and goldfish (different tanks before i get chastized by someone). my black moor even will go down in the sake bottle so when he gets bigger i will have to take it out. there are lead restrictions on glazes that can be used for food dishes so they should be safe for fish. glass is the same way -- but there are no restrictions on crystal so i would suggest avoiding crystal -- its full of lead usually.

i got some fake lucky bamboo at petsmart. it is made for aquariums. its in with the goldfish and the sushi plates. my goldfish have sushi names.

if you dont' know what it is made out of or don't know what it will do be ready to change the water. i bought a little bamboo towel tray to go with the asian theme and it turned out it was all glued together and the glue was getting in my water.

i highly recommend live plants -- java fern, java moss, the anubias family are all easy to keep and you can tie them to rocks and wood and take them out to clean your tank -- you don't need to actually plant them. your fish wont eat them either. i get plants on ebay.

so in short --

1) pick a theme and/or color scheme ( i guess i left out the color scheme part -- i almost went with green/brown/beige but ended up red/white/black in all my tanks)

2) use any pottery or glass (or plastics like melamine) that doesn't have sharp edges to hurt your fish and you know the glaze is safe for food (low lead content, etc). they make a lot of decorations out of resin so i guess resin is safe for fish.

3) get some live plants your fish won't eat. they make expensive fish salad if they do.

Answer 8

G's answer is great, especially if you're looking for unusual decorations, otherwise - driftwood, rocks, live plants can do amazing things for an aquarium.
Check out these tanks:
http://files.tagworld.com/57943371431a46e6beb2b855381aca68.jpeg
http://files.tagworld.com/1da933ed2f954fae837a3b602b9933e7.jpeg
http://www.galano.net/travel-photo-album/tropical-home-aquarium/imagepages/aquarium-layout.htm
http://www.rdrop.com/~/ingerma/photoindex/photos/house/pages/2002_08_aquarium.htm
http://www.akva.sk/obrazky/amano/Amano_05.jpg
http://www.fishlore.com/YourTanks/tamera_fish_tank_9.jpg

...just a few ideas...

Answer 9

I once used clean, clear plastic tubing for them to swim about in.